Porto’s Bakery and Cafe long-awaited Northridge location hasn’t yet opened its doors due to delays caused by the coronavirus, but its signature cheese rolls and guava pastries are now available weekly at the Northridge Farmers Market and Family Festival until the grand opening later this year.“We feel it was a good way of letting people know we’re coming,” Beatriz “Betty” Porto, co-owner of the family bakery, said of the market stall.
On Wednesdays at the Northridge Fashion Center from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., the bakery sets up a booth featuring pastries and breads. Every week without fail, Porto said, guests ask about the bakery’s cafe specialties — potato balls and ham and cheese croquettes, but the fried foods won’t be available at the farmers market location. Still, the flaky pastries, brioche buns and savory breads fly off the shelves.“It’s crazy busy, meaning I’ve never done a busier market in my life,” Porto said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen when we open the store, but it’s amazing. Every time I go, I take more products and I sell out no matter what.” The Glendale-based bakery started attending the market earlier this month and opened to long lines, quickly selling out each time, according to Porto.The new location, in the former Sears Auto Center at 1947 W. Nordhoff St., is set to open in October – a delay from its initial projected opening in December of last year, canceled by the coronavirus pandemic.
For now, Porto said, the market serves the purpose of alerting the neighborhood to the eventual opening, as well as beginning the recruitment process for new hires.
“We have managers there every day, when we do the market every Wednesday to give applications and start our hiring process. You know, we love to hire people in the community, which is what we aim for every time we open a new store. So the market serves a lot of purposes,” Porto said.
She and her siblings took over operations after their mother, Rosa, who founded the bakery in 1967, passed away in 2019. For Porto, the interaction at the farmers market is an extension of her mother’s community values.
“When you open up a store, it’s really nice to see familiar faces that you see every Wednesday in your market,” Porto said.
Porto’s Bakery Takes Farmers Market Route
