The trifecta of a good, traditional Italian meal is good wine, good pasta and, of course, good bread. What’s a good bowl of pasta without that slice of garlic bread to go with it?
 
Bruschetta would not be the antipasto we all know and love without the sliced baguette, toasted to perfection and rubbed with garlic for extra flavor. Many times, a platter of cold cuts, cheeses and bread with a good glass of wine could be considered a perfect meal in and of itself.
 
Yes, we Italians know and love our bread.
In San Diego’s Little Italy, Gibaldi’s Italian Bread – originally known as Frank’s Bakery – has been perfecting the traditional Italian bread since it opened its doors in 1948.
  Tom Gibaldi Sr.

  Tom Gibaldi Sr.

This family business is now run by its third generation with Tommy Gibaldi Sr. as the overseeing patriarch of the business. Now in his 60s, Gibaldi has turned the reins over to his sons, Tom and Frank, while he enjoys a more relaxed, laid-back role in the family business.
 
Gibaldi’s parents emigrated to the United States from Italy, first to Wisconsin and then, in 1938, to San Diego, where the first family bakery was opened at the corner of Juniper and India in Little Italy. Back then it was called the New York Baking Company and it was run by Gibaldi’s parents up until the war broke out. Gibaldi’s father traded in bread for liquor and opened a few bars in the San Diego area during the war, but his heart eventually lead him back to the bakery and Frank’s Bakery was established in Hillcrest in 1948 and that, as they say, is history.
 
“Basically it’s just a simple little family business that we’ve kept together for that many years,” Gibaldi said. “We haven’t grown big, big, big. We support the family and pay the bills and enjoy it.”
 
After 42 years, over a Memorial Day weekend, a fire broke out and destroyed the original Hillcrest location. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the damage was too extensive to reopen, so, Gibaldi said, “we moved down here, found this location [and] we’ve been here now more than 25 years.”
“Here” is 3555 India Street, along the corridor that runs parallel to the Interstate 5.
 
Gibaldi’s remains to this day a family business: “[My] two sons who I think they’ve been in it for the last – since we moved here – for 25 years. And of course, my wife – we’ve been married how many years now, 42 years, she’s been involved in it. She handles the books, pays the bills, then she comes here and packs bread on some days and she makes cannoli shells. So she’s really involved in it. Now we’re in the third generation. My mother passed away last year at 98. She was here till she was eighty-something and my wife took over for her,” Gibaldi said.
 
Gibaldi’s caters to a number of restaurants in Little Italy as well as locations throughout the San Diego county. Since they opened their doors at their current location, they also welcome and enjoy the occasional walk-in customer who would like to purchase a dozen dinner rolls or a loaf or two of bread.
 
One of the secrets to the bakery’s long-standing success, Gibaldi says, is maintaining and nurturing those personal relationships with his customers.
 
“We made a lot of friends down here and we sure appreciate these people, to tell you the truth,” he said. “I have all great customers. I respect them all because they’re such great people. I think, with me, it’s being involved personally with the customers. I think it’s a lot of respect that I have for them and maybe they have for me.”
 
Gibaldi’s doors are open six days a week: Monday – Friday, noon to 8 p.m. and Sundays, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. More information on their location, hours and menu is available at their 
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