Porto's Bakery and Cafe — Restaurant in West Covina

Today was the first time coming to this establishment in 3 years that my wife and myself experienced such abysmal customer service and it wasn't from the workers but from management. I, for years have been coming and ordering their black bean soup which comes with one sourdough bread which I found out two years ago they call crostones(not sure on the proper spelling) on their food ordering system. I love the bread and it goes great with the soup and always order extra when I visit. I was told whenever I come to ask for an order of "crostones" which comes with 3 extra breads for $1. I have never had an issue but today I did. It sometimes can be a hassle when ordering it but they always find it on their kiosk and I ALWAYS get them and pay the $1. Thats a deal. Today I asked to add them and the cashier said they added it to my order but when I sat down to eat and looked over my receipt I realized they didn't add it. Instead of going up to the busy counter my wife went ahead and asked someone on the floor to help her out with the issue. She walked my wife over to the kitchen counter and was trying to help her out, the floor manager must of seen this interaction because he walked away from his area and met them at the kitchen counter. When my wife told him the issue he answered "We don't do that here, you get one bread with your black bean soup and thats it." My wife replied with "I get extra all the time and I pay and order them whenever I visit, I realized I wasn't charged and I would love to pay the dollar for the extra three pieces." He then turned to the counter grabbed a plate and one bread with no gloves and shoved it at her. My wife was super uncomfortable at this point now due to his aggressive behavior and said "Okay thank you but thats not what I wanted, I want to pay the dollar and get three please." He then said again "we don't have that has an option, but this makes us square right?" and then touches her arm. My wife said "well, no it doesn't but okay, thank you for trying." She then tried to leave because this guy was super annoyed and aggressive coming at her like that and she felt uncomfortable with all the touching of the arm he was doing. She went to leave and he grabbed her arm and pulled the plate from her hands saying " No, no, let me give you what you want." Grabs more bread with no gloves plopped them on the plate and gives them back to her. Now everyone is watching this encounter and its super embarrassing. First off there was no reason for the aggressive behavior, second don't ever touch someone without their permission, third you definitely don't grab a person, fourth where are your gloves when handling food? I saw this guy touch his nose, his face, his phone and everything else before this encounter, super gross. I am appalled at his behavior towards a woman and his behavior towards her as a guest. I am disappointed as this is our closet location and we love the food and service here. I won't be coming back and will be telling my fellow friends and family not to either. Below is a picture of said gentleman. Maybe someone can teach him some manners and customer service and let him know its not okay to act like that...

I'm a Porto's groupie. I have been to several locations over the years (Downey, Glendale, Buena Park, Northridge, and now West Covina). I appreciate Porto's consistency and quality of their food, drinks, and pastries, without compromisng customer service or cleanliness in their environments. Let's jump right into this review.

This location is in West Covina, backside of a mall. Nearby the 10 freeway for reference.

Everything is good in my opinion. I'm just saying. Somethings will be a palette preference but it's all good. Look good. Taste good. Smells good. Here are my favorites:

Meat pies - Puff pastry filled with Rosa's original picadillo (Cuban-style ground beef with onion, bell pepper, olive, and Spanish seasonings.

Empanada - A hand pie filled with Cuban-style chicken fricassee (slow-cooked chicken breast, carrot, raisins, peas, onion, tomato sauce, and Spanish seasonings). * other options available *

Potato balls - A classic and signature treat that consist of potato puree filled with Rosa's original picadillo (Cuban style ground beef with onion, bell pepper, olive, and Spanish seasonings) with a crispy panko crust. * other options available *

Fruit tart - A buttery tart topped with a layer of Rosa's original sponge cake, vanilla custard, and an assortment of fresh fruit including locally grown, California strawberries and blueberries, imported mangoes, and other seasonal fruit.

Smoothies - Guava and Mango are my top choices.

Given the quality of ingredients and portion size; I find prices reasonable.

Pros Food is delicious

Presentation of items is superb. Glass displays are kept clean and given the volume of traffic - I don't know how it is done.

Reasonable prices.

Clean establishment from inside to the outside surroundings. Tables are clean quickly and put back into rotation given the foot traffic.

Has vegetarian/vegan options.

Cons Busy. Busy. Busy. Always a line. Note: The lines are moving, but, sometimes you want to walk into a place and not have to get into a line wrapped around the building. True testament to the quality of food...people willing to wait.

Parking is a challenge.

I recommend Porto's to anyone. Go ahead, satisfy...

This is everything that I got at Portos Bakery in West Covina! This building was so beautiful, and so big! I absolutely was in love with this place, and the workers were absolutely so nice and helpful! To first start off, the drink I got was the Iced Strawberry Matcha latte, and although I did like the strawberry portion of my drink, I thought the Matcha part was okayyy, like it was still good, but it wasn’t super mind blowing and amazing. I also got the omelette that came with guacamole and egg and cheese, and although it was a little pricey at $7.25, I really liked eating this a lot and I would totally order this one again! For some desserts, I got the mango mousse bomb and the guava rose mousse bomb, and I really liked the mango one, but I wasn’t really liking the guava one too much. I thought that the textures for both were really good, but the taste of the guava one was just a little… Too sour and almost tasted a little meaty and salty in a way? I also ordered the famous potato ball, and I would say for me that it would be a 9 out of 10, but I didn’t really like the thick potato taste, but the meat inside was pretty nice, especially for the price! I got the meat pie which was actually cheaper than the potato ball and it was bigger than the potato ball, but I didn’t really like this one as much because the croissant texture on the outside didn’t really satisfy me too much, but this meat pie was still okay! Last but not least, I got the cheese roll and I wasn’t really a big fan of this one, so I might not get this cheese roll again in the future sadly. I also told the worker that I lived five hours away and this was my first time coming here, so she actually snuck in a secret little chocolate cookie for me! Even though I didn’t buy it, I still was very in love with it, and I feel like it tasted like a cookie with some deliciously soft chocolate filling inside, and it was great! I would get that again! Overall, I still enjoyed coming here and trying so many things, and I really loved the prices too, especially for southern Californian prices! I also included my receipt just to show how much I spent...