Universal Bakery

Great breakfast place in the mission. Always packed on the weekends. The huevos estrellados are fantastic! The hot sauce adds a little oomph to the black beans.

Thank you for the past 20 years+ of delicious bread. Since I was a child I have frequently visited this place when it was originally located on 24^th and Hampshire. Recently they have gone through a renovation and customers can no longer hand pick their bread, which wouldn’t be an issue if quality assurance was to par. I can longer withstand the constant burnt champuradas mixed in with the others and today was the last straw. Arriving home to have my coffee with bread I come to notice that both gusanitos were burnt which if having the option to hand pick I wouldnt have chosen but due to the new system I got screwed. Today you lost a long time customer.

Great food and friendly service at this family-​run business! The place is officially called Universal Panaderia, not Bakery. They definitely have a lot more than just baked goods. The food is delicious and very affordable. I am not an expert on Guatemalan cuisine, but do love Latin food. Seems like Guatemalan cuisine has more bread/​rolls and no tortilla/​chips (so don’t go if that’s what you want). We just had eggs with black beans and sausage and the empanadas, all excellent. The portions were sizeable so we had no room for dessert. The breads and pastries look delicious too so we will have to try them next time.
The service was also great, the guy taking our orders at the counter was extra friendly and helpful. Some other reviews complained about the service, but we had no problems. We were there at noon on a weekday so maybe it is busier and slower on weekends.
Other reviews also thought it is dirty, but I thought it was very clean. The owner said they have been remodeling in stages over the last couple years. The counters and glass display cabinets look new and nice to me. The nice interior was what struck us as we were walking by and stopped in. I think it has the nicest and most modern interior of any Latin restaurant in outer Mission. Give it a try!

Their bread is so good! I travel just to go get their bread, tamales and Tikis.

This place is good Central American (Guatemalan) breakfast/​brunch café! I love coming here, nice friendly staff, especially David! They’re food, like Pan Con Todo (Eggs, refried beans, cheese, sour cream on a Fresh French Bread roll) is really good! Def recommend this place.

Ok. Great regular dishes. Should be cleaner.

The best tradicional Guatemala bakery and restaurant, its a order and sit down place. Always busy but the food is worth it, the bread is always fresh, because every time I go for my favorite bread choices I have to wait. Service could be better, but it truly is a mom and pop operation. We drive on weekends when we can all the way from Lincoln, Ca. I have tried other similar bakeries and they don’t compare, worth the drive for me. I get frustrated by the service but things are run like in Latin America, kick back, no rush style. But the baked goods and food are delicious, and not to full of oil too. Highly recommend it.

I was born and raised in Guatemala and moved to the bay area two years ago. I have been missing Guatemalan food like crazy and I to La Universal to find all the yummy things I used to have at home.
This is traditional home cooking with amazing pan dulce (sweet bread). Eating at la Universal made me feel back at Grandma’s house on a weekday at noon. Our fluffy «pan frances» dipped in black beans with cream, the chuchitos and chao mein (yes, it’s different, but that’s how we eat it back home!) made me feel in heaven as I closed my eyes and remembered what food tastes like at home.
Even the lady at the counter and the staff in general were so nice it reminded me of my people’s kindness and hospitality.
This is the real deal! If you want to have a small taste of Guatemala, you need to come here. :)

I’m Guatemalan.
Coming to this place reminds me of my mom’s cooking when I was younger, but I’m definitely not biased ;)
David who is related to the owners is phenomenal when it comes to service. He makes everyone who comes through the door feel at home.
Order the breakfast, it’s incredible (they serve it all day). The pastries and coffee are all delicious as well.
Very busy in the morning (mostly with Guatemalans) and the weekends, but you won’t wait long at all.
Enjoy!

Love this place! Great breakfast! Fresh warm bread, coffee, good vibe! Recommend this place highly! Great customer service! The breakfast plates here are on point! Fill you right up. Come give this central American gem a try!

Awesome pastries, so cheap and fresh, on a weekend you wait for the new trays to get brought out from the back and people clear half the tray before it gets put into the racks. Warm fresh rolls! There are pumpkin baked turnovers with custard filling and then also apple and piña. The tamales are completely great. I love the homey feel of this bakery and having breakfast here. You can basically get a huge bag of freshly baked pastries for under 5 bucks.
p. s. This entry should read Panaderia La Universal which is what the sign says !! Not Universal Bakery!

Although located in part of sketchy mission st. This bakery is pretty popular with the locals, and I’ve made some killer panini’s with their bread loafs. The people who work here are also extremely nice and very friendly, they will be glad to explain what all the funny looking bread loafs are as well what is inside the empanadas.
I personally love their Apple Empanadas but if you walking by you should go check it out, step out of you comfort zone compadres!

