Dianda's Italian American Pastry

Dianda's is a fairly well known Italian bakery in San Francico, opened in 1962, by Mr. and Mrs. Dianda.  I believe it was originally in North Beach, but now is located in the Mission, with a second site in San Mateo.  It is still family owned.

"Dianda's specializes in traditional Italian baking at it's finest. "

They are known for Italian cakes (all the classics, like Napoleons, tiramisu, black forest, etc), cookies-by-the-pound, and eclairs and cream puffs, however they also make a large lineup of croissants, danishes, turnovers, muffins, and more.  As a lover of baked goods, it is these items that I tried, but after learning more about Dianda's, I definitely want to try their cakes (particularly one from their tres leches lineup - like, mango!)

Visit #1: July 2021

Too Good To Go Mystery Bag:
Apple Turnover, Croissant, Raspberry Ring, Apricot Almond Shortbread.

I didn't actually visit Dianda's myself - my goodies came from Le Sandwich, a sandwich shop in North Beach, that carries pastries from Dianda's. 

I got my goodies using Too Good To Go, the service that lets you reserve a mystery bag for discounted price, to "rescue" food that may otherwise go to waste.  In this case, it was $4.99 for an assortment of pastries, and I needed to collect it after 1pm, when folks generally stop picking up breakfast pastries.  Still freshly made that morning by Dianda's.

My mystery bag was 4 massive pastries, all of which shared some similar attributes: clearly slightly not fresh, massive, and far above average quality.   Flaky, flaky, flaky, and sooo messy, but so very good.

I instantly wanted to learn more about Dianda's.

Croissant.

Dianda's makes several kinds of filled croissants, such as the twice baked almond croissant with frangipane inside, and a pain au chocolat, but my mystery bag contained a plain croissant.  It looked rather unassuming, aside from being a bit large, and I wasn't particularly excited by it.

But the moment I ripped off a chunk I realized I shouldn't have judged the simple croissant just based on its exterior.  It was a very good croissant.  Yes, just a plain croissant, but one of the most well made I've had in ages.  It had a lovely shine on top as well.

Croissant: Cross Section.

Here you can see a cross section of the croissant.  This what the interior of a croissant *should* look like.  Perfectly laminated.  It was this cross section that really showed me that Dianda's is not messing around!  It left flakes behind, just like it should.

Quality croissant, far above average for the US, ****.

Raspberry Twist Ring.

The next item I was actually most excited by, thrilled that it wound up in my mystery bag.  A traditional Italian pastry, the raspberry twist ring.  I wish I had another item in the photo for scale to show how big this was, the diameter was quite impressive.

It was crazy flaky, and made a huge mess as I cut off a chunk.  So buttery.  So flaky.  Again, quality pastry.  The raspberry filling was twisted in, fruity, but kinda too sweet.  It somewhat reminded me of the filling in a jelly donut.  It also had some streusel like bits.

Overall I felt slightly let down by this, as it looked so amazing, but I felt a bit bored by it.  Clearly, it was well made, again, sooooo flaky, but it seemed a bit dry, and, well, like it needed to be paired with a coffee, or perhaps a scoop of ice cream to tame the sweetness.

***.

Apple Turnover.

Next was another stunner, a lovely glaze on top, mighty size, and, serious heft.  A turnover, which turned out to be apple.  Picking this up was a shock: it was quite heavy, a reflection of both its oversized nature, and just how generously stuffed with apple it was.

The pastry was, simply put, perfection.  Epically flaky.  Epically messy.  The layers.  Oh the layers.  Such quality pastry.  I liked the sweet glaze too of course.

It had a little peekaboo hole that revealed the apple filling inside, chunks of apple, in a goo, well spiced.  The apples had a nice bite too them, not too soft.  It was very generously filled too, no skimping here.

Apple turnovers, or turnovers in general, aren't really items I get all that excited by, but this was a far above average version.  Even better when I warmed it up a bit, and added vanilla ice cream ... mmm, flaky apple pie a la mode!

***+.

Apricot Almond Shortbread Tartlet.

My final item I was slightly unsure of.  From the top, it looked like it should be a danish or tart.  But, it seemed to be a cookie.  A thick cookie.  With fruit filling?  And a ring?  And sliced almonds?

My research leads me to believe this is called a "shortbread tartlet", basically a thick, crumbly, buttery shortbread base, that could easily be a complete dessert on its own, a fabulous shortbread cookie, but then, a generous amount of sweet apricot preserves, like you'd find in a danish, a scattering of sliced almonds for crunch, and, a sorta crispy shortbread ring around the top?

It is certainly unlike anything I've had before, it reminded me a jam thumbprint cookie in spirt, except totally and completely taken to the max.  The cookie was huge, the filling was significant, it just seemed, like the turnover, ring, and croissant before it, supersized.

I was pretty fascinated by this, and enjoyed the quality shortbread and fruity filling, always a good pairing.  I wouldn't ever seek out a shortbread cookie, but, if I were to, I'd certainly be pleased with this one.

***+.

Visit #2: September 2021

My next visit was again actually to Le Sandwich, and was again through Too Good To Go.

Too Good To Go Mystery Bag. $4.99.

My Too Good To Go "mystery bag" was again 4 large size pastries, selected for me by the owner.

This time I got 3 croissants (plain, almond, chocolate) and a slice of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  Of the assortment, only the plain croissant was a repeat from my prior visit, and I was glad to try new items.

All were again high quality, and tasted quite fresh this time.  The croissants were comically massive.  $4.99 for the loot was a great value, and I was quite pleased, although I preferred the treats in my previous bag more.

