Food Restaurants
BEHIND PORTO’S, CALIFORNIA’S LEGENDARY CUBAN BAKERY: A FAMILY AND THEIR AMERICAN DREAM The story starts with a mother, her 3 children, and an underground home bakery in communist Cuba By Crystal Shi
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t p ort o’s ba k e ry i n Buena Park, California, before the pandemic, lines routinely wound through the 25,000-square-foot space, wrapped around the building, and continued down the street. “On a regular day, we [served] 100 people in 10 minutes,” said Betty Porto. She runs the family business with her siblings, Raul Jr. and Margarita. Since Rosa Porto, their late mother, opened the first Porto’s in 1976, the beloved Cuban bakery has wooed locals and visitors alike with flaky guava and cream cheese pastries, fluffy-crisp deep-fried potato balls, and hefty Cubano sandwiches. Today, the multimillion-dollar enterprise includes five locations in Southern California, with a sixth in the works. Its story, however, starts in communist Cuba.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF PORTO’S BAKERY & CAFE
Secret Beginnings When Cuba fell to communism, as punishment for requesting safe passage to the United States, Rosa was fired from her office manager job and barred from employment, and her husband, Raul Sr., was sent to a forced labor camp for eight years. Left to fend for herself and her young children, Rosa, a talented baker, started selling cakes out of her home to neighbors and friends. Since private businesses were illegal, ingredients had to be bought on the black market or brought by clients, who paid in government rations. When the secret police came knocking, the community banded together to hide Rosa’s equipment. In 1971, the Portos finally immigrated to Los Angeles. “[Rosa] already had clients waiting for her,” Betty said. In their tiny Echo Park
(L–R) Margarita, Raul Jr., and Beatriz “Betty” Porto as children.
The signature potato balls are stuffed with Cuban ground beef and deep-fried to perfection.
Rosa Porto with her husband, Raul Sr., grew Porto’s from her humble home kitchen to a thriving business.
Cakes are immaculately decorated and sold for every occasion.
PORTO’S BAKERY & CAFE Locations: Glendale, Burbank, Downey, West Covina, and Buena Park, Calif. Hours: Open Monday– Thursday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday–Sunday from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Must-Orders: Cheese Rolls and Potato Balls Nationwide shipping available at Store.PortosBakery.com
apartment, “we grew up listening to her baking.” Raul Jr., who slept on a sofa bed a thin wall away from the kitchen, fell asleep to the sound of whisking. During the day, Betty and Margarita’s beds were covered with plastic to use for cooling cakes. In 1976, Rosa opened a 300- square-foot shop on Sunset Boulevard. She relocated to Glendale six years later; from there, the business only grew.
A Family Legacy Rosa died in 2019, at age 89, but her legacy lives on. The growing menu at Porto’s remains anchored by her recipes. Everything is still made from scratch, and the family insists on using the highest-quality ingredients while keeping prices low.
Through the pandemic, pivoting to curbside pickup and expanding Porto’s Bake at Home, a nationwide shipping service, helped keep them afloat. So did their loyal following. Porto’s hardly advertises; word of mouth has long been its most powerful tool. Often it passes along family lines: Betty recalls kids whose parents were married with a Porto’s cake returning to the bakery for their own wedding. Once, she said, “I was a marshal in a parade and the people wanted me to throw potato balls at them.” The reason for their popularity is clear to her. Upon trying their first potato ball, “the reaction I get from young people is, ‘Oh my god, this tastes like something that my grandmother made in her kitchen,’” she said. “They can taste the love.” I N S I G H T January 21–27, 2022 63
