[davewongillies]

I get that those places you've mentioned have really great bread but outside of the US you don't have to go out of your way to a specialist bakery just to get a reasonable loaf of bread. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the bar for a standard, everyday loaf of bread in the US is really, really low compared to other countries.

[jasonjei]

You don't have to go really far for good bread in San Francisco or any of the coastal areas of California. Most restaurants in SF, even dingy hole in the walls, serve ACME bread of Berkeley. Whole Foods here carries ACME.

I think the US is large, and to generalize and pigeonhole the US as a whole is unfair to cities like LA, SF, and NYC, because there really is a rich baking scene. I mean, do we expect Oklahoma to have great artisanal breads when the state is suffering on several levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs?