My American Bread Secret
Buy cheap day-old bread from restaurant chains!
• Jimmy John’s sells day old bread for 50 cents. You can buy it any point during the day, just ask at the register. They have full white baguettes wrapped in the sandwich paper (BONUS TIP FROM ANOTHER READER: If you go just before close, they’ll often sell you fresh bread for the day-old price!)
• Bruegger’s usually has six packs of bagels from the day before for $3, which is half the normal price (freeze ‘em).
• Au Bon Pain has half-off bakery items after 7 p.m. (or at least that’s true in DC—I haven’t tried anywhere else). Awesome for post happy hour snacks. It helps me to just say no to wings and fries.
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Previously on The Billfold
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Speaking of DC bread tips, for GW kids: Bertucci’s gives away their leftover rolls (sometimes still hot!) at closing. By the bagful.
Some Jimmy Johns actually let you have a day old loaf for free when you buy a sandwich. And if the employee is really nice, they let you take more than one!
Never heard of either of the first two places? Are they local to DC? Have been to Au Bon Pain in Boston, but do we have those on the west coast?
Good general tip though that a lot of bakeries (the ones who aren’t heaving it all in the dumpster) will sell day-olds for a discount.
@selenana Jimmy Johns is a Midwest chain but they’ve been expanding like mad. I know they go pretty far west now. I’ve been to one in Arizona I think it was? We were driving, so I lost track of borders. It could have been Nevada.
I wish they sold Subway bread.
Bakery outlets are good too- same concept, but you can get fancy sandwich bread for a dollar instead of four. Then you can fill up your freezer with fancy bread and it is delightful.