Good news for all the grain lovers out there! One of Chicago’s most beloved wholesale bakeries has officially opened its first retail café—and it’s stocked with everything from slow-fermented bread and pastries to gourmet sandwiches.
Publican Quality Bread, the bread company owned by One Off Hospitality, debuted its inaugural public-facing bakery on June 6 after more than eight years of baking bread for restaurants like avec, Lula Café and The Girl & The Goat. Located inside the company’s 4,200-square-foot bakery space in West Town, the retail counter offers a laundry list of treats from head baker Greg Wade. During the week, choose from pastries like savory croissants, tartines and morning buns as well as baguette sandwiches and grab-and-go salads; over the weekend, the menu takes a sweeter turn with indulgent sweets filled with lemon meringue and amarena cherry. Diners can pair their baked goods with drinks from a full-service coffee bar serving La Colombe beans and specialty teas. Want to linger for a while? The space boasts Wi-Fi and seating for 30 as well as an outdoor patio.
The café also features a handful of new menu items, including “The Big Sandwich” (a pizza-based sandwich that's sold by weight and comes stacked with mortadella, stracciatella, Vidalia onions, Dijon mustard, arugula and sour cherry spread) and an expanded roster of bread offerings such as toasted sesame sourdough and malted rye. And of course, you’ll find plenty of the bakery’s heritage grain bread available for sale daily—don’t forget to take a peek into the glass-walled bakery to watch some of the baking action unfold.
Publican Quality Bread (1759 W Grand Ave) is open Monday–Friday 7am–6pm and Saturday–Sunday 7am–3pm. Take a look through some of café’s most toothsome-looking offerings below.
