Sweet and Savory Variety at Torres Bakery

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Cudahy’s Packard Avenue continues to liven up as more businesses breathe new life into long-vacant storefronts. Among the latest is Torres Bakery (4759 S. Packard Ave., Cudahy), which opened in April in a former TV repair shop. An extensive renovation turned the space into a bright, inviting bakery and coffee shop featuring doughnuts, cookies, classic Mexican savory and sweet breads, desserts, sandwiches, nachos and hot ham and rolls each Sunday.

The bakery is family owned and operated, and all products are made on site, fresh daily in small batches. The recipes have been in the family for three generations. Lard is a common ingredient in Mexican baking, but Torres Bakery uses a soy shortening instead, so the products are vegetarian-friendly.

There’s a large variety of pan dulce (a general name for varieties of Mexican sweet breads and pastries) including conchas with artfully decorated sugar crusting. Torres Bakery’s conchas are softer than most other conchas I’ve tried. Fall and Halloween themed conchas are decorated like pumpkins, mummies and spiders. The creative concha sandwiches feature fillings like Nutella and strawberries or peanut butter and banana.

Empanadas, a type of turnover made with dough that’s less flaky than pie crust, are available with strawberry or pineapple filling. There are also churros, a fried pastry dough treat rolled in cinnamon sugar; broca, a puff pastry dough twisted and dusted with sugar; and pan de meurto, a yeasted bread flavored with orange. An assortment of cookies includes chocolate chunk, a crunchier cookie loaded with chocolate. A dessert case features various flavors of tres leches, a light, moist sponge cake soaked in different kinds of milk, along with tiramisu, flan and churro cheesecake.

The pillowy bolillo rolls have a nice rustic crust. A menu of about a half-dozen panini sandwich ($9-$11) options include chipotle chicken, Cubano with pulled pork, and turkey and Swiss. The nachos ($7; ground meat or al pastor $1.50 extra) are loaded with cheese, sour cream, guacamole, tomatoes, red onion and jalapeno peppers. The portion is generous enough to share with a friend.

Sundays feature hot ham and rolls. The ham is sliced thicker than deli-style ham, and my family enjoyed the homemade flavor. Each pound of ham comes with six fluffy, buttery dinner rolls.

Torres Bakery serves Valentine Coffee and a full range of coffee drinks such as espresso and lattes. The summer months featured several flavors of agua fresca, a refreshing fruit drink. A cooler has grab-and-go beverages to pair with bakery or food, including Mexican sodas. Custom order cakes are available.

On each visit, we were always greeted by a friendly, helpful family member. With an assortment of sweet and savory treats, there’s something for everyone at Torres Bakery.