Plain Croissant.

The only repeat item I had, a plain croissant.

It tasted even fresher this time, but was otherwise the same - a light, fluffy, soft style, not a harder flaky style like more classic french croissants (you know the kind, they make a huge mess!).  It had a lovely buttery flavor to it.

Side note: I think, technically, this is a cornetto, not a croissant, as it seems to be the softer Italian style, not crispy flaky French style, and, well, is made by an Italian bakery.

***, a nice item, good for dunking in coffee, or making a breakfast sandwich on.

Almond Croissant.

The almond croissant was just slightly over-baked - the top a touch too dark, and the slivers of almond on top had a slightly burnt taste.  But otherwise, this was much like the plain croissant: light, fluffy, buttery, a decent base croissant.  It was also ridiculously large, bigger than the standard pastry bag it came quasi-contained within.

Inside was almond paste, which gave a nice subtle almond flavor, but was mostly just quite sweet.  There was no bits of almonds nor grit, it was a smooth paste, and there was quite a lot of it.

Overall, a fine item, but I usually prefer the "twice baked" style of almond croissant with far more generous filling and topping.

***.

Chocolate Croissant.

Dianda's makes two chocolate croissant items ... one, a pain au chocolate, that is not a crescent shape, and is filled with the expected batons of chocolate, and this one, which looked much like the almond version, just with a little bit of chocolate drizzled on top.

Again, much like the almond and plain versions, it was soft, fluffy, and buttery, and tasted quite fresh.  It was even BIGGER than the previous two.  I wish I had something to show the scale, but, this is easily the size of 2, if not 3, regular sized croissants.

I was curious what I'd find inside, given that I knew Dianda's made the traditional pain au chocolate too, and this had little embellishment on top.

Chocolate Croissant: Inside.

The outside of this croissant looked pretty boring, just a light drizzle of chocolate, so I cut into it, and found the expected chocolate filling.

The chocolate was not distinct bars like you sometimes find, and was ... fine?  I instantly knew that this would be better warmed up though.

Chocolate Croissant: Deeper Inside.

I cut off another section to heat it up, and was met with great surprise.

Oh wow.  They were not messing around with the chocolate!  It honestly looked like a brownie inside.

Since this item was sooo massive, it had sections that could appeal to those with different tastes - the very end was more plain, the center more filled.  I've never seen a chocolate croissant with quite this much filling.

***.

Chocolate Cake with fudge frosting.

The slice of cake was a nice change from the croissants, but it was a fairly lackluster cake.

Light, fluffy, not dried out, but not particularly deep flavor, and the chocolate fudge frosting isn't the style I prefer (I'm a buttercream girl!).

A fine item though, and I served it warm a la mode at home, so the frosting turned into more like hot fudge, and that worked quite nicely.

***.

Visits #3 and #4, March and October 2022

Too Good To Go Mystery Bag. $4.99.
March 2022.

After many months of not using Too Good To Go, I had a rare day off, the sun was shining, and I decided to take advantage of both to venture back to Le Sandwich to get some more baked goods.

Since my last visit, Le Sandwich had introduced new baked goods to the menu: Swedish buns, known as "fika", that they get through a local supplier who makes these and only these.  Reviewers love them, so I was hopeful my bag would contain some.  Note: while Le Sandwich, and the local baker, call them "fika", that term doesn't actually refer to a specific baked good ... but I'm going to use the nomenclature they do, just for ease.

I was delighted to look in my mystery bag.  I did indeed have not only one, but two different fika buns, plus a special hot cross bun (it was nearly Easter), and a big fluffy croissant (which I had before).  The croissant, and I think the hot cross bun, are produced by Dianda's.

Too Good To Go Mystery Bag. $4.99.
October 2022.

Again, many months passed, but I was in the mood for pastries, and selected Le Sandwich as my TGTG destination again.

As he handed me my bag, Elias, the owner, told me he put a fika in the bag, which I definitely appreciated.  I'd already seen him grab the croissant and pain au chocolate, and was pleased to get to try a muffin for the first time.

Croissant (March)

Every mystery bag I've gotten from Le Sandwich has contained a plain croissant, and this one was no different.  Again a nice item, not the flaky messy french style, but fluffy and buttery, and the flavor really shines.

Great for making breakfast sandwiches or even lunch sandwiches, or, as I tend to do, stuffing with ice cream or a fun spread like ube jam.

Reliable, fresh tasting, great buttery flavor.  ***+.

Croissant (October).

My next mystery bag ... yup, another croissant.  Like I said, he includes one in basically every TGTG bag.  this one seemed even more massive than the others, if that is possible, and was nicely golden.  Again, not a flaky style, but still quite buttery, and perfect for breakfast egg sandwiches, lunch sandwiches, or ice cream sandwiches.  I suppose probably good just toasted and spread with butter/jam/nutella/whatever, but I never tried that.  ***+.

Pain au Chocolat (October).

This was my first time getting the pain au chocolate - previously I had the chocolate croissant, which was a chocolate drizzled crescent shaped one, that was absolutely stuffed full of chocolate.  This was more the style I am used to, with 2 bars of chocolate running along the inside.

This was the first pastry from Le Sandwich that seemed noticeably rather stale.  The pastry was a bit chewy, and just not that fresh tasting.  I think if I had toasted it it probably would have been much better, but, I wanted the chocolate right away.  It was pretty average, clearly older, and I preferred the other chocolate croissant more, as it was so insanely loaded with chocolate.

I consider this a downside of TGTG though, and not necessarily a mark against Dianda's.

