Metropolitan Bakery

This is as close as it gets to REAL French or Italian bread in the area. While I love some of the other choices for bakeries around Philadelphia, something seems to have been lost over the last dozen or so years with many of them. This is not the case with Metropolitan bakery however. The bakers and owners understand the fundamentals of good bread in the European tradition and the recipes are spot on! This is the best and probably closest thing you can get to the breads in Paris or Rome (south of Manhattan) short of being in either of those storied European capitals. In a great deal of travels (with the exception of New York), I haven't found anything that can hold a candle to their bread. I can't even think of a close second. There are one or two other bakeries in the city I would put in the same category and one bakery in the burbs, but they are still miles apart in quality and taste. Go to Reading Terminal and get a bottle of water and a baguette. If you have ever eaten the European bread, it will take you right back there!