Sunday Sandwiches – Lucy’s Bakery & Donuts (Logan Heights) and Barrio Donas Revisited

My recent trip to Imperial and Antojitos Colombianos had me looking at my “list” to see what other places I’ve got listed and have yet to check out. And one quickly popped up…..Lucy’s Bakery & Donuts on 31st. I’m not sure who recommended the place to me…but recently, I decided to head on over.

Lucy’s Bakery & Donuts:

I actually headed over on a Saturday morning after making my usual Farmers Market run. I found parking in the lot next to the shop. I gotta say; it doesn’t seem to be the most inviting neighborhood.

The place was fairly busy when I arrived. Lot’s of working folk….

Most of which were getting coffee or juice and pastries.

I on the other hand was in the mood for a torta……

Being in a “porky” kinda mood; I went with the Pierna…which for some reason didn’t seem cheap at $9.35.

This was a good sized sandwich; though I thought the bollilo was a bit over-baked; the crust crumbly. But the bread was nice and yeasty, held up well, and the shredded pork was pretty good.

It had a decent smokey-savory-earthy flavor, with a hint of acidity. It was fairly tender and the portion was pretty good.

I do wish that it had more avocado and jalapeno….or at least had it evenly spread thru the sandwich.

As it was, the rather sparse avocado was smeared to one side of the torta and the jalapenos stacked on one another. I fixed the jalapeno issue.

Still, a generous amount of pork. If the bolillo was in better shape this would have been a good torta. As it stood; it was decent. I might return someday if I’m in the area. Would you believe this place is open from 5am to 9pm daily!!!

Lucy’s Bakery & Donuts
31 31st St.
San Diego, CA 92102
Current Hours:
Daily 5am – 9pm

This torta had me wondering how the version at Barrio Donas was doing….and even more so; how much the Torta de Pierna was there now in comparison. It had been almost exactly two years since my last visit and even longer since I’d had the Pierna there, so I decided to head on over.

Barrio Donas Revisited:

I paid my visit the following Saturday. Barrio Donas is quite popular, but wasn’t too busy on this day.

The Torta de Pierna here is now $12.75! The A la Mexicana $10.50 Yikes….

It’s always interesting to visit the place since they always seem to be trying out new items. I guess now they have a Matcha Bar?

Here’s the Torta Pierna.

I’m still not the biggest fan of the Bolillo here as the crust lacks crispness and the bread is on the denser side. Still, it’s always nice and yeasty, with a mild, almost sourdough flavor to it.

The amount of filling is adequate; though after having the version at Lucy’s, I would’ve enjoyed some creamy avocado and some jalapeno for spice to cut the richness.

The pork was a bit more chewy than I remember; but there’s still a nice spicy-smokiness.

Barrio Donas
4714 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117
Current Hours
Mon – Sat 6am – 4pm
Sunday 7am – 4pm

It was interesting to see how prices for tortas…well, everything for that matter has gone up. I’m now curious to try more tortas from other places. Any recommendations?