Best Of Tucson®

Best Fresh-Baked Bread

Beyond Bread

Reader's Pick: At the dawn of time, the gods created manna from heaven, proclaiming it through the land with yeasty aroma of fresh-baked bread. In Tucson, the best place to partake of the food of the gods is Beyond Bread. This busty little bakers/café serves up no fewer than 27 different styles over the course of a week, from the obvious favorites like rye and whole wheat, to exotic combinations like green chile and provolone or cranberry pecan breads. There are also specialties like egg-enriched braided challah, available on Fridays for Sabbath, or the babka (wheat, flour, eggs, butter, sugar, oil, chocolate, almonds, rum, vanilla, yeast, lemon zest, brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon, and sea salt). If you're not sure what you want, there are plenty of samples of that day's offerings available to taste-test. The café also does a thriving business in delicious hot and cold sandwiches using a wealth of fresh breads as a starting point. Catering is also available.