Some places become local obsessions because of clever marketing or celebrity endorsements or being in the right place at the right time.
Bay Cities Italian Deli & Bakery in Santa Monica became a local obsession the old-fashioned way: by making sandwiches so good that people can’t shut up about them.
For decades, this unassuming deli has been serving the kind of food that turns first-time visitors into regulars and regulars into evangelists who won’t stop talking about it.
The building on Lincoln Boulevard doesn’t look like much from the outside, which is part of its charm and probably part of why it’s remained authentic while other places have sold out to trends…