La Gran Via Bakery

Walked in to this place when I was in the area one late Friday afternoon with the hopes of scoring some of their fabled guava and cheese pastries and saw they had some, so I greedily order a bunch. Then I noticed another customer ordering a flan, and figured «why not?» and ordered one as well. My goodness, this flan was one of the yummiest I’ve had in a good while, and was so happy I had ordered it. The pastries were amazing as well.
Can’t wait to go back and order the café con leche and pan tostado.
Legit Latin bakery!

I hate fruit pastries or anything sweet with cheese except, of course, for NY style cheesecake. So when one of my coworkers brought in a box from La Gran Via the other day, I politely declined. An hour or so later, my morning protein shake wore off and I was starving. Having to choose between a Nature Valley Granola Bar and one of Jess’ pastries, I decided to bite the proverbial bullet and OMG, was I happy I did.
There must be 50 bakeries between my house and Union City, perhaps even more. But, like I said, it was phenomenal so last Sunday after getting the car washed, I made the trip. Parking can be a challenge but if you wait long enough a spot should open on the street. Once inside, I felt like I was transported back in time to when I was kid and my mother would take a number and wait inside the Royal Bakery in Fair Lawn. And wait I did as they were pretty much jammed. My Spanish is poor at best but I was able to order 19 of the very same pastries and a cup of coffee. Why 19, you ask? I couldn’t remember how to say 20 in Spanish and diez y nueve immediately came to mind. The sweet grandma (abuela) looking woman behind the counter smiled, knowing all too well that I had reached the limit of what I could remember from Señora Shaw’s 10^th grade Spanish I class. Not being familiar with associated costs and mindful that they might not accept credit cards (they do), I brought $ 60 and hoped it was enough. The bill for all 19 and a cup of exceptional café con leche? $ 17.50. Wow.
I have to say that the other 20 reviewers who all raved about this place were all absolutely correct. Decidedly delicious and definitely old school, this is a destination worthy of a bit of drive time. Fantastic place, wonderful experience and way, way delicious.

A sweet eater’s dream — a Diabetic’s nightmare! If you’re worried about calories, keep walkin’! Delicious Eats!

Guava and cream cheese pastries are AMAZING. They also have meat filled pastries covered in honey which are also delicious. My bf is a regular here and we are from Boston so that’s saying something. Anytime we are in NY or NJ we make the trip to La Gran!

Amazing hot and delicious café con leche! They never disappoint with their pastries. You will always see a line at this place but you never wait long.

OMG! Loove this bakery!!! The café con leche is to die for!!! And the pastries all I can say is OMG!!! Yum!

This gringa says –que rico!!! best café con leche I’ve had since i moved back from miami. cuban sandwich was delicious but the guava pastelitos, empanadas and flan… OMG lo maximo! wow what a great place.

The great thing about Hudson county is that it is filled with fabulous little hallways that bring so much goodness into your soul through something as simple as guava pastry. Be sure to get here with a little patience or a lot of luck to find parking, in case you don’t feel free to use the small lot across the street.
I have spend the last 25 years coming here nearly every weekend to load up my favorites which include: guava & cheese pastries, beef pastries, cheese pastries, elephant ears, croquetas, flan and tres leches cake. Oh and don’t forget to get a nice strong café con leche to wash it all down!
The best thing about this place is that it is super cheap and super delicious. Think like .30 cent pasteles, .60 cent baguette rolls, yes THAT CHEAP. The ladies behind the counter I don’t think know much english, but the pointing method always works, if not make a bilingual friend while your here.
Just make sure to bring cash, altough they do take credit, it is a $ 1 surcharge, which is like 3 pastries! Alright, now head over there already!

Addicted to their half moon shaped guava and cheese pastries, the crust is amazing. Perfect amount of cheese to guava. The very best Cuban bakery. Clean and great service. Can’t wait to try the café con leche soon.

You come to this place for two things — what they make and the crowd. Their café con leche and pan con mantequilla are amazing. Their bocaditos de pasta are exactly how you remember your abuela making them for your birthday. Compound that with San Lázaro looking down at the customers and the group of viejitos drinking proper expressos from small plastic thimbles and you’ll leave with a smile on your face and happiness in your belly.

