La Victoria Mexican Bakery & Cafe

the bakery is really cute — we took the sour flour sourdough class in the back over the weekend. the baked goods — not very delicious. i had the chocolate beignet and it was super dry (probably cuz it was sitting out for so long in the hot mission air). my friend had a cookie and it tasted kinda like cardboard. meepsface. the mexican wedding cookies are super crumbly. the girl who was working looked like she hated to be there.

This is always one of my favorite bakeries in the Mission. I stopped by yesterday for a macadamia nut cookie, some herbal tea, and the Maradona empanada. They were all superb.

I’ve been getting the sour flour loaves here for awhile, they’re very tasty and at the end of the day they put day old loaves outside for free. Today I got a fancy tea and a blueberry scone, it was nice and fresh tasting, not too sweet and no frosting, perfect for me. A man playing guitar inside serenaded my son and I which was very sweet. Nice experience overall, I’ll have to try more of their pastries. (It’s not a as cheap as you might expect but I assume their rent isn’t cheap either)

I used to come here all the time. I felt like a grown up as a little kid when my mom passed me the tongs with the tray. My oh my!
Cut to the future :(
Dry flavorless, expensive breads that just make a girl sad. I bought a whole box of alfahores because I remember getting these as a kid. They were HORRIBLE I REPEAT HORRIBLE. I don’t know what is going on with this place. It was so dry and disgusting. Ugh! Never again.

I have been there only once to buy the traditional Rosca de Reyes. For $ 39.00 I was expecting and amazing one! It was meh. Good enough to say we had Rosca on January 6^th, but coming from Mexico, I have had way better. I thought that being a Mexican bakery, they would get it right, but I was dissapointed :(
Don’t think I will come back.

This place is really cute and has a lot of local flavor. You can tell it’s been in the community for a while. There were tons of customers going in on Thanksgiving morning picking up a bunch of breads and rolls.
But I think you should go for the alfajores ($ 1.95). They are perfectly crumbly and loaded with almonds. Plus, the outside is sprinkled lightly with some salt for an unique sweet and salty taste. Possibly one of the best cookies I’ve ever had.
Everything else was fine. We tried this bread called cubilete ($ 2.05), which looks like a little cupcake. It’s baked with sweetened ricotta on top so that gives it a nice sugary crust. My friend and I found it a little too sweet though. We also tried the empanadas ($ 4.00), which were pretty good in size, but a little lackluster compared to the fancy description that’s advertised on the menu.
There’s some tables in the back, and they have coffee and tea, so it seems like it would be a great place to get some work done.

What a travesty.
I used to visit La Victoria when I was a little kid, the tasty, plentiful selections were always fantastic.
I decided to come in here to buy a couple of pieces of pan dulce and initially was impressed by the huger selection. I bought 4 pieces total. 2 regular sized cookies, 1 pineapple empanada and a sugary coated donut looking thing. 6.25 total. I was like wtf???
The nice cashier pointed out what each item was and feeling guilty that I already put them on a tray I went ahead with the purchase. You think since this bakery has been in existence for over 60 years that everything they make is an absolute masterpiece, pfft sadly NO.
The cookies were dry and lacked brown sugar, the empanada was extremely dry and mostly hardened crust (tasted a couple days old).
Clearly I will never ever come into this over priced bakery again.

We purchased an array of pastries, from the wedding cookies, to palmiers, to the caramel sandwiches, to a custard beignet. The wedding cookies were underdone. No crumble, just a doughy chewy bland mess. The beignet, was not a beignet. Way too much dough, way too dense, and the custard was meh. Chocolate macaroons were more of a cake consistency, not airy though.
I would go here for only 2 pastries: the palmiers (caramelized sugar and good flaky texture) and the caramel sandwiches (so delicate they crumbled in the bag, but still so tasty to eat, buttery, creamy sweet).

Been getting pan dulce from here for over a decade. Took Robert for his first time, and he loved it!

NICE presentación, but if you want to charge a premium for pastries, MEXICAN or otherwise, the quality has got to be up to par. The bread tastes like it’s a day old and cost 3x from most other local bakeries. Go 1 – 2 blocks closer to mission and sample some delicious bread, from legit places with reasonable prices.

