Bakesale Betty's - 5098 Telegraph Ave

This wasn't going to be a part of the Eating Up Telegraph project due to closing at 7 and, thus, not really being a dinner destination, but it's just so damn good I couldn't help including it. And may the gushing begin...

Sweet Jesus, I thank you for bringing this establishment into the world. Good God, how did I live this long without that Fried Chicken Sandwich being just down the street?

I love this place. And I'm not particularly into pastry or baked goods, but my God I will eat them here.

The reason I came to Betty's was to try the Fried Chicken Sandwich. It's a huge sandwich double-stacked with perfectly crispy, seasoned fried chicken breasts on a fresh-baked roll, and the only other ingredient is a delicious, crunchy spicy cabbage slaw that is mercifully mayonnaise free.

This sandwich is awesome. In fact, I just ate one. Mmmmmmm.

Betty's has the best apple pie I have ever had in my life, and I even eat the crust. Normally I hate crust; not her crust. Another standout is the date cake with delicous rum butter sauce that you heat up and dump over it. We found ourselves eating this sauce with a spoon, and I'm not ashamed of it.

Other standouts: the ginger cookies, the scones, and the banana bread.

Everything's great here, with a single exception: if you like traditional egg salad, you might not like this one: there's no mayonnaise (woot for mayo-haters like me) and it's simply a ton of fresh eggs and arugula. I personally like this sandwich, but I can't imagine bothering when a fried chicken sandwich is there.

What we've ordered: apple pie, pecan pie, lemon-curant scones, apricot almond scones, pear ginger scones, date cake with butter rum sauce, fried chicken sandwich, egg sandwich, ginger cookie, blueberry pie
Other things they've given us to try: lemon ices, banana bread, strawberry shortcake, brownies
Service: super friendly local hipsters
Atmo: nouveau urban hipster bake shop - the tables are made out of ironing boards
Crowd: The neighborhood + the in-the-know-non-neighborhood
Spent: it varies - we always leave with something free, so there's that
Overall rating: 5 enthusiastic sporks

Extra bonus points for using the chicken and the egg in the 2 sandwiches offered...

At some point I will try the chicken pot pie, and I'm guessing I'll rave about that too.

The other nice thing about Betty's is the vast amounts of free food handed out by the ever-cheery staff. I got an entire free pie at Christmas, and today we went in for a sandwich and some scones and walked out with a slice of banana bread, 2 lemon ices and a strawberry shortcake.

And oh Lord, that strawberry shortcake was good. And another thing I don't generally eat. The banana bread isn't greasy, and was so good we actually bought a whole loaf.

So beware: do not go to this place if you're dieting. Somehow, you always leave with more than you planned to get.

Betty also gets extra bonus points for wearing a bright blue wig and her baby in a sling around the joint. It's nice to see a funky young gal make a go at something she loves to do, and it's clear that everything Betty's offers is a house specialty.

So yes, I hella heart Bakesale Betty's. May she do this for the forseeable future so that I might never go without a Fried Chicken Sandwich.