**+.

Blueberry Bran Muffin (October).

A muffin!  I hadn't ever gotten a muffin before from Le Sandwich/Dianda's.  And, while some might not be excited for bran, I was.

It was a good muffin.  Nice grit from the bran, few pops of blueberries, moist.  Not a great bran muffin, that distinction I'd reserve for one with a more complex flavor to the base, better distribution of blueberries, but, certainly a good one, and better than average cafe quality.  I'd get it again if in the mood for a bran muffin.

***+.

Hot Cross Bun (March).

Ah, the hot cross bun.  An item that reminds me a bit of fruitcake, in that it comes out only once a year, no one really seems to love it, and, well, dried fruit are an essential element.  And one that sometimes I do kinda like.

The hot cross bun, which I'm fairly certain is from Dianda's, was really a lovely specimen.  It had a great shine to the outside, a little light glaze, and was loaded with all sorts of dried fruits (currants, even what seemed to be some candied glace fruits?).  The cross on top seemed to be a custard, rather than traditional flour based marking.  It was fluffy, had a nice chew, lots of flavors.

Best warm, with a warm cup of beverage of your choice.

***+ for a hot cross bun, not an item I'm crazy about, but this really was a nicely made one.

Fika - Swedish Baked Goods

"Fika [fee-ka] is Swedish - a coffee break accompanied with baked goods; a moment of quality time to appreciate the good things in life! It's to pause, reflect and savor the moment! That is what fika is about. Take fika time."

I was not familiar with the concept of fika, but, I definitely am in support of it.  Le Sandwich carries a few kinds of fika - traditional buns, and, depending on the day of the week, cakes and crumble.

"I use Organic Cane Sugar, Organic flour, Premium European style Butter, Himalayan Salt, Yeast, Eggs from happy free-range chickens in Sonoma County.  Dark  Chocolate.  Always freshly ground spices.

I live and bake in San Francisco, and hope to send you a taste of Sweden!"

The fika are made by LoveFika, a San Francisco based baker, who uses quality ingredients and traditional Swedish recipes handed down from their family.  The buns come in 3 varieties: cinnamon, cardamom, and chocolate.  I was able to try two, and, well, loved them.

Chocolate Fika Bun. $4.75. (March).

"Bun with chocolate chips."

The buns are stunning looking.  Unlike an American bun that is simply rolled, these are twisted into a more complex shape.  At first I wasn't sure what kind this was, as I thought the white specs on top were large salt crystals, but they were in fact pearl sugar.  It had a lovely shine. 

This bun was unlike anything I've had before.  The edges where pieces connected were lightly caramelized and crisp, in a way that reminded me of a kouign amann.  The exterior was lightly crisp, inside was soft, but also layered.  It was like ... a croissant made with sweet enriched dough instead.  And between the folds was little chocolate chips.

It was fascinating, it was delicious, and even better when lightly warmed up.  If you are really looking for a chocolate forward dessert, this isn't it, as the chips were fairly minimal, but it was still a lovely, and unique to me item, and I greatly enjoyed it.

****.

Cardamom Fika Bun. $4.75. (March).

"A taste sensation."

Next I had the more traditional bun, cardamom.  It did not have the pearl sugar on top, and you could more clearly see the layers.  Really, something to admire.

Now, I'll admit, I am not normally much for cardamom, although the Dad's Cardamom flavor from Three Twins did grow on me.  And the cardamom here was strong.  But it was actually lovely.  It was complex, intense, and yet light at the same time.  Such a unique flavor.

The makeup of this bun was much like the other - slightly caramelized crispy exterior, amazing folds of enriched sweet dough, and just a delight to eat.  It too was best warmed up a bit.

I think it would pair amazingly with a scoop of pistachio ice cream.

I'm not sure which of the two buns I liked more, each had its unique aspects, and I'd gladly have either again.

****.

Cardamom Fika Bun.  $4.75. (October)

My next visit, my bag also contained another fika.  "I slipped a fika in there", said Elias with a smile.  I thanked him, and told him about my Swedish friend, and how much I liked it before.

It was again pretty glorious.  Still quite fresh, soft and moist sweet dough, lightly crispy exterior, fascinating flavor from the cardamom.  I couldn't resist getting into it right then, but I think it would be even better if I'd had a bit of restraint and warmed it up.  While I still don't love cardamom, this just just so good and so unique, I enjoy it quite a bit.

****.

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Gambino's New York Subs

Gambino's New York Subs is a top find from my pandemic life.  A small sandwich shop, that I had walked by without a second glance for years, quickly became an essential part of my Covid restricted lifestyle.

"We are very excited to be able to bring this comfort food to all of you. We have taken every step to find the best meats, cheeses, produce and bread this side of the Brooklyn Bridge. Gambino’s is all about indulgence, and anticipating sinking your teeth into a steak and cheese, hot coppa and turkey, or toasted ham and cheese straight out of the oven. "

But let me back up.

Gambino's New York subs is, at heart, a sub shop, open weekdays only, for breakfast and lunch, closing mid-afternoon.  As such, it never had a place in my life, as my office provided breakfast and lunch, and thus, I never sought those meals out during the week.  Until, of course, my office shut down, and I was left to my own devices.  At some point, my random quests to get out of the house and go on a "mission", like acquiring some food, led me to Gambino's small Embarcadero Center location.

I was immediately drawn in by the charm.  It was bustling, or, as bustling as anywhere was during the lockdown days.  Everyone seemed like regulars, or at least, they were treated that way, greeted with kindness.  Orders were prepared quickly, and customers left, looking quite happy.  Clientele ranged from suit wearing folks who presumably were somehow were still working in offices, to construction crews, to random lost souls like myself.  

