Porto's Bakery [Glendale]

Although we were right next door at Damon's for June's Yelp Elite event, we arrived five minutes after Porto's 7 o'clock closing. I wasn't about to let that happen a second time around and popped by on my way back from the Kwik-E-Mart down the street.

The demure storefront hides the megalithic 2-story party supply and cake shop that lie behind Porto's doors. Designed to handle downtown Glendale's lunch traffic, the bakery is divided into two sides with the left counter serving lunch orders for sandwiches and popular bakery items and the right being the full-service bakery. Just queue up if you're in line at the lunch counter, but remember to take a number if you're waiting on the bakery.

We started with a trio of strudels (guava cheese, apple and guava) whose pastry shells were slightly cookie-like and crumbled more than they flaked. The apples were generously dusted with cinnamon spice, though we couldn't taste the cheese in our guava-cheese strudel. The guava tasted firstly of sugar, but left a refreshing tart aftertaste in our mouths. We also tried one of the new Raspberry Kisses, which reminded me of the Verona cookies filled with raspberry jam. They're a little on the dry side, which begs for tea of milk and I will definitely go back to try the dulce de leche version, which I bet tastes like alfajores.

The Pan con Lechon, a roasted pork sandwich with garlic mojo and onions, was incredibly moist and flavorful, though there was too much meat and too little of everything else. When I did manage to get a bite of onion, the contrast was sublime. If they had used red onions marinated in lime, it would have been heavenly.

And lastly, the legendary Potato Balls, which lived up to the hype and so much more. The fluffy mashed potatoes are lightly fried and filled with a flavorful taco meat. I was already raving even before I discovered the seasoned ground beef, hiding like a buried treasure in the depths of the ball. At $.80 a pop, they are the ultimate comfort food.

Whether its breads, cakes, pastries, empanadas, sandwiches, or tarts, there are certainly enough options at Porto's to keep you coming back for more.

Porto's Party Store & Cake Gallery
315 N Brand Blvd
Glendale, CA 91203
(818) 956-5996