La Panadería Bakery Café — Restaurant in San Antonio

La Panaderia (which translates to The Bakery), is a beautiful Mexican inspired and family owned bakery located at on Broadway just a few minutes from the San Antonio airport.

The bakery has roots in Mexico City dating back 30 years, where the family matriarch Doña Josefina crafted many of the baked goods featured in the bakery today.

The pastries are a blend of Mexican breads and desserts like Pan Concha and Churros but with European influences laden with French techniques. The result is a beautiful marriage between the traditional flavors of Mexico and the soft, delicate, flaky dough you’d come to expect from a Parisian croissant.

In addition to the baked goods they also feature delicious handcrafted coffee drinks, fresh juices, and a myriad of tasty refreshments.

The bakery also has a breakfast and lunch menu with customizable tortas, where you can chose your bread, what you’d like inside and a side choice of beans, noodle soup or the combination of both. There’s also a preset list of options you can choose from if you need some inspiration deciding. The breakfast also features classic Mexican breakfast items like Huevos Rancheros, which was what I chose. The eggs were perfectly poached and served on top of grilled pork and house baked bread, all of it was excellent.

After brunch my friend and I decided to snag some baked goods because who can walk past those displays and not try at least one thing, I got three.

The traditional pan concha was extremely pillowy, it looks like it would be dense but as soon as you pick it up you can feel how light it is. I also tried the monkey bread and the churro. The Monkey bread was made with croissant dough that was crispy and covered with cinnamon, chocolate and vanilla drizzles and baked in a cupcake pan. It wasn’t at all what I expected but the flavor was outstanding. The churro was probably the least exciting pastry I tried, it was a little more dense and still made with the crispy flaky dough, coiled in a circle and served with raisins and cinnamon sugar. It was definitely good but I feel like I personally would have enjoyed trying one of their other pastries like the CroLuna which is a newer item on their menu; a croissant cut in half and filled with Tequila, Tres Leches, mascarpone, and whipped cream. I fully intend to try one on my next visit.

If you’re looking for a delicious brunch, casual coffee stop or a unique baked snack, La Panaderia should absolutely be...

We went a little later in the day, I did not know they would not have supplies being made all day, I did get to have a cheesecake that I had seen in pictures, it was alright. The staff was not very welcoming or informative, I feel for all the hype the place gets the workers should be a little nicer or more communicative, letting us know maybe beverage options or offer a water cup, we saw they had water available and another lemonade stand next to it, I don’t know if those were for purchase or complimentary. The place was dirty, our table I wiped it down and the booth, flies were flying all over in the restaurant and in the sit down area. One of the plates they gave my soup in was chipped, that really scared me, I did not know if it happened in the process of them serving it to me, or if It was already like that. The sandwiches were not that good either really bad quality chicken, honestly a chicken sandwich from any other fast food place looks way better and tastes better. We also asked for no jalapeños and they put them in the sandwich. We asked for a coke in the glass bottle we did not know it was going to be room temperature they said it’s all they have :/ who serves those WARM? So I asked if I could please have a cup with ice, he was not happy about it. They sent us a text asking us about our experience and we only complained about the jalapeños and they sent my husband a $15 reduction of our next restaurant visit. We gave it to the friend who recommended the place. I honestly will not...

I had always heard good things about this place. I decided to stop in and grab some sweets. I do like they have the glass where you can see the bakers making the sweets just like a larger doughnut place. They had a descent selection of items, but was a tad bit disappointed that they were sold out of a few thigns that I wanted to pick up. The service was good, but the young woman who was grabbing my items was not really paying attention, as I had to repeat myself a few times. I had asked for something and when i got home, it was not in the bag and I was charged for it. I live in another city, so it was not like I could call them and come by to grab that item. I had ordered 5 items and it was over $31. That is a tad bit much for homemade sweets that are made in house. I could have gotten lunch and probably paid that amount.

Overall, this place is a tad bit "boujee". The store was very clean and bustling with people. Service could have been a bit more on point, as I did not feel that the young lady assisting me was paying full attention, not to mention I was charged for an item that I did not receive. Over $30 for 5 little sweets? Lesson learned. There are a few local Mexican Bakeries where I live and I have NEVER paid that amount for 5 items, apparently you are just paying for the name. I was looking forward to checking this place out, but left...