"Whatever your favorite is, we will deliver it with pride, knowing that it is made with the finest ingredients, made just the way you like it." —Jeannie Gambino

This saying, from the owner, is not lip service.  The staff really, truly seem to want you to enjoy your order, and go out of their way to offer customizations.  They take time to learn names, and, I was shocked, as they remembered mine by my second visit.  My second!  

The owners are a husband and wife team, and many of their family members work in the stores.  The husband makes all the deli salads fresh every day, the wife does much of the baking, and together, they run the business.  It is family run, and feels that way.  It is the sort of place, you WANT to give your business too, which is made even better by the fact that it is delicious.

Gambino's has two locations, both near each other, with similar menus, although one has a bigger kitchen facility, and can offer things like offer french fries, and has seating.  I've been to both, but more often visit the closer, but smaller, Embarcadero Center location.

I'm a repeat customer, and will continue to be, even once I'm back in the office.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of takeout and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes for free money!

• Allset ($5 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

I ordered in advance through AllSet most times, and my orders, including my special requests, were always ready on time.

Feasts

I've had many, many, many fabulous items from Gambino's, and was a customer for months, but I was particularly thrilled when Too Good To Go launched in San Francisco, and Gambino's was a launch partner.

If you are not familiar, Too Good To Go allows restaurants, cafes, bakeries, corner stores, etc to offer up surplus food, at a discount, at the end of the day.  Customers cannot generally select what they get, but rather, order a "mystery bag", with whatever leftovers there are.  Prices range from $2.99 to $6.99, and the value is expected to be 3x that.  It is a great way to prevent food waste, and get a nice deal.  I used it to discover many great new establishments, although, of course, there were some duds (like a corner store in Chinatown that gave me just a bag of onions!).

Anyway, Gambino's bags were offered at $5.99, so valuing ~$18, and were available for pickup during their last 30 minutes of service.  I snagged them twice, and was thrilled with the results.

Too Good To Go Mystery Bag. $5.99:
Roast Beef on Dutch Crunch, Extra Dutch Crunch, Chocolate Cake, Macaroni Salad, 2x drinks, 2x chips.

This was the first Mystery Bag I got from Gambino's, from Too Good To Go, after being a longtime Gamibino's regular customer.  To say I was blown away was an understatement.

The bag contained some clearly surplus items, and, I even got to pick several things myself. Contents:

• Someone's unclaimed roast beef and cheese sandwich, East Coast style. Clearly not freshly made, but still delicious, and SOOO much roast beef. It was kept in a hot box, so still hot. Normally $9.99.
• An extra dutch crunch bun, clearly surplus at end of day, not normally sold.
• "What deli salad would you like?" --> macaroni, duh. A full container of basically all the macaroni left over. Normally $4.25.
• "Go ahead and take some drinks and chips, whatever you want" --> I grabbed a whole milk to go with my cereal/cookies, 7 Up to go with my meal, and 2 bags of chips in a brand I hadn't had before. I'm not sure of the costs of these, like $1-2 each?
• And ... homemade chocolate cake!

Crazy value, and I was beyond pleased.

Too Good To Go Mystery Bag. $5.99.:
Lasagna, caesar salad, Specialty Sub: The Gambino, and a chocolate muffin.

This was another pretty winning mystery bag.

I was offered my choice of muffin, so I went for chocolate since I hadn't tried it before.

They included a random sandwich, which was made fresh to order - the Specialty Gambino, with mortadella, ham, salami, hot coppa, provolone. On soft french roll. West coast style. I would have preferred to pick, since they made it fresh, but, I was quite pleased.

HUGE slice of lasagna, piping hot.

And a caesar salad, premade, so clearly leftover.

The lasagna and caesar salad is usually $10.99, the Gambino sub is $9.99, and a muffin ... $3?

So clearly, >$20, amazing value.

Subs

The namesake item at Gambino's New York Subs is, obviously, the subs.  Nearly every customer I've seen there orders one.

The sub line up is fairly extensive, ranging from warm chicken parm to simple tuna salad.  Proteins and cheeses are all Boar's Head, sliced fresh daily in the morning.

Gambino's serves all subs on your choice of bread (soft sub roll, Italian hard roll, wheat roll or Dutch crunch), and one of two styles "East Coast" or "West Coast".  Both styles feature sliced tomatoes, red onion, and shredded iceberg, and East Coast style is rounded with by olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and other herbs.  West Coast style adds pickles, mayo, and mustard.  I think you could probably add just a subset of any of these toppings if you please, but most customers seem to just pick East or West.

Hot Subs

The subs that always call out to me when I visit are the hot subs.  They always look, and smell, amazing when being prepared.  Hot subs all come with Gambino's custom house cheese blend, and you can add hots or pepperoncini with no additional charge.

The hot sub lineup includes several kinds of cheesesteak, sausages, assorted parms (chicken, eggplant, meatball), pulled pork, burgers, and more.

Roast Beef & Swiss. Dutch Crunch. $9.49.
East Coast Style.  Toasted.

The first sub I tried was the roast beef, on dutch crunch, part of a Too Good to Go "Mystery Bag", so it was not something I picked out myself.  I was still pleased to get it.

Dutch crunch is the SF darling, and it held up well here.  Crusty on the outside, soft inside. 

The sub was loaded up with fillings.   The swiss cheese was extremely generous, tons of it, well melted.  And speaking of generous, it felt like a pound of freshly sliced Boar's Head roast beef!  The roast beef was standard Boar's Head quality, medium-well cooked.

