Bi-Rite Market
Bread from Acme, Jane and Firebrand, a butcher who feeds you samples while you decide, and Dolores Park one block up the hill. The sandwich to get is prosciutto, mozzarella and arugula pesto on a crusty baguette.
Why go
Will Kamensky's line for the Infatuation names the suppliers, which is the useful part: Come here and get meat, cheese, and bread from Acme, Jane, and Firebrand.
1 He also gives you the loitering strategy: If you just want something small to snack on, grab a seed pretzel and use a few free samples from the butcher to tide you over.
The company runs three Markets, a Creamery and a catering arm, and has since added sushi and onigiri made in the Market kitchens.2 The pin on this page is the 18th Street store.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the deli sandwich Kamensky picks, "the one with prosciutto, mozzarella, and arugula pesto on a crusty baguette."
- Avoid: a full weekly shop on a sunny weekend. Every picnic in the Mission starts here.
What locals & experts say
- The Infatuation SF (Will Kamensky, 31 May 2019):
If you're hanging out in Dolores Park, having Bi-Rite Market next to you is like having access to Hermoine Granger's handbag, if that handbag only held an infinite amount of picnic supplies.
1 - Currency: that review is from 2019; the sushi and onigiri counter is current company copy read in August 2026.
Good to know
- Timing: daytime. Build the picnic, walk up to the park.
- Booking: walk in.
- Getting there: 18th Street at Dolores, one block from the park's north corner.
Verdict
could-visit — A grocery whose bread comes from Acme, Jane and Firebrand and whose butcher hands out samples while you decide, one block from Dolores Park. That combination is the reason it functions as the city's picnic staging post, and the deli sandwich a critic will name by its components is the thing to buy. It is a shop rather than a destination meal, so the rung sits where it should.