Vavo’s Bakery

Vavo’s has recently reinvented themselves. After being closed for a bit they have reopened as Vavo’s Bakery and Pizzeria with new hours and a new menu. The menu is now similar to that of your local pizza shop.
On a recent visit around lunchtime they had a hot case with spinach and a few other pies and around five pizzas available by the slice in a non-​heated case. Since I was starving I got a slice of buffalo chicken pizza for $ 2. It did have a generous amount of chicken on it. It was only lukewarm though and with chicken it was a bit of a concern. The dough is more bready and similar to that of a thick pizza strip dough. My personal preference if I am having a pizza is thin crust. If I were going to order a full pizza from somewhere I would be more likely to order from my local pizza ship to get a crust closer to my preference.
If I was hungry and in the area again I may stop in for a single slice, but I’d be avoiding the chicken.

I was recently in my former lovely hometown of Bristol, (I now call The Richmond District of San Francisco home; Clement Street rocks!) visiting friends and relatives still there. While in town, I thought I’d stop in and check out the offerings of Vavo’s, it being in the location of where the old, shuttered-​by-​the-​State-​of-​Rhode-​Island Bristol Bakery used to be. I was sort of hoping that perhaps Vavo’s would take up where the Bristol Bakery left off, baking up the breads I used to enjoy there, such as sourdough, (not that I’m missing decent sourdough bread as a San Francisco resident), the rustic country boule, and the wonderfully crunchy French loaves. I have to admit (maybe it due to the time I visited, which was mid-​afternoon on a Saturday) that there wasn’t a whole lot to be had in the bakery; the emptyish shelves reminded me of what a bakery must have been like in communist Russia on one of its better days. There were some of the ubiquitous Rhode Island red pizza strips to be had, (famously made at the Wood Street Bakery in Bristol), some sort of pasty colored French-​style bread, and tons of fruit filled, yellow colored turnovers, available in about 6 fillings. I opted for a cherry filled one, seeing that turnovers were about all that that was available in mass. It disappointed me. Its filling was more red goop, (ala a McDonald’s fried cherry pie) than cherries, and the crust of the turnover was of a consistency of one of those sandy cookies with a Hershey’s chocolate kiss implanted in it at the end of its baking. Very powdery and fragile. The turnover clearly was of a style I’m not used to. Not at all like those flaky, bake-​at-​home ones from Pepperidge Farms. I’m giving Vavo’s two stars. I would gladly give them more if they had more baked goods for me to try, but like I said, maybe it was bad timing on my part, (really not much available at the time of my visit), and I can only judge the place on what I sampled. The cherry turnover wasn’t worth the 300 plus calories it cost me (would have rather a frozen Friendly’s sundae cup for a buck at Stop & Shop for that amount of calories), nor was it worth the $ 2.50 they charged for it.

If you like plain white bread, then Vavo’s will do you well. However, if you stop in here thinking you’re going to get yourself a nice and tangy, crusty French baguette or maybe a ciabatta, you’ll be disappointed.
I’m assuming from the name that a Portuguese family runs this bakery. And I’m sorry but the Portuguese just don’t make the greatest breads. Pastries and sweets? Sure thing. But the bread? Not so much.
Yes its cheap, but the quality really isn’t even worth stopping in.
I’m not trying to be mean, just being honest…