Porto's Bakery & Cafe

Porto's Bakery & Cafe is a Cuban-American bakery institution with locations across Southern California, and its Downey outpost near the OC border serves the same legendary recipes that have made the brand a regional treasure since 1976. The potato ball — a seasoned ground beef and potato croquette encased in crispy breading — is the savory signature and sells by the thousands daily. The guava and cream cheese pastelito, baked until the puff pastry shatters into buttery flakes, is the essential sweet order that no visit can be without. The cafe also produces extraordinary Cuban sandwiches, tres leches cake, and elaborately decorated custom cakes at prices that feel almost too fair. Lines at the counter can stretch long, but the operation runs with impressive efficiency.