Latin Bakery & Café — Restaurant in West Miami

This is a sad day ... I have been going to this place since it opened as I am a native to the area. I have seen places come and go... and it saddens me to say this Bakery is losing its touch. It seems to be turning into a processing plant instead of keeping its original standard of quality. I usually stop in and buy something for the office, today I decided to take a variety of pastelitos and pastries, since I was in the mood for a cuban toast. That turned out to be a huge mistake! I told the lady that was taking care of me I wanted it very hot with butter. Well, the butter was scarce and the bread hard, tasteless, yeasty. What happened to the Bread maker?! It no longer holds the quality it use to have. I threw half of it away. This is why people buy FRESH made bread from the bakery- because they don't want commercialized processed bread. For this I would have gone any supermarket. Then there are the ham croquettes, well they no longer taste the same- nor have the same texture, and fall apart before you can take a bite and now they are long and lanky. The guava/cheese pastries, very puffy, poofie and sticky; again - it falls apart before the first bite and you are left with stickie pieces of pastry on your hands and crumbles all over. You are left with jsut guava paste and lumpy cheese and a thin layer of pastry dough. I guess I will go back to La Carreta for this. Before these pastelitos were served warm, with body, and texture and taste...they were nice not any more. The meat pastelitos - a joke! They were very dry and fall apart completely. You might as well eat an oreo cookie. It does not hold its structure. It should be a meat sandwich, mind you the the whole idea of the pastelito is a puff pastry with meat inside, not a biscuit sandwich, for that I would go to Burger King. Plus, they sit in the glass display to keep them warmth but to my dismay, you get a pastry that seems its been sitting overnight opposed to what should be couple of hrs if that, due to the morning turnaround. This is not rocket science people! Oh yes, and I haven't even mentioned the staff. Now that has ALWAYS been a 50/50, funny how that remains constant. I am very disappointed. I see it has fallen to expanding and trying new alternatives in order to keep up or make more money at the expense of quality and great food. But I guess it does not matter any longer since it has an established clientele. Shame on Melissa and family for letting other interests become a priority opposed to maintaining the quality of their business which is the integrity of any type of food industry. I am embarrassed for having spoken so highly of this bakery, I understand why they are trying on new venues- but when you start by cutting corners and the quality of your food is at stake the people/community that supported you from the beginning will slowly turn away. It may be just business to you but not for those that fell in love with a humble little bakery at the corner. I guess those values are difficult to keep up with even with your Christian faith. Don't preach what you...

This is the third and last time I go to this bakery, today I went because all my regular bakeries are closed due to the Holiday, my two previous experiences were as bad as today's, the staff behind the counter is rude and lack the minimum understanding of what costumer service is all about it, it is a shame the baked good are really good, while I was waiting my turn, there was a client asking for a sandwich to go and ask for it to be hot, the attender( looks like he was the manager), said no to her, that their policy was not hot sandwiches to go, I work in the Food & beverage field for more than 25 years and I had never hear of a policy like that, anyway the Lady(client) ask for the sandwich to be heated and that she will place it on a to go container herself, the attender, again, said no!!!! My number came up and I specifically ask for 2 meat pastelitos(patties), 1 ham & cheese empanada, 1 ham "cachito"( it is a sort of soft bread filled with chopped ham) and a apple tartlet, this attender(a young lady with glasses) started to place my order in paper bags, to my amazement she proceeded to place the delicate apple tartlet inside a paper bag as well, I did not said anything to her, at this point I just wanted to finish my transaction and to get out of there, so the attender call my order but she called only one meat pastelito instead of two, so I said to her, " there should be two meat pastelitos", she immediately replayed back in a very defiant tone of voice, "YOU SAID ONE MEAT PASTELITO", again I did not said anything, she went and stuffed the pastelito inside one of the bags and call my transaction amount $6.79, I paid, left her a generous $1.00 tip (which she did not deserved, but then again probably she has never being properly trained and my tartlet was smashed in the bottom of a paper bag, she not even thank me or ask me to visit again( which is not going to happen even if I have to go to the other side of town). Seriously, they all need a comprehensive and professional training on customer service, they do not have...

I’ve been a loyal customer here for well over 15 years. This café was always a staple of the neighborhood, a place where abuelitos gathered every morning and families came on weekends. But lately, I’ve noticed a drastic shift, and frankly, it’s disappointing.

There have been no meaningful updates, renovations, or improvements to justify your recent outrageous price hikes. You’re still serving the same greasy food, in the same unrenovated space, with the same dirty water glasses covered in lipstick and greasy fingerprints, utensils with food residue, and a bathroom that is consistently unacceptable. Yet somehow, the prices are now on par with Sexy Fish.

The final straw for me was realizing you’re charging $6.75 for a café con leche. That’s not inflation, that’s greed. The proof is in the empty tables where our elders used to sit; they’ve told me themselves they were forced to find more affordable alternatives because of your pricing.

I’ve put up with it long enough. I won’t continue to support a place that has abandoned its loyal base in exchange for inflated pricing without delivering on cleanliness, quality, or atmosphere. I’m taking my...