Wandering around the Mission after dance class is dangerous, because:
a.) I’m hungry.
b.) I’m hungry and I just danced my butt off so I can eat more, yeah?
c.) Refer to a & b.
My eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach, so I purchased a few items, but didn’t finish the ones that were subpar. Pastries were either enclosed in the display case or displayed by window, but most were left out on the counters.
The macaroon is delightfully sticky on the teeth and has a very pleasant toasted coconut flavor.
Unless you see them coming out straight from the oven, I’d skip the beignets. I expected light and airy, but dense and doughy best describe them. If you want something savory, grab an onion biscuit. I love the strong flavor and the flaky texture.
Prices are cheap for the portions you get. But I’m really turned off by the fact that these are out in the open. One «achoo» … and you just ate my flu: p

You have to know what’s good here. Very hit or miss. Some pastries can be dry and flavorless.
La Victoria’s wedding cookies are really good. So just come here and get those.

Not as impressed with the panaderia on this visit. They have remodeled and maybe there are more areas for seating, but less room for pastries. Definitely the variety is less than it used to be. But still good. However, their pastries also seemed a lot less fresh than before. Granted we bought these around lunch time, but they tasted a day old.

I came here at 4PM on a Wednesday for Sour Flour, a breadmaking class that is held at the back of the bakery. I was almost late to class though because I got distracted by all the cakes, pastries, and breads on display.
Macaroon (1.90) — It was delicious yet very pricey considering it’s in the Mission, where there are plenty of panaderias that sell the exact same thing for a dollar less.
Vanilla Concha Bread (1) — Essentially the Mexican version of a pineapple bun. I’m not a fan of the bread itself which was very dry compared to the Asian bread I’m used to. The sweet topping was good though so I just peeled that part off and discarded the rest. Not necessarily a bad thing since I reduced my carb intake haha
I doubt I’ll be back here since I don’t think the quality of the items I tried warrants the price.
[TIP]: A bag of 4 macaroons is only 3.50. Opt for this if you have more self control than I do.

I remember going here as a kid. Boy has it changed. Pastries are good, nothing to die for. Pretty much the same as the other pastry stops around the area expect it’s 3 times the price here. They used to be known for their good price. Unfortunately that sink longer the case. VERY DISAPPOINTED

For $ 10, we were able to pick up a selection of Mexican wedding cookies, elephant ears, macaroons, and other delicious flakey pastries. The place was empty when we stopped in and doesn’t look like it’s been updated in 50 years. Located in the barrio on a tough corner, this little bakery has very wonderful sweets ready to go.

Been here a couple of times — each time because Knead Patisserie was closed and I wanted a pastry fix. The items I’ve tried have been good, but nothing outstanding. I’m never disappointed by the items I’ve selected, but I haven’t had anything so great that it’s compelled me to buy the same thing again.
With the plethora of other options available for delicious pastries in the Mission, I will rarely find myself back here again for something sweet. That is, unless others close by are closed and I’m too lazy to make the trek to Valencia Street.

