Bay Cities Italian Deli & Bakery

Bay Cities Italian Deli & Bakery
1517 Lincoln Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Bay Cities Deli on Facebook


Type: Italian Deli
Category: Picnic, Lunch, Dinner
Company: Date, Friends, Visitors, Family
Cost: $6+/sandwich (depends on size and additions)
Quick-Rec: Always get the "Italian roll" and an extra loaf of fresh-baked bread (it won't last the trip home). Delicious sandwiches, soups, hot-case items like pastas and meats. Great place to pick up any item you might ever need for an Italian snack or meal.

OTC Tip: Order online and pick up in the back- even though it takes 45 minutes, it saves you the pretty-much guaranteed 45 minute standing wait/line at the deli. Get to know the guys who make the to-go orders. Get "the works" (mayo, mustard, onions, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, italian dressing, pepper salad) on your sandwich. Never go on Monday - it's the one day BC is closed.

Review:
There are 1,483 reviews for Bay Cities on Yelp, hundreds of discussions on Chowhound, and even a feature on the Food Network's show The Best Thing I Ever Ate - so clearly, I'm not breaking news here.

Since my goal is to filter through the clutter and just shine light on the best, I'll spare you any specific suggestions/reviews/comments on "what to get" - aside from insisting that you get a sandwich of one of the million varieties (the infamous is the Godmother, but I'll let you know that most people opt to customize their own) my only insist is that you do some of your own research and go order whatever sounds delicious to you (because it will be).

In addition, considering Bay Cities is located on Lincoln Blvd (about seven blocks from the beach), opens at 9am, and sells everything you might want for a picnic - this is a great place to stop before embarking upon any Los Angeles activity where you need to bring-your-own-meal such as visiting the beach, going hiking, or attending an event at the Hollywood Bowl, etc etc.

Great for brunch, lunch, dinner, a hangover, a picnic - Bay Cities will not disappoint so you may as well bookmark the online ordering page as a favorite and call yourself a fan.