Bakesale Betty - Bakery, Sandwiches, Oakland

Best: Cookies

5098 Telegraph Ave, Oakland CA 94609 (between 49th St & 51st St)
(510) 985-1213
2228 Broadway, Oakland CA 94612 (between Grand Ave & Franklin St)
(510) 251-2100
Hours: Closed Sundays and Mondays, Telegraph branch 7am -2:30pm, 11am – 2:30pm
http://www.bakesalebetty.com/

Last Visited: December 18, 2010

Food: 3 stars
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 3 to 4 stars
Price: $$

I first heard about Bakesale Betty’s by watching fellow classmates check-in there on Facebook. Every now and then, a photo of one of their famous fried chicken sandwiches would pop up on somebody’s mobile upload. After talking to some fellow foodies that reside in the East Bay and said it was worth having at least once, I decided to go to the Telegraph branch. It was a wet and drizzly day which meant eating outside at their famous sidewalk ironing boards wasn’t going to be an option. The good thing about the fair weather was that the line was only about a dozen deep. You’ll find that on a beautiful Saturday, the wait can sometimes go four and five shop lengths deep. Today, I had brought my mom, a self-proclaimed fried-chicken lover, to see if their fried chicken sandwich was indeed as good as its reputation.

Bakesale Betty is Australian cook Alison Barakat. After a firsthand experience of viewing their front-end operations, I have to say that much of the reason it works is because of location. Let’s start from the beginning. Located at the corner, there aren’t any signs indicating that you have arrived at Bakesale Betty’s, but the line is a good indication that you’ve arrived at your destination (partially because I’ve seen pictures of the notable lines). Once in line, you walk past the brown paper signs posted in the window showing the four items available for order that day. Just inside the door, immediately adjacent to the entrance are freshly-baked still warm cookies sitting in a glass case. I don’t know if most people are able to say no to the cookies, but being that this was my first visit, they looked appealing enough to try one. A woman took my order and proceeded to put the cookie in a bag. She called out my sandwich order (today they offered a fried chicken sandwich, pulled pork sandwich, and one more offering). Once I got to the end of that counter, I paid for my order and you could hear the others numerous staff members calling out orders too.

The rear of the “café” area has an assembly line going. With the music blaring, you can see that the staff members seem to be genuinely enjoying themselves. One person mixes the slaw, another cuts large homemade rolls, and yet another assembles the sandwich. These get put into a bag or box, depending on how many you order, and then you are on your way. Hot sauce containers are on the side in case you want to spice up your sandwich further. There are enough tables indoors to seat about eight people comfortably – more if you are willing to pack in tighter. On a nice day, the ironing boards outside could sit about another ten or twelve.

- Fried Chicken Sandwich – Of course, we had to try the fried chicken sandwich. The sandwich is pretty large and it comes with a fork. If you’re wondering why there is a fork, it’s pretty clear once you unwrap the sandwich. A large piece of thick chicken breast is coated in seasoned batter and fried until golden. Sandwiched in a fresh homemade roll along with some cabbage slaw made with jalapenos, red onions, parsley, and vinaigrette, the slaw starts to spill out the moment you pick it up. Without the slaw, this would be just another piece of fried chicken in a sandwich – the meat is slightly warm or room temperature. The serving size is large and the batter is nice, but by itself, the meat would be moist to start and quickly dry by the end. In my opinion, what makes this a notable sandwich is the slaw. There is just enough spice from the ingredients and the balance of tartness from the dressing give you a moist mouth feel. The extra slaw that spills out makes you feel a bit like you’re eating a salad in addition to the sandwich. Personally, I would like to have the top half of the bread roll hollowed out a bit; however, it might not look quite as pretty. It was a good meal, and if I lived or worked close by, I could see myself getting one on occasion, but it’s not worth the hour drive it took for me to get this one. $8.20

- Cookie – I ordered a chocolate chip cookie with walnuts. This cookie might be worth driving for. It caught me by surprise that the edges were just slightly crisp and the center was perfectly soft. My mom, whom can pass up a cookie just about any time, actually wanted more of these. Be sure to save room for dessert and get yourself a cookie! $1.25

- Lemon Ice – Although it was a cold day, the lemon ice was smooth and had just the right sweetness. Good stuff. $2.75

So what makes Bakesale Betty’s special? I think location is very important in their success. While good food is essential, this business model wouldn’t work in many places. First, it looks like a lot of locals are hired – that often helps with success. Their employees seem to be having fun – happy employees make for happy customers and you get better employee performance. Their clientele is also diverse – I saw a multitude of ethnicities, age, and people from different groups (e.g. multiple piercings, preppies, etc). Try to put this restaurant in San Francisco, and it would probably survive in the Castro, Fillmore, or other heavily populated areas. If you put Bakesale Betty as is without any changes in Sonoma or Napa, it would probably fail miserably. The price of the food, the atmosphere of being close to a college town in an urban environment, the tastes of local people (more in search of good food than ambiance), and the high foot traffic location allow it to be profitable and frequented by a number of people.

I’ve also heard that if the line is really long, they’ll start to give away free items – usually cookies (another plus in their business model - if you treat your customers right, they'll keep coming back). The line I was in went pretty quickly, so no such luck for me today. While I didn’t try them, other items available include a variety of cookies, pumpkin pie $20, apple pie $25, and chicken pot pie $25. From what I’ve heard, the strawberry shortcake is good too. If you happen to be in the area, it’s worth a trip to Bakesale Betty – I put their cookies on my must try recommendations list!