Simply the best Cuban bakery that exists in NJ.

If Buddy the Elf stopped by La Gran Via, he would congratulate them for making the world’s greatest cup of coffee. They never let me down with their café con leche and their pastelitos de guayaba y queso. The servers are great; today she actually took her time with my coffee, asking me to taste it first to see if it was too strong or just right. Talk about great customer service. One thing to note, in the morning it gets quite crowded, so keep an eye out of other customers, so they don’t cut you in line. Their prices are just right, not overpriced like a certain Seattle based coffeehouse chain.

Wow– a huge box of delicious pastries was only $ 8.75. Try the coconut ball dipped in honey– amazing!

Their empanadas pan con pasta mix mini sandwiches and pastel de guava are great not crazy about their croquetas this is another place where you should be prepared to wait the line is at least a 10 minute wait

This had delicious pastelitos de carne, y guayaba con queso, the café con leche, was out of this world. I would gladly recommend this place. After that I wasn’t happy about parking or the fact that they don’t have tables or chairs inside. Other then that it was an amazing experience.

Great spot when you have the craving for Cuban pastries. Brings back memories growing up in this once Havana on the Hudson community. The Guava pastries are excellent. Standing room only that can use a little interior facelift.

This bakery is my favorite bakery! Hands down, the best authentic cuban café con leche. The absolute best pastelitos de carne, y pastelitos de guayaba. The empanadas are made to perfection and the croquetas kind of melt in your mouth. I order bocaditos from here whenever I have a big party. I also like their melted ham and cheese sandwiches but my absolute favorite addiction from this place is the fresh, warm cuban bread. There are different kinds… pan de agua, pan de manteca and others. My favorite is pan cangrejo de manteca. Its cuban bread shaped like over sized croissant (hence why tgey call it pan cangrejo). I eat it plain and dunked in the café con leche or toasted with butter, and yes you know it… dunked in the café con leche. Yuuuuummmmo!
Of course, nothing is perfect. Although this bakery is close to it. The downside is that it crowds easily and you have to make sure to stand your ground and not let others cut you in the line because there is no real order. Also, the pastelitos de guayaba y queso (guava and cheese) are not my favorite. They tend to be a bit harder than I like and are never warm.
Other than that, the service is great and I love the quaint ambiance. Its in the heart of Union City where there is a large Cuban population so going there is like taking a trip to the Carribean. The old time Cuban gentlemen chat about local and Cuban politics, and open the doors for the ladies. Then you have the older lady patrons who walk in on Sunday mornings all dolled up to order café con leche. I’ve been going there since I was a child and it always feels like home. And more importantly, the quality never ever fades.
WARNING: This bakery is not to be confused with La Gran Via Restaurant, which is awful. See my review of that place for details.

Excellent bakery. I order food all of the time. Although I don’t speak Spanish, the ladies are always very patient. The food is always amazing.

Uh-​May-​Zing … Fantastic café con leche … the best pasteles de guayaba, guayaba y queso, & dedos de queso … fresh/​delicious empanadas and croquettas. Haven’t had any of the actual sandwhiches, but I imagine that it’s amazing, as everything else is, and their bread is just delicious. It’s always busy in there, you have to go in ready to yell your order out once you see one of the ladies ready to help you out. You’ll find a lot of locals in there, and you’ll hear all about the cuba of long ago while you are there!!! Great local spot! Don’t be scared to walk in, Hudson County Neos! lol

Honestly the best cup of coffee in the tri state. The beans are ground fresh, each cup is made with care. The people there are some of the kindest people I have ever spoken to. The bakery is first rate, fresh baked bread, cakes, and empanadas. Oh that cup of coffee.$ 1.

I’ve been coming to this bakery ever since I was a little kid. This place has the best café con leche, empanadas de carne, croquettas de jamon, pie de coco, ham and cheese croissants and pasteles de guayaba, among many other things. Order a croquetta preparada sandwich with ham and Swiss cheese if you want an awesome sandwich that you probably will only be able to finish half of. In my opinion this is the best best Cuban bakery in Hudson County.