McBaker Market & Deli makes the best hummus in San Francisco

“They have all the things you normally want from a corner store,” said Andrew Nossiter, 34, a born and bred San Franciscan who lives half a block away from the market. “But the corner store is also the community center. So sometimes you are walking by, someone is out front and you chat. You sit down in the chairs and then you’re there for 45 minutes.”

From a deli menu of more than 35 uniquely named sandwiches to a well-stocked alcohol selection and all the other basics of a small grocer, McBaker Market & Deli, at 1800 McAllister St., is a classic San Francisco corner store slash deli slash community meeting place. But if you look closer, it might stand above the rest. The reason being? One special item — homemade hummus.

“To be honest with you, the difference between our hummus and other hummus is we don’t use any preservatives and we still have a shelf life of somewhere between three weeks to a month,” said Jada over the phone. “All of our ingredients are locally sourced and I guarantee it’s the smoothest hummus you could ever try.”

I was first introduced to Jada’s hummus at the Stern Grove summer concert series by some friends. I couldn’t believe how creamy it was. There was a thin layer of olive oil gently coating the top of the pulverized and velvety chickpeas, glistening in the sunlight.

We stirred it together to reveal a dip so smooth it was almost like soft-serve ice cream. All of these flavors were highlighted by the buttery chickpeas, the herbal olive oil and just the right tinge of garlic, which let the legumes really shine. We couldn’t get enough of the regular hummus, but Jada also sells garlic and spicy hummus varieties, both still as creamy as the original.

However, McBaker wasn’t always a hummus haven. Prior to 2018, the previous owner had let the store become more and more barren after 35 years of running it. That owner just so happened to be a member of the same church that Jada’s parents attended. Jada’s father told him the market was for sale, and after almost losing it to a competitor, he and his now co-owner, Osama Aljada, were able to jump on it.

“I saw a lot of potential there,” Jada recounted. “We opened escrow within like two days on that store.”

Jada, 43, took over the corner store in 2019. He grew up in Daly City, and as a proud Palestinian American, he said corner stores are a part of his larger family. 

He cut his deli teeth, as it were, at Ray’s Market & Deli in the Mission, which is owned by his cousin. After learning the ropes of a sandwich operation in San Francisco for almost five years, Jada went on to work at banks and in real estate. Still, he knew in the back of his mind that he always wanted to operate his own business — a deli, specifically. 

After purchasing the store, it wasn’t until 2020, during the pandemic, that the deli portion of the business really took off.

“When the pandemic hit, all the restaurants around us closed,” Jada said. “We were the most convenient grab-and-go and we have a lot of residents that live around us and worked from home at the time. And so we just kind of took off from there.”

Nossiter, who now visits the store “four or five times a week,” was also thankful for McBaker during the height of the pandemic.

“The day we moved in (July of 2020), [my wife and I] were starving. We walked out of our apartment and McBaker was right there,” he said. “We each got a sandwich and just sat out front in the chairs. We were sitting there eating them and we realized having a place like that down the block from where you live just automatically feels like a city win.” 

Some of the specialty sandwiches include the Hella Gouda, with cracked pepper turkey, bacon, smoked gouda cheese and a garlic spread. There’s also the 49er Sub — “golden classic chicken” topped with bacon, pepper jack cheese, avocado and ranch dressing. All sandwiches come with a choice of Dutch crunch, sourdough, whole wheat or a soft roll. Each is also expertly crafted by the hands of seasoned sandwich vets Tito, Miguel aka “Big Papi,” and Jada’s younger brother Louie.

While Jada was taught the way of a great deli sandwich, he also thought it would be different to sell homemade hummus. He knew his version was silky smooth and savory, but didn’t expect it to be a showstopper. Nossiter said the hummus is “a staple” when he goes to McBaker. 

The humble man that Jada is, though, he’s quick to point out it’s not just his recipe.

“It’s a collaboration to be honest,” Jada said. “We kind of took a combination of one of our family member’s recipes and our own version. It’s made by my brother-in-law (Aljada) and another man, Mohannad Alkhouri.”

Now that his hummus jumps off the shelves, Jada has big dreams for this family’s recipe. “In the future, we’re looking into packaging and distributing it. We’re going to call it Hella Hummus,” Jada said. 

At first, the idea was to distribute it among local mom-and-pop stores. He said he aims to grow by word of mouth in the beginning. But the ultimate goal is one day, “to be as successful as possible.” Playing it safe, though, seems like a smart way to start a new business. After all, corner stores are community hubs, so there’s no better place to spread the word through the grapevine.

“We’re new at this. And we’re not going to grow it very fast,” he explained. “I see a lot of companies that try to [grow rapidly] and they shoot too fast. We’re trying to eat up the Bay Area, first, if we can.”

McBaker Market & Deli, 1800 McAllister St., San Francisco. Open daily, 9 a.m.-9 p.m.