Roast Beef, East Coast Style: Inside.

The sub was East Coast Style with shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, onions, olive oil, vinegar, herbs, salt, and pepper.  If I were picking this, I'd certainly go for West Coast Style, but it was nice to try something different.  I appreciated the herbs, but, I do miss my pickles, mayo, and mustard!

The shredded lettuce was a nice touch, it reminded me of old school delis, and the rest of the veggies were well suited.

Overall, a good sub, HUGE and generous, good value at $9.49.  ***.

Traditional Subs

Traditional subs are not heated by default, but can be toasted in their pizza oven upon request.   From here, you can select your choice of deli meats and cheeses, or opt for one of their "Specialty" subs.  I had a Specialty sub.

Specialty Sub: The Gambino.  Soft French Roll.  $9.99.
East Coast Style.

"Ham, Salami, Hot Coppa, Mortadella, Provolone."

A few days later, my Too Good To Go "Mystery Bag" included their namesake sub, The Gambino, again East Coast style.  It came on a soft french roll, not toasted.

It reminded me in some ways of the sub I used to get at Subway when I was growing up (as in, when I was <16 years old, and my family went there regularly for Sunday night family dinner ... ), the Cold Cut Combo, with ham, salami, and bologna.  Except this was a more grown up version.

The bread was quite fresh, so soft.  Clearly baked fresh daily.

Fillings were great, the same shredded romaine, sliced tomatoes, sliced red onions, oil, and herbs as my previous sub, and 2 slices of each meat and cheese, again Boar's Head, sliced fresh that morning. 

I love mortadella, so this was a nice mystery bag win for me.   Yeah, fancy bologna.  I liked the salami, but wouldn't go out of my way to order it.  It was well seasoned.  The coppa was too fatty/greasy for my tastes.  The ham was ... ham.  Overall a nice blend of meats though, and although provolone is rarely my cheese of choice, it went nicely with them too.

***+.

Hot Plates

While subs are the main business, Gambino's offers a few hot plates of Italian specialties: meatballs, eggplant parm, sausage & peppers, and more.  These come with side salads and garlic bread.

Wendy's Homemade Lasagna. $10.99.

"Meat lasagna with marinara sauce, and cheese. Served with Gambino's custom house cheese blend."

Gambino's always has a sign out front advertising the homemade lasagna, yet I've never seen anyone order it.  I love lasagna, so I finally had to try it.  

Let's be clear here though, um, I love some types of lasagna.  Lasagna has a lot of variety to it ... but let's just talk meat lasagna to keep it simple (although I do love a good veggie lasagna too, particularly one with butternut squash puree, swiss chard or other greens ...).  Meat lasagna.  Now, many versions have ricotta.  I do not like ricotta in my meat lasagna.  So, no ricotta please (ricotta in a veggie lasagna, not red sauce based, yes!).  Red sauce, sure, but not too much.  Even better if the meat is incorporated into the sauce, in a rich, deep bolognese.  Bonus points for béchamel in there.  Bonus points for fresh pasta rather than dried, still al dente.  Even more bonus points for crispy edges.  And yes, sure, some cheese melting about.

The Gambinos portion was HUGE, and covered in cheese.  Red sauce.  Very little ricotta.  No veggies.  Sadly no crispy edges.

It is a meat lasagna, with ground beef, and the same marinara sauce and "custom house cheese blend" used in their eggplant, meatball, and chicken parm subs and plates.  The marinara sauce was quite flavorful, well seasoned.   Far above average.  And that custom cheese blend?  Fabulous, and wowzer, tons of cheese on here.  I'm not sure what the blend is, clearly mozzarella, but there was much more to it.  Great cheese element.

The noodles were average, softer than I liked.  Meat was minimal, ground beef in a layer with the sauce on top, not throughout.  So, fantastic sauce and cheese blend, ok beef and ricotta, eh noodles.  Overall, slightly above average.

The lasagna meal is served with a side Caesar salad and garlic bread, an incredible value at $10.99 for massive portion.

***+.

Sides

Perhaps an often overlooked part of a menu, but the deli salad sides section is not to be missed at Gambino's.  All are made fresh daily, and are far, far above average.  From here you can pick from the classics like macaroni or potato salad, or the top selling pesto pasta salad, a traditional caprese with mozzarella and tomatoes, one with roasted greek veggies, and more.  All are available in two sizes.

Spoiler: I'm obsessed, really, with their macaroni salad.  I think at this point I dub it the best I've ever had.  Anywhere. 

Macaroni Salad. Small.  $4.25.

Simple enough looking macaroni salad.  Sure.

But this was good macaroni salad.  Just classic macaroni salad, with bits of bell pepper inside, and classic mayo dressing, heavily dressed, but not gross.  The macaroni is well cooked, slightly al dente, and the dressing had a slight bite to it that I like.

***+.

Macaroni Salad. Small.  $4.25.

My next visit, I had to get it again.  This version was slightly different, with large chunks of celery instead of bits of bell peppers.

It was still quite good.  I really liked the decent sized chunks of celery, and how crisp they were, adding a slight crunch.

****.

Macaroni Salad. Small. $4.25.

Another day, another version.  No celery.  No bell pepper.  Instead, herbs this time.  It did not have much extra flavor, and as always was really heavily dressed, but I still love it. ***+.

My perfect lunch I make is adding a scoop of it, plus seaweed salad, pickles + pickle juice, soy sauce, and furikake, and served over salad base (kale, bibb lettuce, sprouts), and topped with Chex mix crumble.  That creation is ***** all the way, and the macaroni salad is a key component.

