Porto’s Bakery, a Cuban bakery famous for their potato balls and guava cheese rolls, is a favorite of ours and we try to stop by a few times a year when in the LA area.
My mom was in San Diego a few months ago, and she absolutely adores the pastries at Porto’s. She asked to do an “LA eating trip” while she was visiting, having read so much about my eating adventures, so we took her on one. Our first stop was to Porto’s (Downey location).
There are three locations in LA, each one equally busy with customers. You can dine in on sandwiches in their cafe section, or order baked goods to go. The line for ordering their famed pastries is quite long but it moves pretty fast.
The selection of baked goods is one of the largest I’ve ever seen for a bakery. We’ve sampled quite a few from our previous visits, but our favorites remain the ones they are most known for: potato balls and guava cheese rolls.
Potato balls
The potato balls are filled mashed potato balls that are deep fried. The exterior is golden and crisp. The inside has a layer of mashed potato, followed by a spicy chili center. We like to order a few “hot” to eat fresh and get a box to-go as they can easily be reheated in your toaster oven.
Guava Cheese Rolls
I’ve never been a fan of these kind of pastries, but Porto’s is the except. We got a guava one and a cheese one. They also have a guava and cheese one and a few other fruit flavors ones. The pastry puff isn’t too sweet and neither is the filling, especially the cream cheese.
This is always a quick, fun stop for us. Maybe one day they’ll open a location closer to San Diego.
Porto’s Bakery
https://www.portosbakery.com/
I second the motion to have portos come to sd. Or at least 85c. Geesh. 🙂
i know, does LA really need five billion 85c locations??
OMFG, we NEED a Porto’s in San Diego!!!!
We’ve only been to the Burbank location and even though the lines are long, they do move fast. I love their cream cheese rolls!
next time you are going to LA, you can stop by Downey which is usually along the way. They also have a parkling garage which is nice. Maybe it’s better they are far away because I eat way too many cream cheese rolls in one sitting.
Not only is Porto’s in LA, their locations aren’t close to where I usually visit in LA, which is probably a good thing. I love those potato balls, and they do re-heat very well in a toaster oven. I think of the filling as ground beef rather than spicy chili.
I usually visit the one in Downey because it’s on my way to places I plan on going to in LA and it has a parking lot.
I wish they open up a store in San Jose area too!
since it is a family business, I think they try to stick to the LA area.