It was a beautiful and sunny day, so GameBoy and I decided to skip our usual Sunday morning brunch spot, Café Marly in Beverly Hills, in favor of Bay Cities Italian Deli in Santa Monica. I first heard about this place from one of GameBoy’s friends, PonytailedGuy, whose tastes sometimes coincide with my own, so I was curious to try this “landmark” eatery down near the beach.
Unfortunately, the rest of LA decided to take advantage of the sunshine, and our ride down Santa Monica Boulevard was slow and frustrating. Bay Cities also turned out to be incredibly crowded, with families and 20-somethings fighting for parking, and then jockeying for a place to stand and wait. The small lot was full, so we found parking about a block down on the street and made our way inside. Pushing past the people milling about, we found the deli counter, took a number, and located a menu to study.
The neon green menus were laminated, and taped thoughtfully to the glass displaying the meats at the counter, at the perfect height for leisurely perusal. With my knowledge of Italian deli meats limited to a few charcuterie plates, I quickly narrowed it down to either GameBoy’s choice, the Godmother sandwich, which was a standard mix of proscuitto and capricola, or a soppressatta sandwich. I decided on a large Godmother, and communicated this to GameBoy. However, it turned out later that he had misunderstood me, and I ended up with the soppressatta. Luckily, we agreed to split our sandwiches, so we could both try the large Godmother ($7.65) and the regular soppressatta ($5.90).
The reason the wait for Bay Cities is so long on weekends is that they make each sandwich to order. Oddly, GameBoy noticed that the option of “The Works” actually wasn’t cheaper than getting each condiment individually. We thus determined that he would order each of our preferred condiments separately.
Having finalized our order, I then wandered around the rest of the market, which had a promising selection of Italian foodstuff, unsurprisingly. I took special note of the burrata, which was cheaper than Bristol Farms’ price, and the fact that they carried Cowgirl Creamery cheeses, a cheesemaker I am eager to try. Unfortunately, our plan at that point was to go the beach afterwards, so I was forced to put any cheese buying off to another day. I also noticed that they have a fax and online order area, which seemed to be much faster at producing sandwiches, and made a note to order before we drive down next time.
After a fairly long wait, especially for me with my cute but somewhat painful brown heels, we got our sandwiches, grabbed some drinks (Jones root beer, $1.29, for him, Le Village sparkling pink lemonade, $1.98, for me), paid for our sandwiches at the register, and headed outside. We found seating at a table on the side of the deli. The seating is a bit unusual there. You sit on narrow concrete ledges that have been placed as benches near the tables. This, I guess, functions to prevent homeless people from sleeping there at night, and to prevent chairs from getting stolen.
Anyway, all that waiting made GameBoy and I pretty hungry, so we eagerly dug in. Unfortunately, the bread, apparently a signature item, was hard, making it diffiuclt to bite into the sandwich. GameBoy and I agreed that the bread’s hardness forced the fillings out along the sides, making it more messy and less enjoyable. The sopressatta was nice and spicy, and the Godmother proved to be fair as well. GameBoy preferred the Godmother, and I the soppressatta, so after a few test bites of each other’s sandwiches, we went back to our initial orders. They were both good sandwiches, but we left thinking that they were a bit over-hyped for what they were. I am curious, however, to try the cheeses and other charcuterie they had available. I think I’d prefer to make my own sandwiches next time, though.
On a side note, GameBoy and I both felt slightly ill a few hours later, and the possibility that Bay Cities may be responsible for my stomach cramps has definitely made a return trip less of a priority.
Date of visit: 3/11/07
Bay Cities Italian Deli and Bakery
1517 Lincoln Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 395-8279
Fax (310) 395-1575
Tues-Sat 9-7, Sun 9-5, closed Mondays
HOURS:
Tues-Sat 9-7 Sunday 9-6 CLOSED MONDAYS
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