Half Macaroni Salad / Half Potato Salad. Small.  $4.25.

My next visit, I decided I wanted to try the potato salad, since I adored the macaroni salad.  But ... I had FOMO, so I asked if I could get half and half, since they were the same price.  This was easily accomodated.

The potato salad unfortunately was ... eh.  It was "fine", but had sundried tomatoes which I don't really care for, and didn't have any hard boiled egg, which I do like in my potato salad.  It was fine, I finished it, but I haven't gotten it again.  ***.

The macaroni was great again though, this time with bell peppers again.  ****.

Half Macaroni Salad / Half Fruit Salad. Small.  $4.25.

Another day, and I decided to try another salad, again getting half and half, so I didn't miss out on my macaroni salad.  I opted to try the fruit salad, and it was glorious.  It has since become a repeat order, more on that soon.

**** for both (this was actually a large container, as they were out of small containers, hence why it was not full.  They did give me a full portion!).

Again, I love the macaroni mixed with kale, iceberg, pickle juice, soy sauce, and seaweed salad, and this time crumbled tempura seaweed and bbq chips on top.  It was insanely delicious. ****+.

Side Salad (sub romaine). $3.99.

Eventually, I moved on to the "side salad".  I didn't know what it would be, but the menu did say it came with mixed greens.  I asked for romaine, wanting something crisp.

It was a decent version of a garden salad, with 4 large ripe tomatoes, 4 slices of cucumber sliced to order, red onion, pepperoncini, and marinated artichoke hearts (meh).  The cucumbers were standout, really, really good.  Super juicy, quite fresh.  

It came with balsamic vinaigrette, which I didn't care for, but I used my own dressing at home anyway.

This was a great value for $3.99.  ***+.

Side Salad. $3.99.
Sub romaine, no artichoke, ranch.

Craving greens, I got it again, again asking for romaine, and no artichokes, since I don't like them.

Just like last time, it was crazy fresh ingredients, juicy cukes, thin sliced onion, tons of pepperonici, juicy tomatoes (sliced this time instead of cherry), and this time, it also had some roasted red peppers.

I tried ranch this time for dressing, and it was pretty generic.

***+, again, great value for freshness in particular.

Side Salad. $3.99.
Sub romaine, no artichoke, add mushrooms.

Another day, another side salad.

This time I was asked if I wanted something in place of the artichokes, and was offered mushrooms, so I went for it. They were marinated, not fresh mushrooms.

Again, solid, although the slimy marinated mushrooms I didn't get again.

***+.

Side Salad. $3.99.
Sub romaine, no artichoke.

I get this side salad regularly, always the same modifications.  This one had a comical amount of pepperoncini.

Side Salad. $3.99.
No artichoke.

For once, I got the mixed greens instead of romaine. They were fine, standard mixed greens, but I prefer the crunch from romaine. This version also had really thinly sliced red onion, which I quite liked, and TONS of super fresh cucumber.

***+.

Caesar Salad - Side.

"Romaine, croutons, parmesan cheese, and Caesar dressing."

One day, I finally broke from my mold, and got the Caesar instead.

The base is the same romaine I always get in my side salad, fresh, nice sized chunks.

Rounded out with shredded parmesan, flavorful crisp good sized croutons, and the same Caesar dressing that I'm not quite into, very generic.

Good enough standard salad.  ***.

A full Caesar is $7.49, this was the side size included with lasagna meal.

Desserts / Baked Goods / Sweets

Gambino's isn't really a dessert destination, but they always has a small pastry case with some muffins, danishes, cookies, and cakes, most of which come from Costco, but from time to time, homemade items appear.  They also have fresh fruit and yogurt parfaits, for those who want something healthier.

Fruit Salad. Small. $4.25.

The Gambino's fruit salad may be my favorite item.  It is a close tie with the macaroni salad.  I get it nearly every visit.

The fruit mix always contains cut strawberries, and an assortment of berries, usually raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries, although every once in a while one type of berry is absent.  The fruit salad never contains fillers like melons nor pineapple, no grapes, nothing else, just, berries.

The fruit has always been fresh, flavorful, ripe, and just very, very good.  The price is great for quality fruit, and I get it over and over again.

****+.

Fruit Parfait. $6.49.

"Our delicious and light yogurt topped with granola and blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries."

Eh.

The yogurt was just generic vanilla-ish yogurt, not thick, rich, Greek yogurt.  It had a slightly fake sweet taste to it.  The granola was equally generic, I think the same Kellogg's granola that airport lounges and hotel buffets have.

The fruit though was fantastic, the same berry mix that I get as a side often.

So, overall, generic hotel/airline lounge quality yogurt and granola, enjoyable fruit.  Large size, but $6.49 felt a bit pricey for not using local yogurt or housemade granola.

**+.

Homemade Chocolate Cake.

The owner's wife makes many of their baked goods, and this was the first that I was able to try.

Moist chocolate loaf cake.  Loved the sweet white chocolate, dulce, and dark chocolate drizzled on top.

Clearly freshly made, but loaf cakes aren't really my thing (where is the frosting!).  I brought it home, heated it up, and added a scoop of salted caramel nib ice cream, and it was quite satisfying.

***+.

Chocolate Chip Cookies.

The cookies looked far above average.  Large size, and were soooo soft.

But, um, they tasted kinda like a large soft baked Chips Ahoy cookie. Not fresh, but not stale, if that makes sense.  Tasted, um, processed?

I wanted to love them, as I loved how soft they were, and they did have nice large hunks of chocolate, but they just tasted too fake and generic.

