Lucie’s Bakery & Deli

I can’t comment on how great or terrible the bagels and breads are because I couldn’t care less about that. If the other reviews are any indication, you could stuff your face with whatever you find at Lucie’s and probably won’t be disappointed.
When I worked in Guelph, I would often pick up something from Lucie’s. This bakery is one of the few places close to the Hanlon Business Park offering something different from the usual garbage you can get at a fast food joint. You can only eat a Subway sandwich or Lick’s homeburger so many times before you get bored and disgusted.
Prices run the gamut here, from moderately priced to outrageously priced. I usually got a chicken parmesan, but there are other lunch items such as perogies, butter chicken or pasta. All taste decent and the portions range from average to above average. However, I found the lasagna to be really disappointing, made with very little cheese and served in a tiny portion. I guess the bread that comes with the meal is supposed to fill you up and not the lasagna itself. I can’t vouch for any of the other baked goods, but I would occasionally pick up a box of delicious Skore cookies to go with my meal.
The deli sandwiches are mediocre and I’m not sure if it’s the meats used or the bread, but it’s really forgettable and bland. Unfortunately, I unwillingly ate these many times for lunch because the office used to always order a lunch platter (with pickles, garnishes and dessert) from this place until problems occurred with late deliveries and proper billing.
Also, there never seems to be anyone at the cash desk and you’ll usually end up waiting for someone to realize that you want to give them money and leave before your food gets cold. If you decide on a lunch special, you have to indicate that when paying because whoever is at the cash desk won’t remember and will just charge you the regular price.

I stopped in at Lucie’s for an early lunch today with a friend. The store was alive with the smells of fesh baking and home-​cooking. We both had a bowl of soup and sandwich and it was very delicious. On the way out I grabbed a loose-​leaf tea which was recommended by the staff. Yummy Chai for a fall weather day ! The home baking I took with me was scrumptious. Looking forward to the next stop in… soon hopefully !
They are celebrating their 4^th anniversary from Oct.18 — 24^th, 2010.

Occasionally, my heavily repressed creative side gets the better of me in the kitchen. On those days, it’s good to have a local source for exotic and specialty foodstuffs. Mine is Lucie’s Bakery.
It started innocently enough, I suppose; I needed decent bread, and Lucie’s is in the same mini-​strip-​mall where His Goatness works. I wandered in, bemused by the exquisite aroma of fresh-​baked breads and pastries… $ 75 later, I wandered out with a giant bag of gourmet washed-​rind soft cheeses (a particular weakness of mine); locally-​roasted organic fair trade coffee (which I consider an absolute necessity); several locally-​produced jams, jellies, preserves, and specialty pickles; a basket of assorted crackers (to go with the cheese, of course), marzipan candies, and some just-​out-​of-​the-​oven, scorch-​your-​fingers sausage rolls… and — I almost forgot — fresh-​baked bread. Sourdough rye, to be precise. Which I’m fiercely fond of, when it’s done right… and this was. You can taste the sour in the sourdough, and the richness of the rye. European style. Oh, yeah. The only bread I buy anymore (except when I’m fiending for some of their fabulous cheese bread).
There are a couple of things I might change, if I could. The coffee — the one I want, anyway (Planet Bean’s Café Femenino, whole bean) — runs out, and stays that way for long enough periods that I frequently need to head to the source to get it (more errands = bad). There are NO meats in the deli case that don’t have nitrites/​nitrates (which oxidize cells = more rapid aging and increased risk of cancer = I don’t eat this). The veggies in the deli case, used to make sandwiches, look pretty bad, too (wan, pallid imported tomatoes, nasty pointless iceberg lettuce), which is a shame, since the local (and often organic) produce is gorgeous. (Hey, roasted, grilled, sundried, or preserved veggies would be great! Don’t import that icky stuff…)
But the fact that Lucie has decided to start carrying preserved Moroccan bergamot lemons, because I casually asked — and really good ones, too — completely delights me. Now, if she can only get Amarena cherries (essential in my favorite cocktails), my exotic foodstuffs needs will be met.
Did I mention that the croissants are to die for?