La Monarca Bakery & Cafe — Restaurant in South Pasadena

Been meaning to try this bakery out & was craving some baked goods after a long day. So decided to Postmates some things to try. I'm I glad did since most items were quite good.

ITEM'S ORDERED:

Bolitas de Dulce (chocolate) Danish Mini Concha Confetti Mini Concha Cuernito (Croissant) Trenza Ham, Cheese & Jalepeno

TASTE:

This might be the first time I've had these Mexican baked goods from an actual "bakery" & not just from a local Mexican market. So was curious how much better (if any) the quality would be.

Bolitas de Dulce (chocolate) was one of my least favorites. Nothing so bad I didn't finish it though. It's pretty much chocolate icing (w/ sprinkles) on top of a sweet bun. The bun itself was a subtle sweetness which was nice because the icing is very sweet. The chocolate icing really does taste like the Sara lee or Pillsburry one you pick up in grocery aisles. So if you like that flavor you'll enjoy this.

The Danish was basically a very good cheese danish. Very common type of danish and this one is very well made. Cheese has a pleasant flavor, not like the cheese danish you'll find at gas stations. & the dough was very fresh.

The Mini Concha was a chocolate one that was just ok for me. Bread is good I just didn't love the chocolate flavor, seemed a little washed out.

Confetti Mini Concha was one of my favorites. It's supposed to be confetti birthday cake flavor that just comes off as an inviting vanilla flavor.

Cuernito (Croissant) was a very well made croissant. Nice flaky texture & buttery enough.

Trenza Ham, Cheese & Jalepeno kind of comes off like a ham & cheese panini. Little salty for me & wish it had more jalepeno. The green salsa was tasty & worked well to enhance overall flavor.

SERVICE, LOCATION, & PARKING:

No comments on service since this was delivered through Postmates. But I do like their branded bag the food came in.

They are located right on the corner of Mission St & Meridian Ave. If you're lucky you'll find street parking right on Mission & I think there's a few spots in the back of the building. Otherwise you should be able to find residential parking not too far off.

Random notes:

Some of the bread have different varieties, but the Postmates app does not give you an option to pick one. Like for the Danish, the app says pineapple, guava & cream. I ended up receiving cheese.

All in all, the baked goods worked out well & when I'm craving these types of sweets & I'm open to checking this place...

Stopped by La Monarca Bakery in Pasadena yesterday for a quick afternoon treat with the family. This charming Mexican bakery offers a welcoming atmosphere and a colorful display of traditional pan dulce that immediately catches your eye when you walk in.

The kids were instantly drawn to the conchas (Mexican sweet bread rolls with the distinctive shell pattern on top). They got one and absolutely loved it! The bread was soft and fresh with just the right amount of sweetness, and the crumbly topping had that perfect texture that crumbles just enough without making a mess. Seeing their smiles with sugar-coated lips was worth the visit alone.

For the adults, there was the café de olla (traditional Mexican coffee with cinnamon) which had a pleasant scent. We could have also sampled other pastries - the orejas (palmiers) looked deliciously flaky, and the empanadas de guayaba had a nice balance of sweet filling without seeming overpowering.

The service was friendly enough, though a bit rushed during the street fair crowd. Prices are reasonable for the quality you're getting - definitely more authentic than what you'd find at chain coffee shops attempting Mexican pastries.

What keeps this from being a five-star review is that a couple of the items in the display case seemed like they had been sitting out a bit too long, and the seating area, while clean, is limited and was quite crowded during our visit.

That said, La Monarca is a solid neighborhood bakery that offers a genuine taste of Mexican pan dulce in Pasadena. The kids are already asking when we can go back for more conchas, which speaks volumes! If you're in the area and craving something sweet with your coffee, it's definitely...

The cakes in the display case caught my eye as I was walking towards the farmer's market. Apparently La Monarca has been a local establishment for quite some time, yet I had never heard of the bakery before. This bakery specializes in serving Mexican pastries, cakes, and sandwiches - and they have a good variety of items at a decent price.

While I was enticed by the cakes, I ended up purchasing a pastry instead - the cakes were a bit too pricey, although they looked really nice. I was surprised at the number of pastries they still had at that time of night. It was almost 8 PM and the pastry shelves were pretty full. Hopefully they come out with fresh ones every so often!

I tried the guava danish, which was $2-3. Price point isn't too bad, but I honestly didn't think it was that great. The pastry wasn't flaky or crispy, but a bit soggy. The drizzle on top was also cloyingly sweet. I did like the guava filling in the middle though. I could taste the real guava pieces mixed within the sweet filling, which gave the pastry a nice bite. But other than that, there was nothing special about it.

La Monarca is located on Mission Street, with a ton of street parking. I can see it getting busy during weekends and rush hour, but I feel most people just pop in and out.

They also serve coffee here - with several tables for customers to be able to sit and chat.

tl;dr - I think the location of this place is pretty nice as it's right by the Metro station; however, I didn't really like the pastry that I tried. I definitely think I'll come back to try some coffee, sandwiches, or cakes - but I'll avoid getting...