Ace Bakery & Bread Store

+ good bread
— pricey pricey pricey
This café is located within the factory building. You would think the breads would be at a discount. Oh no, they are actually priced higher than in local grocery stores. Seems like a pathetic money grab to me. Other than a bread special of the day, everything here costs an arm and a leg. $ 9 for a small lunch sandwich? Who’s running this place? The sandwich was good, but not $ 9 good. There’s only a single large table to eat your lunch at too – weird.
It’s not worth the drive to the industrial section of town folks. What a disappointment.

«Life is like a sandwich, the more you add, the better it becomes» — Anon.
Did you know that the Ace Bakery factory has a small café opened up on their Hafis Rd. site? Yup, they do. It’s open 6 days a week, your basic 10 a.m. –3 p.m. hours and have café seating for about a dozen people. They offer up a decent sandwich menu, along with a daily soup, a daily muffin and a salad option as well. Sandwiches are such comfort food and nothing beats having a sandwich on freshly baked bread, especially bread that has such great texture and flavour.
Offerings include a bit of a twist on tuna with a Japanese styled tuna dressed with rice wine and wasabi vinaigrette served on a multi-​grained panini. Being the beef lover I am I often opt for the roast beef with arugula, tomatoes and horseradish mayo on a ciabatta lunga. They do the apple cheddar play on sandwiches, bocconcini & oven roasted tomatoes and a curried chicken salad with chopped apples served on raisin walnut bread. On a few occasions they had a grilled cheese up on the menu as well. You can also grab a toasted cranberry focaccia bun and a coffee which is a great mid morning pickup. Sandwich prices range from $ 6.00-$ 7.50. I have always found the ingredients to be fresh and plentiful.
You have an option to do a half and half, combining a sandwich and a soup or salad. Soups are changed daily (today’s was chilled green pea) and are very hearty, not tasting of flour or too much salt. The salads are fairly basic (which means mixed mache greens) with options for standard or greek styled salads. Standard vinaigrette dressing are offered for dressing. For dessert Ace Bakery Café sells a small selection of Dufflet’s squares and tarts.
While there you can also pick up their breads, both fresh and frozen. I have found a wider range of their bread products than I find in my local food specialty shops at just a slightly lower price. I have always had a love affair with their potato foccacia and their cranberry fococcia is what I use to make the best French toast you’ll eat this side of the great lakes. Any left over Ace baguette in my house get turned into delicious croutons for snacks or salads.
Ace has expanded its product line to include their own crostini crackers, as well a their house brand granola. They recently introduced their own cookie brand, offering up two kinds of cookies, one cookie with chocolate & pecans and the other an oatmeal, chocolate & walnut cookie, priced at $ 4.99 @ box.
It’s a bit out of the way but if you are up in the Lawrence & Keele area it’s a great place to stop for lunch.