May 13, 2026
Michaela Althouse/PhillyVoice
Universal Bread Bakers is now open in Port Richmond at 2921 E. Thompson St. Owner and baker Adrian Sulea said he's 'been a bread fanatic' his whole life.
Universal Bread Bakers owner Adrian Sulea has a simple assurance for each customer who comes through the doors of his new store in Port Richmond.
"If anybody walks in and wants a loaf of bread and we're sold out, the next day we'll try to get it to them one way or another," he said. "Make more, bake more."
Universal, which opened Saturday at 2921 E. Thompson St., specializes in French baguettes and features multigrain, rye and other loaf options on certain days of the week. The bread is stone-baked with just four ingredients — water, yeast, salt and flour — and it takes 24 hours to make from start to finish.
Sulea, who's originally from Romania, spent a few years working in the food industry in Canada before going to school in Maine to study business. But he had a yearning to get back into the culinary craft he had learned as a child.
"Having good, freshly baked bread in the oven on a weekly and daily basis was something that I suddenly missed," Sulea said. "So it was one of those things that I carried with me, one of childhood's fondest memories. (Then) you grow up and you get a chance to act on it and when an opportunity comes, if you're lucky enough, you do it, which I did."
Sulea opened his first bakery in Waterville, Maine, in 2014. In 2023, he and his wife decided to close up shop and move to Philadelphia to be closer to his family and engross themselves in the city's art, culture and sports scenes that they had grown to love. Sulea spent the next two years searching for and renovating a space to reopen Universal.
While the new shop was under construction, he worked for Famous 4th Street Delicatessen. He said he appreciates that the local bakery scene allows people to specialize. Port Richmond is already home to Stock's and Baltic bakeries, but Sulea noted that the former doesn't serve bread and the latter focuses on Polish baked goods. Universal, he hopes, will be the neighborhood's spot dedicated exclusively to bread.
Sulea opted to stick to just serving loaves partially because he's dedicated to maintaining quality over an expansive menu. But he also just really, really loves bread.
"I've just been a bread fanatic my whole life," Sulea said. "I think it's a European thing, I like to have bread with everything and it's just a lot of love of the craft and the product itself."
For Sulea, the secret to the craft is less about being consistent, and more about adapting to changing conditions like the temperature and humidity levels. Since it's a live culture, making a proper baguette feels more like being along for the ride, rather than trying to be the driver in control, he said.
"It's not something that you just throw in there and it's going to be the same every time," Sulea said. "It's something that's growing and developing and it's rising, and you win and you play along. You're not the director, you're not the boss, you're just a partner in it."
Universal Bread Bakers is open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
