Los Angeles-founded Cuban favorite Porto’s Bakery and Cafe, known for the lines of customers waiting to buy its cakes, potato balls and pastries packed up in the brand’s signature yellow and brown boxes, has traditionally taken a slow-growth approach to its business, expanding cautiously over its many decades — and almost never outside of Los Angeles County.
Until now.
The beloved 50-year-old bakery, which Cuban political refugee Rosa Porto founded in LA’s Silver Lake neighborhood, announced on Instagram on Tuesday that it will open its first-ever Inland Empire location in Ontario, after teasing it the day prior. The bakery is run by the second generation of the Porto family — siblings Betty, Margaret and Raul Porto, all three of whom appear in the social media announcement.
“I speak to guests at the bakeries. Many of them are telling me how they drove from the Inland Empire or even further out, so we’re really excited to finally get here,” Raul Porto said in the announcement.
“Every time we open a store, the excitement starts all over again. We have hundreds of customers coming to West Covina on a daily basis that drive from the Inland Empire,” Betty Porto told SFGATE over the phone. “It’s a great opportunity for us. We know there will be hundreds of people waiting.”…