Lodge Bread Company
Lodge Bread Turned a Backyard Starter Into My Favorite Bakery in Culver City
The best bread bakery on the west side of Los Angeles started as a backyard operation, and you can still taste that scrappiness in every loaf that comes out of Lodge Bread Company's ovens today.
Founder Or Amsalam started Lodge Bread as a home baking project before opening the Culver City storefront over a decade ago. The small bakery has since grown into three Southern California locations, with more on the way, and it's earning the kind of recognition that rarely finds its way to a neighborhood bread shop: a James Beard Award semifinalist nod in both 2017 and 2018. The Culver City flagship just finished an expansion, adding more seating and a dedicated pastry room, but the ovens are still doing the same job they always have, turning out whole grain sourdough milled in-house, rather than with flour that’s trucked in and already stale with age.
Pricing runs typical for a west-side bakery-café. Bread loaves land between $11 and $16, toast dishes run $9 to $16, and the shakshuka comes in around $16.
But first, go for a run
Burn a few calories before you go. There's no leaving Lodge Bread without a bag heavier than you planned for. I typically drive up from Orange County on Saturday mornings and walk out with my arms full: a seeded country loaf, a challah pulled fresh from the oven (only on Fridays), maybe a Jerusalem bagel or a baguette for good measure. There's no shame in it. And the heavier your bag gets, the more calories you'll burn walking it back to the car. And doesn’t that mean you get to eat more?
Casual, comfortable, delicious bread
Every loaf here leans on a naturally leavened starter instead of commercial yeast, though it stays mild, nothing close to the sharp tang of a San Francisco sourdough. The country loaf is the one constant on the shelf, made from the same whole grain flour milled in-house. The crust is crisp, not hard, no fighting your way through it or scraping the roof of your mouth for the privilege, and the crumb is the real payoff: well hydrated, loose rather than tight or overly open, an even mix of small and large bubbles, light and airy with a slight spring to the chew and none of the gumminess that ruins a lesser loaf. Each loaf also pulls open into a gorgeous ear, the kind of detail that only shows up when a baker is paying attention to the score. The rest of the bread rotates with whatever the ovens turned out that morning, now put on full display along the bakery's new Bread Wall the moment you walk in.
Toast is my go-to
Toast is the order I don't even have to think about anymore, whether I'm just picking up bread or sitting down for a full meal. The classic version comes buttered with cultured butter and a seasonal, house-made jam that changes with whatever fruit is good that week. Almond butter toast skews dense and nutty rather than sweet, more snack than dessert. Ricotta and jam toast leans the other way entirely, creamy enough that it could pass for one. My order, more often than not, is the avocado toast: thin-sliced radish for crunch, a real pour of olive oil, and enough sea salt to open your palate and intensify the avocado's flavor.
The shakshuka might be the best dish here
This is the best shakshuka I've had, and it isn't close. Eggs poach directly in a stewed tomato sauce that stays mostly tomato at its core, with just enough bell pepper folded in for rounded flavor and a little texture, never enough to take over; the whole thing gets scooped up with Lodge's own sourdough bread, instead of the traditional pita.
A few honorable mentions
A few other dishes are worth knowing about, even if none of them cracked my top three. The pizza leans on the bakery's own sourdough starter for the dough, which gives the crust real character and good char at the edges, though I'd personally trade some of that fluff for more crispness. The grandma slice splits the difference between pizza and focaccia: thick, pillowy, and loaded with whatever's in season, closer to a snack eaten standing up than a meal you sit down for. The hummus plate is fine, forgettable even, but the house-made pita is what actually earns the order: warm, blistered in spots, good enough that I'd order a basket of it on its own if they'd let me. And the cinnamon roll, built off the same sourdough starter and finished with a light frosting, is worth setting aside before you leave the counter. Buy two. One rarely survives the ride home.
Final Verdict
Lodge Bread Company is proof that a neighborhood bakery can go toe to toe with any restaurant kitchen on the west side. The bread alone is worth the trip. The shakshuka, the toast, and the cinnamon roll are what turn a bread run into a standing Saturday ritual. Do yourself a favor and go hungry, then plan on leaving with more bread than you meant to buy.
Address: 412 N Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036
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