Time: 3:13pm/68°F mostly sunny
Purpose: I heard about about this place for sometime from various people. Since I’m here today why not go ahead and check it out?
Ambiance: This place is more like a three section all in one kinda atmosphere. When you walk in the front is a bakery and café, the middle dining section, the inner back share rented out kitchen. I’m not even sure how they survive here. Place is empty and items are pack in show case looks like they just open prior to me walking in. The whole time I was there not a single soul came in. Bakery part is just a window display case, 4ft jewerly case, a cart with day olds, counter with cake stands/​pedestal, wire tier cupcake holder, bags of cookies, pans of unidentified offerings strewn across counter, and candies in jars.
Staff: Reddish hair lady about late 50s possible owner. She was not in the mood to sell today. I look at her way she kept wiping a teapot. I said ahem! She looks at her register! I said how much are these? That’s when she turn around. So if I don’t say anything don’t assume I’m not buying. Sometimes people like to be greeted or acknowledge. I wasn’t asking for a pat on the back deal. When I walk in your undivided attention should be turn towards your customer, not your teapot. That pot doesn’t pay your bills.
Cleanliness: Grade D-​, lots of flies buzzing around size of a number #2 pencil eraser on top. Even smaller than that shouldn’t seen in here at all. You never know where those flies has landed before entering the display cases. The one inside seems like wanting to come out and try other goods. The display in the front window was open invitation for AYCE as for those little pesk they’re very active with eat and go times.
Eats/​Drinks: Was about to get couple of bread till I saw those flies with their front hands rubbing each other looking at me with bubble black eyes. Very spooky and not very appetizing. I try to snap a pic of those flys but everyone I try to come close they fly to another location in the box display. I must say some items looks good especially the red square sponge cake with shredded coconut flakes and the Mexican wedding cookies. I just can’t muster myself from getting anything at all regardless of how good it look. Mr. Fly did me in today!
Products/​Services: Pastries, buns, bread, left over Halloween cookies, muffins, cupcakes, cookies, cakes by the slice, prepackaged weighted cookie bags, tea cookies, scones. Coffe by Equator, espresso machine by Eletrak 2 chamber extractor, tea by Mighty Tea Leaf. Credit card $ 10 minimum.
Tradeoffs: You’ll get your standard best selling Mexican treats here. However only the toughest stomach survives here. Health department should make weekly visits not quarterly.
Final Thoughts: This was the first time in my whole life walking in a Mexican bakery and left empty handed. I’ve never done so and if I did come close to it. I would still pick up a Mexican pineapple bun just to support them. This was clearly the case of not because item sold out, don’t carry it or discontinue. It was lack of care to understand cross contamination seriousness. A simple task under $ 20 mesh screens coverings would’ve help tremendously. As for now two stars for authenticity of goods and long time reputation.

Stumbling upon this bakery was some kind of happy miracle. Their Mexican baked goods take me back to my wanderings through Zacatecas and Guanajuato. The Mexican Wedding cookies… perfect.
Oh, they had these amazing, moist poundcake-​like sweets with berries suspended in the top that are effing incredible.
The espresso was decent. And the service was very, very friendly. All smiles from the lady that helped us. I wanted to hug her. Maybe I should next time. Why don’t we hug more… mmmmm…maybe not. I don’t want to get thrown out. But, if I ask and the moment is there? Ahhh, the quandaries of modern life.
Just do yourself a favor and score some sweet and savory baked goods for your coworkers, friends, loves or enemies that you want to woo.

This isn’t your typical panaderia in the Mission even though the front window on 24^th would have you believe it is with all the familiar pan dulce (photo:
). From their eclectic website, it appears to be a collection of complementary small businesses all housed in a corner bakery that’s been owned by the Maldonado family since 1951. That’s before anyone liked Ike or even loved Lucy. Now they host pop-​up dinners and cooking classes. I know De La Paz coffee from their pop-​up store on Mission near my place, and El Porteño has their familiar stand in the Ferry Building next to Pepples Donuts. I like both, but I’ve never heard of the vegan Wholesome Bakery or the Soul Cocina food cart. I guess they all sell their wares here, but you can’t really tell from the menu.
What you can tell is that it’s really more like a hipster coffeehouse judging from all the sock-​capped hipsters who usually hang out in the back where all the tables are. This past Sunday morning was different though since someone was conducting a cupcake bonding class where multiple generations get together for the sake of baking and frosting their differences away (photo:
). Me? I just decided to take one of their big silver trays and a pair of tongs simply to get one of their Cocada (Coconut) Macaroons (photo:
). It was a bit on the mushy side and wholly in the shadow of the one I got at the Pastry Cupboard on Market last week. Better was the $ 2.45 Mexican Spicy Hot Chocolates with chile and cinnamon (photo:
). Warm goodness, not too sweet. The same could be said about the server.
PASTRIES — 3 stars… OK, not as satisfying as I would have wanted for the calories consumed
AMBIANCE — 3 stars… dated coffeehouse vibe borders on vintage & shabby chic
SERVICE — 3.5 stars… friendly though a tad hurried
TOTAL — 3 stars… I like the idea that’s percolating here, just needs to brew a bit more to become more memorable