Bay Space sandwich store shutters, mocked for insane prices

The proprietor of an artisanal Bay Space sandwich store stated she has been pressured to shut her doorways after critics ruthlessly mocked the price of her sandwiches, together with $22 for one thing so simple as a grilled cheese and salad.

Kendra Kolling, the proprietor of dear cafe The Farmer’s Spouse, has formally closed each her places at Level Reyes adopted by the closure of her different cafe at Sebastopol’s The Barlow Market late final yr, SF Gate reported.

Kolling stated she made the choice to close up store because of the cooling financial system and a viral Reddit thread the place 1000’s mocked her pricey sandwiches. She stated the viral submit then led to folks overview bombing her place, bringing down her scores on Yelp and Google.

“They have been calling me probably the most vile issues, that it was past sandwiches,” Kolling informed the outlet of the thread that went viral in early 2025. “It was so hurtful and private.”

“When everybody was feeling the financial pains, somebody’s obtained to be the goal,” she added. “Somebody must be the poster youngster for every part costing a lot. “I didn’t make the cash that I used to be used to creating within the summertime, and it could have been lots harder.”

Kolling stated her excessive costs have been primarily based on the price of the high-caliber elements in her sandwiches “like house-made toasted fennel pork sausage, and hyper-local objects like Level Reyes Farmstead’s Toma cheese and Wild West Ferments sauerkraut,” per the report.

Whereas she admitted she might’ve reduce down on parts or used much less dear elements to make it work, she stated “that doesn’t get me off the bed within the morning.”

“My model and my id turned brutally attacked, and it crushed my spirit,” Kolling stated, however admitted that she would “entertain partnering with somebody for the Spouse to journey once more. However proper now, I’m simply form of licking my wounds and getting my power again.”

Kolling’s spot was at all times a brief place holder till the Tradition Store Cafe opened its personal spot. Operated by Wild West Ferments homeowners Luke Regalbuto and Maggie Beth Levinger, the brand new homeowners have clearly discovered the lesson of the earlier cafe and provide sandwiches at a decrease price.

“Affordability and approachability are completely a giant a part of what we’re attempting to do right here,” Regalbuto informed the outlet.

And their menu affords a notable drop in prices, with three of the 4 sandwiches operating between $14 and $15 and the priciest merchandise on the menu costing $22 for a roasted pork stomach baguette with leek-thyme kraut.

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