For the holidays I always come to this place to buy tamales. Its worth the drive, delicious and great pasteries. ;)

I am a big supportor of Universal Bakery. As a little girl, I remember walking on 24^th St and Potrero and begging my mother to buy me some Guatemalen bread. I remember seeing a sweet lady behind the counter and her (equally) sweet baker.
I was so bummed out when they no longer were open. Many yrs later (already an adult), I got the best news… Universal Baker IS STILL OPEN but at a new location!
I made the trip to 3458 Mission St and there is was! YAY!!! As soon as I walked in, my senses went crazy. I can smell the conchas and the fresh rolls just out of the oven. To my delight, the location was more spacious and they had also added a food menu I immediately went for the egg breakfast dish. It has Eggs (obviously), refried beans, sour cream, queso fresco and a roll of bread. OMG, AMAZING!
Since my reunion with Universal, I have brought many friends and visitors from all parts of the world/​country here. They have been equally delighted with the food and sweets.
From a 2 person run bakery to a whole team of great people, Universal has had great and well deserved success. I highly recommend this bakery and encourage all Unilocalers to try it out. You will TASTE what Im writing about!

I try and come here every weekend because the food and service here are just that good. Make sure you eventually try the arroz en leche and the pan con todo y salchicha. I’ve brought friends of all nationalities and they all seem to love it.
mmm.craving some right now.

I had an idea for a picnic at day two of my McNear’s weekend getaway and wanted to buy some fresh rolls for sandwiches. Fresh bread makes all the difference. I stopped into Universal Bakery on Mission and picked up some rolls, best described as the ones they use for Tortas.
They were ridiculously cheap and made that same day. I paid about $ 2.50 for 4 Rolls and a Large Coffee, which was such a great deal. ;)
The food here seems pretty popular and noticed one of my Chef friends ordering from one of my old lunch spots downtown, he’s got good taste in food too. I will definitely be back to try it out for myself.

I was born in Guatemalan but grew up here in SF eating this type of food at home. This is by far the closest I’ve ever had to it… and I can honestly say… «just like momma used to make it!»
I’ve been to few other Guatemalan places and they are good, but something about this place just hits the spot. Maybe the simplicity of it? The flavor? The staff? The prices? The smell? All of it? I’m not sure but whatever it is, its got me hooked!
So if you’re looking for a one time experience or your new inexpensive, delicious breakfast hot-​spot

Guatemalan chao mein… I had to find out what it was like. The chao mein ($ 7) comes with a side of black beans, crema, and a soft white roll. The thin, short noodles were soft and mushy. The noodles were served with pieces of boneless chicken, red and green bell pepper strips, and celery. Interesting… but only a step above frozen Westernized chow mein. I did like the black beans and the fresh, crusty, warm white roll but those were just sides.
I was also curious about Guatemalan empanadas. The exterior was a thick, doughy corn shell. Deep frying made them greasy and golden. The stewed chicken filling, the crunchy, tangy slaw and hot sauce were very good but I didn’t like the heavy exterior shell.
They remodeled a few months ago. It looks nicer now but the crowd hasn’t changed (mostly immigrants).

From the line of people here daily, it must be good! The breakfast combo was just OK, and they were out of chorizo. The eggs are a bit runny, but mix with rice. Other specials are available too, but I think I’ll try the breakfast at Cancun as it’s more familair.
I usually go here for baked goods. Nothing is labeled and I don’t know what it cost, but it’s cheap.
Being right up the hill from here, I get whiffs of them baking something, and it smells a lot like chocolate chip cookies, but I can’t find any inside.
If you know what you are looking for in a Guatemalan bakery no doubt you will find it here.

YOU DONT EVEN KNOW!!! My wife said we should try this Guatemalan food on misson st that she read about. Im always down for a new breakfast experience so i was game. We dropped our daughter off at my parents and it was go time!
So much parking in the morning on mission st so we parked right in front. From the car we could see a line of people waiting to order and sitting and eating.
Let me say this first, do not expect nice chairs or fancy napkins (or any napkins at all! haha…) just know that you are going to get some good food.
We get in line and after the four or five people in front of us we order. I got the breakfast sandwich on a nice soft roll with soft mexican white cheese, bean gravy (just the juice from black beans), eggs, hot dogs (chorizo or some other type of meat would be better), with flavored sour cream (its GOOD!). My wife got the breakfast plate with all of the above but no meat. She also got to pick out any roll or baked good with her plate.
We sat there and ate and knew we’d be back! The lady at the register was SUPER nice and friendly and handled it all with one arm. Seriously the lady has one arm and could beat Lincoln Hawk in an arm wrestling contest (for those unfamiliar with Sylvester Stallone movies this is from ‘Over the Top’).
Anyway, great food, good people, and a good time was had by all.