I would not be surprised to learn that these are just Costco cookies ... 

**+.

Almond Poppyseed Muffin.

Gambino's always has a variety of muffins, wrapped up individually in the case.  I'm quite certain these are Costco muffins, and if you've read my review before, you know how much I love the almond poppyseed Costco muffins, so, one day, I just had to get one.

It has been years since I had a Costco muffin, but I remembered the poppyseed always being my favorite.  Unlike nearly every poppyseed muffin on the market, this one is not lemon poppyseed.  No, it is *almond* poppyseed.

It lived up to my memories.  Mind you, this is not a homemade tasting muffin, you can tell it is a mass produced generic muffin.  So bad for you, really, yet so good.

I loved the crunch of poppy seeds, the strong almond marzipan-like flavor.  

****.

Double Chocoate Muffin.

The next time I visited Gambinos, I was craving chocolate.  Chocolate cake.  But alas, the homemade chocolate cake was not available.  I settled for a chocolate muffin, which, yup, was from Costco too.

MEH.  

While I adore the almond poppyseed muffin, the same cannot be said about the double chocolate.

This was such a boring muffin.  Light chocolate flavor, not deep and rich, and certainly nothing like a chocolate cake.  It wasn't stale, but was fairly dry.  Not moist.

The "double" chocolate came in the form of 2-3 chocolate chunks in my muffin.  Bo-ring.

Highly underwhelming, and I'd like to know what they put in it to make it 680 calories and yet ... not even tasty!

I salvaged it by soaking it in milk, warming it up, and serving a la mode, more like a cake, and that was ok, but I clearly wouldn't get another.

**.

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Sweet Joanna's Cafe

Sweet Joanna's is a cafe located close to my home and office.  I've walked by it daily, literally, for years, without giving it at second glance.  Open during the week only, for breakfast (bagels, egg sandos, etc) and lunch (sandwiches), and is always shockingly busy.  But as my office provided me with breakfast and lunch, I never had a reason to visit a cafe during the week.  So I walked on by.

That is, until the year(s) of Covid.  Somehow, Sweet Joanna's made it through, one of few places in the neighborhood that opened back up.  I was glad to finally check it out.

I always ordered online using Allset, or Too Good To Go, and pickup was quite easy.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of takeout and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes for free money!

• Allset ($5 off) [ Pickup only ]
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• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

One extra thing to note: the staff at Sweet Joanna's are wonderful.  You can tell they know their regulars, and are a real family business.  I see the owner (?) slide free pastries into the bags of regulars often.  It is the sort of place you feel good visiting, and want to succeed.

Sweet Joanna's has, hands down, the best selection of chips I have ever seen.  Seriously, they carry a huge variety of brands, no loyalty to one or another, and within each brand, they have all the classic but also really obscure flavors.  I've never seen such variety in chips, anywhere.  Not even the grocery store.

They also have an impressive bottled drinks lineup, again, just vast selection, so many brands, so many flavors.  Little things like this show how much thought the owner's put into creating a great experience for their customers.  Chances are high they'll have your favorite, even if radically different from your co-workers, and yes, they'll have theirs too.

Sweet Joanna's had outdoor seating on the sidewalk, and did even before Covid days.  Most people tend to grab their items and go, but, for those that stay, there are a decent number of tables outside, and a few inside.

Baked Goods

While Sweet Joanna's mostly is a lunch destination, always crazy busy with nearby workers coming in for a sandwich and bag of chips from their epic selection, the baked goods are not to be missed.  I'm a baked goods lover, and I was highly impressed with the quality.  I was told that Sweet Joanna's bakes all their own pastries in house, daily, which is fairly impressive for such a small cafe, but, um, I am fairly certain that at least most of the items come from California Smart Foods, a wholesale bakery here in San Francisco.

The baked goods lineup ranges from dessert items like cookies and brownies, to breakfast staples like muffins and scones, to very tempting looking donuts, croissants, buns, and more.  They are displayed right at the register, and look amazing.

Pastries

The pastry lineup is what always draws me in.  Several varieties of croissants, danishes, sweet buns, and more.

Morning Bun.  $2.75.

The first time I ordered, I ordered online, and selected a sticky bun.  Alas, when I arrived, they had no sticky buns left.  Only morning buns (among other goodies).

I accepted the morning bun instead, but walked away a bit sad and annoyed.  I was in the mood for a sickeningly sweet sticky bun!  Turns out though, I 'won'.  Maybe their sticky bun is amazing, but this was incredible.  I'm almost glad they didn't have the sticky bun, as it lead to me discovering the morning bun instead.

It was GLORIOUS.  So much more than meets the eye.

Perfectly crispy exterior, flaky, buttery, moist dough inside.  Coated in soooo much sugar and a touch of cinnamon.  And, then ... MARZIPAN!  The entire base was marzipan.  Glory.

I adored this, and would gladly get another.  ****.

Almond Bear Claw.  $2.75.

Next up was an item selected for me, the almond bear claw.

It had a great shine to it, and was covered in slivered almonds.  I couldn't wait to see what was inside.

I'll cut right to the chase though.  This was a highly, highly mediocre pastry.

Sure, it was fresh enough, the pastry was flaky, and it did have plenty of almonds on the exterior, but it really was quite boring, particularly when compared to the morning bun.  I expected a generous almond filling, and it had very little.  There was a smidge of almond paste inside, but barely enough to taste.  The result was a fairly dry pastry, one full of promise, but no delivery.

