Restaurant Review: Appetite Deli and Bakery

I'm sure that this has happened to you.  You've driven past a place in your neighborhood that you tell yourself you want to go to but somehow never end up at.  In my hood, that place is Appetite Deli and Bakery.  When it first opened I went there all the time. (I can easily walk there and drive past it at least a dozen times a week)  I even dragged coworkers there with me at lunchtime for cupcakes.  But then for some reason I stopped going there.  I don't think there was a particular reason.  I think I just got a little tired of going there so much.

Last week when I was starting my holiday shopping - probably well after everyone else was finished - I needed to swing by my house to drop off some presents and realized that I needed to eat lunch.  As of late, my cupboards are resembling Mother Hubbard's, so I knew I'd need to go eat somewhere and wanted something quick.  My standby is Roly Poly in Golden Gate, but I didn't want to have to deal with shopper traffic so I headed to Appetite instead.

Tucked away in a strip plaza with not nearly enough parking, it's kind of surprising that Appetite does so well.  I mean, the food and baked goods are excellent, but unless you're looking for the place, you're not really going to notice it from the street.  And depending on when you go, you might not get a parking spot.  But despite all that, I highly recommend going there.  The interior reminds me of a no frills deli but the food is definitely better than what you'd expect by the looks of the place.  All of the ingredients taste fresh, the bread is so good that people buy multiple loaves, and there are plenty of vegetarian options.  And for under $6, you can get a nice vegetarian sandwich and coup combo.

Soup and sandwich combo

My favorite sandwich at Appetite is the Caprese Grill, a mozzarella, tomato, and pesto sandwich. I'm weird about eating things that are grilled (you never really know what else was grilled on that grill, you know?  was it bread or bacon?)  so I actually get the sandwich cold.  Along with my sandwich I got a vegan sweet potato soup.  It was molten hot but I liked it so much I couldn't stop eating it.   

I didn't have time for dessert but I can tell you that I was eyeballing the chocolate croissants in the dessert case while I was eating my lunch.  When I was more of a regular, I used to split a croissant at lunch with a friend.  They were really incredible.  (so incredible that someone came in to buy all of the remaining croissants and put money down to get more that were coming out of the oven in the next few hours.

Are there any restaurants in your neck of the woods that you like but just never think to go to?  I'm sure there are plenty of places like Appetite around town that deserve my business...I just need to make a better effort to go to them.