Porto’s Bakery
Cuban Sandwich – Pork, Ham, Pickles, Cuban Spread, Cuban Bread
Chicken Croquetta
Ham Croquetta
Chorizio Pie
Chicken and Vegetable Empanada
Carrot Cake
Tres Leches
Florentine
Baba au Rhum
Caramel Eclair
Sally Cake
Guava Streudel
Sweet Croissant
Dulce de Leche Bundt
Almost universally celebrated for their Cuban Sandwich, Potato Balls plus a stunning array of pastries, Portos has withstood the test of time in a city where “new” often seems to be misinterpreted as “best,” and now with three locations spread throughout the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area including an enormous outlet in Burbank the only real questions when visiting are “how hungry are you?” and “how long are you willing to wait?”
Busy from open to close, the draw entailing what seems like every age and race, arrival at Portos found the line nearly seventy deep on a Friday just before closing and with chaos controlled by queues plus a sort of “traffic cop” hostess the experience unfolded in a slow-moving march to the counter, options perused at varying distance on the approach before placing a sizable order to a young man who memorized it with ease.
With most items immediately boxed or carefully wrapped while sandwiches require a short wait it was with luck that a table was secured in the jammed-packed dining room and tucking into hot items first both croquettas proved both creamy and oilless while the small handpie and empanada actually came across dry despite a good amount of filling and spice, likely the result of my late arrival and time underneath warming lights.
Receiving the pressed Cuban just before snapping the last photos of dessert one is immediately struck by the use of a light yellow spread in place of simple mustard and offering a bit more subtlety by breaking tradition the pork duo is allowed more room to shine amidst the melted cheese and pickle chips, those watching their salt intake best advised to avoid.
Underwhelmed by a disastrous ‘croissant’ that eats like a dinner roll and Carrot Cake that is both dry and lacking in spices beneath frosting that speaks of little more than Crisco and Sugar it was onward to more intriguing desserts that the tasting progressed and beginning with a nutty Florentine dipped in chocolate Portos showed a knack for anything featuring caramel, the buttery bundt’s soft crumb far more delicate than the popular chain based out of Nevada while the eclair’s crisp choux showed signs of French skills that the croissant sorely lacked.
Having enjoyed the Guava Cheese Danish in the past there was little doubt the jam-filled Streudel would perform equally well and expecting good things from the Tres Leches my assumptions of sweet, milky pudding was soon confirmed – the smallish round devoured in slow, smile-inducing bites.
Intrigued by the “Sally Cake,” essentially a cinnamon crumble topped Blueberry Muffin with a surprising density of fruit, it was with the sopping wet Baba that the tasting concluded, the booze flavor admittedly a bit artificial but the intensity of sweetness and subtle almond notes more than enough to make me not care.
