Everyone can use a neighborhood spot that serves up sandwiches, salads and pizzas for a quick meal. It sure seems to be a necessity on the 3000 block of North Sheffield, where a steady stream of customers shows up at Panes Bread Cafe after work and on the weekend.
This is a comfortable room where you drop in for a fast dinner or lunch, not really to meet friends for a leisurely dinner-although no one tries to hustle you out if you want to linger.
Service starts at the counter where you line up to place your order. Smiles or thank-yous seem in short supply; there is a certain amount of grumpiness from the staff in general. Wait at the side to pick up your carryout order; if you’re eating in, someone brings the meal to your table.
For a place with a deli atmosphere and deli prices, the menu has restaurant ambitions. The result falls somewhere in between.
The sandwiches seem like a good place to start, because the breads are made here. Basic offerings include bacon, lettuce and tomato ($3.75) and a club sandwich ($4.25). Others are traditional with a twist: A roast beef, avocado, red onions and cheese comes spread with a red pepper aioli ($4.50). The Fifi Frances ($4.50) is a chi-chi ham and cheese with a slice of marinated chicken and honey-Dijon dressing. The regular ham and cheese ($3.95) on warm, toasted French bread with finely sliced ham would be a lot better if it wasn’t served with a slice of “cheeze,” like that you would find in a Big Mac.
A better bet is the Oaxacan pork sandwich ($4.50), with sliced, marinated pork loin, grilled red onions, hot peppers and that sweet red pepper aioli. It’s a great price for a good, filling sandwich that, like the others, comes with potato chips. Another favorite is the Mediterranean turkey sandwich ($3.95) with turkey, provolone cheese and a relish-y dressing of olive oil, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, black olives and onions.
The pizzas need more work, if our experience was typical. We ordered the spinach and chicken ($3.50), and it gets points for its obviously fresh spinach leaves. But the crust is cracker-thin, underbaked and tasteless, more like an unbaked matzo than a pizza crust. Other choices include bacon and onion ($3.25) and goat cheese ($3.25).
Main-dish salads include a traditional Caesar ($3.50), fusilli pasta and chicken ($3.95), and a grilled chicken salad with roasted red pepper, broccoli and honey-Dijon dressing ($3.50). Again, the prices are a bargain for satisfying portions.
Panes also offers hot pasta dishes. The menu has some flair, from the cavatapi pasta with roasted plum tomatoes, eggplant and goat cheese ($5.75) to the capellini with sauteed chicken, spinach, roasted garlic and chicken broth ($5.75). But the “golden ziti” ($5.75) we ordered is a little odd; it has a nice Cheddar cream sauce, but the sauce is so thin it runs right off the pasta. It breaks your heart if you’re looking forward to something a little macaroni-and-cheesier.
Drinks are limited to sodas, iced tea and bottles of Nantucket Nectar juice ($1.50).
Desserts are baked in-house. A single-serving loaf of banana bread ($1.90) was available on Sunday but not on the shelves on a visit during the week. It is a nice tea bread that’s just right with a cup of tea or coffee. The cookies were great, especially the big, tender chocolate chip (75 cents). Get several.
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Panes Bread Cafe
(One fork)
3002 N. Sheffield Ave.
773-665-0972
Hours: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sun.
No credit cards
Ratings: 4 forks: Top of the class
3 forks: Better than most
2 forks: Very good fare
1 fork: Middle of the road
Reviews are based on anonymous visits by Tribune staff members. The meals are paid for by the Tribune.
