Sourdough is as intrinsic to San Francisco’s identity as the rolling fog and Golden Gate Bridge.
The famed Boudin Bakery claims its sourdough starter dates back to 1849. Local bread luminary Chad Robertson, founder of Tartine Bakery, revolutionized sourdough in the 2010s with tangy, ultra custardy country loaves that spawned a new generation of bread-baking nationwide. Today, San Francisco sourdough continues to evolve, with bakeries such as Rize Up making loaves with unusual, colorful ingredients like gochujang or ube.
With so many options, the Chronicle’s Food + Wine team set out to identify the best sourdough in San Francisco. The team purchased sourdough from 12 notable bakeries (see below for the full list) the same morning, and blind-tasted them plain and untoasted. Tasters evaluated flavor and texture, giving overall scores on a scale of 0 to 10 to determine the final ranking…