Barbacco's Anti-Deli Sandwich: Your SFoodie Lunch Planner

J. Birdsall

You won't miss the mustard and marble rye.

Barbacco's mirrored, low-ceilinged, all-but-windowless shaft of a room is so crammed with pin spots and gleaming stainless it feels like a Manhattan deli, but chef Sarah Burchard's sandwiches are anything but Carnegie. Take the seared sardines and squid layered on an Acme roll, impastoed with tangy-sweet roasted tomato condimento. The textures are alternately mashy and chewy, with just enough black on the inner surface of the toasted roll to affix it with a lovely bitter shadow. And unlike a New York deli, nobody here will call you "hon."

Barbacco 220 California (at Front), 955-1919