Deep within San Francisco’s Richmond District stands an unassuming gem of a grocer. Looking at it from the outside, you’d be forgiven for mistaking it as just another corner store. But the Royal Market & Bakery, which serves primarily Armenian and Russian groceries and baked goods, has earned an avid following since opening in 2008.
While the Armenian and Russian communities in San Francisco are fairly large, I wondered how this particular shop has managed to do so well. The store has been able to keep a loyal base of repeat customers from all over the Bay, managing to stick around in a neighborhood that has no shortage of Russian and Eastern European markets and bakeries. Royal Market is one of the best in its class, a standing confirmed by word of mouth that travels from friends and Richmond locals.
As I learned during a recent visit, it takes more than just fresh groceries and a smile to keep people coming back, especially in a city where shopping services like Instacart, Google Express, and AmazonFresh fight for your dollar.
Angela Volkovich, the store’s general manager, explains that while the Royal Market has earned a reputation for serving somewhat rare products, like its award-winning marinated lula kebab meats or its trademark puri bread, the store has mostly been able to keep its customers coming back because of its adaptability. “When we started, we didn’t know much about having a market. But we kept getting recommendations, and we learned from them,” she says.
On the afternoon I’m talking to her, the market is fairly busy and Angela greets many of the customers as regulars. As they pass by, she stops our conversation to make sure to say hello. Most of them she knows personally; she chats a bit, then we continue on.
We spend a good part of the afternoon walking around the market, greeting employees, talking about the different products. I keep asking her, “What else do you have that I wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else?” Angela rises to the challenge, proudly showing off some of her most favorite items in the store.
Here’s a sampling of those hard-to-find things that the Royal Market sells.
Puri
Puri is an Armenian bread, a close cousin of matnakash and very reminiscent of naan. You roll it around cheese or other vegetables, or dip it into hummus. Since puri is a bit smaller than matnakash, it tends to get harder quicker, so make sure you eat it soon after purchase.
“Nobody else in the city sells puri, not like this,” Angela says. She mentions that her award-winning version is baked three times a day, every day. We pass by racks upon racks of the bread and watch as a fresh batch is rolled out onto the floor in a free-moving cart draped with plastic coverings designed to keep the bread warm and fresh.
Gata
Angela leads me over to the hot food and bakery section and discusses Royal Market’s desserts. Alongside the traditional baklava and cakes is something called gata, which is a semisweet, almost savory pastry. She offers a piece, and it crumbles and flakes as I bite into it, the sugary flavor coming through at the end. It is a lot like a layered butter cookie, and Jane, the in-house baker, whips up batches of gata fresh every day.
Lamb Lula
After the bakery, we walk over to the butcher counter and Angela points out Royal Market’s lamb lula. It’s a pre-marinated mixture of lamb meat and “special ingredients.” When I press Angela for more details, she just gives me a conspiratorial wink. “Secret Armenian spices,” she says.
Saint Gregor 50-Year Brandy
Angela comments on one of the bottles on the Market’s expansive liquor shelf: “We shared one of these bottles not too long ago,” she says, nodding. “It was really something.”
Russian Standard Vodka
Angela gestures to the store’s wall of vodkas, which are impressively propped up against a window facing the street. Here you have your standard Smirnoffs, some Stolichnaya, and many different brands in between. There are a few bottles with names in a script I couldn’t read. When I asked which was her favorite, I expected Angela to talk up the bottles with the foreign script, but she pointed to the Russian Standard Vodka. “It’s just the smoothest,” she says.
Lahmajun
Angela takes me back to the kitchen where all the food is made. There’s a group of chefs prepping fresh vegetables. She explains that they’re getting ready to make some lahmajun. “It’s basically Armenian pizza,” she says.
Beluga Banquet Hall
No, the Royal Market doesn’t sell beluga. Beluga is a banquet hall located next to the store. Angela takes us through the space, which is set up for a party that night. The tables are decked out, the bar is fully stocked. Angela pulls out her phone and shows me photos of the events that have taken place here, along with all the catered food. “Sturgeon, smoked salmon, Armenian cold cuts, and everything from next door,” she says.
Angela obviously takes great pride in the Royal Market & Bakery, because of its food, but also because much of that food is based on the relationships she has cultivated with her customers. As I watch her interact with the regulars and new shoppers, I realize that she’s running more than a market. This store doubles as a community hub for a lot of these people, a regular place for them to see each other and be seen. It’s these kinds of personal and cultural bonds that take a standard grocer and turn it into a community staple for a neighborhood like the Richmond.
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All photos by Jessica Lachenal except lahmacun (Wikimedia Commons) and Beluga Banquet Hall (used with permission from Beluga SF / Royal Market and Bakery).