**+.

Update: It might sound odd, but I froze half of it, and realized I liked it far more frozen.  Like, direct from freezer.  Still not a great pastry, but I liked it more this way. ***.

Apple Turnover. $2.75.

This was another item selected for me, as part of a Too Good To Go bag, but I was fairly excited by it, as I was in a bit of a pie mood.  I wasn't sure what flavor it was, but it turned out to be apple.

The pastry was fairly average, a bit flaky, a bit stale (it was end of day).  I liked the pearl sugar on top, even though there was a comical amount.  Inside was apple filling, a rather mushy, applesauce like style with a few chunks.  Very little seasoning to the apple mix, which at least meant it wasn't aggressively over spiced, but also made it not very interesting.

I didn't hate this, but it certainly was not as good as the one I had the week before from Le Sandwich (made by Dianda's Italian bakery), which I'll review soon.

***, highly average.  Once heated, and stuffed with ice cream, it elevated to a ***+.

Plain Croissant. $2.75.

Another Too Good To Go selection, the massive plain croissant, clearly not a flaky french style.

It was really quite buttery, and had a nice flavor to it, but a flaky, messy, quality French pastry it was not.  Still, I did enjoy it, and I think it would work great as a vehicle for a breakfast sandwich, filled with runny egg and cheese.

***.

Scones

Sweet Joanna's carries two kinds of scones, blueberry or cranberry walnut.

Cranberry Walnut Scone.  $2.75.

My second visit to Sweet Joanna's fared no better.  I again ordered a sticky bun online, but they were out when I arrived.  And they were out of donuts.  Only a few danishes and scones remained.  I told the staff member to pick for me, and he selected this scone, cranberry walnut.

It was ... ok.  I didn't really like it at first, as I don't like cranberry that much.  It was very soft, cake style.  I liked the sugar on top.   The nuts were minimal but I did like the crunch they added.  But, the tart cranberry didn't really do it for me.

**, at first.

But I kept trying, unwilling to throw it out.  I turned it into "scone porridge" 2 days later.  Yes, scone porridge.  A new invention, heh.  I crumbled it up, removed the cranberries, added milk, and warmed it in microwave.  Then I added sprinkles and cinnamon.

It was like mushy thick oatmeal, and the nuts were great.  I certainly wouldn't seek this scone out, but, hey, it worked as porridge ...

***+, in my new form.

Muffins

Sweet Joanna's offers up three kinds of muffins: classic blueberry, healthy bran, and banana walnut.  All have a homemade look to them, and uh, often look slightly burnt.  You know, "homemade"!

Banana Walnut Muffin.  $2.75.

The first muffin I tried was banana walnut.  I loved how it had slices of banana visible on the outside, and they looked gloriously caramelized.

I love a crispy top on my muffins, so even though this looked a bit dark, I was excited by how crispy it looked.

It was a decent banana muffin, very, well, banana forward? You had to be in the mood for banana bread to enjoy it.  Fairly spiced.  Moist, well studded with bits of walnut for texture.  The banana slices were only on the outside, but I liked what they added.

Overall, a fine banana muffin, but again, you had to want a banana muffin, which isn't usually my thing.  It went nicely toasted with cream cheese slathered on.

***.

Banana Walnut Muffin. $2.75.

A month or so later, I got another.  This one was far lighter on top, and had even more slices of banana perched on top.

It was slightly less over baked, but otherwise was pretty much the same.  Good warm with cream cheese, but not something I'd seek out.

***.

Blueberry Muffin. $2.75.

The blueberry muffin was letdown.

The top was crisp, but without a sugar coating or anything, it just felt a bit burnt.  Inside was equally dry, not a moist muffin.  The texture sorta reminded me of what I'd expect from a gluten-free muffin, although it was not.

It was loaded with berries, generous berries all throughout, but, the base muffin just had no flavor.  No tang, no sweetness, just, nothing.  Incredibly boring.  Again, sorta reminded me of what you'd expect from a gluten-free baked good, it tasted a bit ... like cardboard.

Boring, dry, meh.

**.

Cookies

I've long eyed the massive cookies at Sweet Joanna's, but they never make it to the top of my priority list of items to try out.  I mean, really, how do you pick a cookie when there are so many decadent pastries sitting there!  They offer only chocolate chip cookies, available with or without a chocolate dip, and coconut macaroons.

I finally tried one.

Chocolate Dipped Chocolate Chip Cookie.  $2.75.

One day, I actually really was in the mood for a cookie AND was really in the mood for chocolate, so the chocolate dipped cookie sounded perfect.

It was a decent cookie, quite large, crisp, which isn't how I generally prefer my cookies, but made for a good "cookies and milk" cookie, if that makes sense.  The kind to dunk in milk.  It was loaded with little chips, and the chocolate coating really just sealed the deal.  It was precisely what I was looking for.

These are also available in a non-dipped form, if, for some reason, you prefer less chocolate.

***.

Other

I still have never had the main draw of Joanna's, the sandwiches, but one day my Too Good To Go bag contained sandwich filling.  They also have a daily soup, available with or without vegetables, that frequently winds up in Too Good To Go bags.

Egg Salad.

Sweet Joanna's makes their egg salad fresh daily.  

It was a mushy style, with no obvious seasoning nor mix ins, besides the expected egg and mayo.  However, the moment I tasted it, I knew there was at least one other thing in here: mustard.  So much mustard.  The dominant flavor, not egg, but, mustard.  It desperately lacked any other seasoning.

I imagine on a proper sandwich the veggies, bun, etc would balance it out perhaps,  but, as it was, this was just very, very mustard heavy and mushy.

Eh.  **+.

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