Silva Bakery

This is truly a hole in the wall bakery. We ordered the almond pastry and orange cranberry scone. Both were delicious. Not overly sweet and very flavourful. Everything is very affordable and can’t wait to try different pastries.

I had bookmarked this place for a while and was really interested in trying their custard tarts. Since we were in the neighborhood, I had my husband drop me off after brunch. I bought 6 custard tarts for $ 7.20. This is our first time trying Portuguese food so we weren’t sure what to expect. When we got home, I digged in. The tart were way too sweet for our palates and the crust was chewy (unlike the Chinese egg tarts, which are crunchy). My husband who loves the Chinese version, thought that this was just ok. Customer service was good. When I was ready to pay, the phone rang. Instead of having me to wait to pay, the man who helped me out, told the person (on the phone) to hold so that he can ring me up. In terms of location… it’s in the same plaza as Jack In The Box (right behind it).

Last week, my wife showed me a picture of the Portuguese Custard Tarts and said, «I want to try». So, while I was out and about, I made the drive over and found their shop. If you’re looking for it, it’s on the little street behind the Jack in the Box. The storefront doesn’t look like much as the windows were all covered over.
The store itself is tiny. I was dismayed to find the main display case nearly empty at 4:00 in the afternoon. The young lady behind the counter informed me that they had been closed for five days over New Years and today was the first day back so inventory was very low.
She had exactly four Custard Tarts and four Coconut Tarts left in stock which she quickly packed up for me. They were quite yummy! And yes, the wife was quite pleased!
I’ll have to go back another day to try some of their other goodies.

Whenever I go I swear I clear out every custard tart they have there. I’ve had my fair share of Hong Kong Egg Tarts and Chinese bakery versions of Portuguese custard tarts and the ones here definitely beat out the Asian bakery version (not surprisingly). I can’t say whether or not I like the Hong Kong style or Portuguese style more but if you’re a fan of egg tarts I suggest giving these a try.
I’ve tried a wide selection of their other items and they vary between 2.5−4 stars for me. In general I’m not a fan of drier, biscuit-​like cookies/​pastries and a good amount of their selection are these kinds of cookies/​pastries. The flavors in the cookies (fruit jams, honey, spices) are usually very distinct which is nice but nothing’s really caught my attention. In general I’ve like their cream filled items more.
Since this place is so close to me and the service is always so sweet I’ll definitely be back!

I feel lucky that I found this bakery from Unilocal!It is only 7 min from my house and their pastries are outstanding! The Portuguese egg tart is very creamy inside with flaky crust. The almond pastry is crispy with buttery almond on top and sweet cream in the middle. The store lady was very friendly and helpful. Love this place!

This review is based on the custard tarts only. Get there early and order plenty, because one is not enough.

I love this place!
They start baking at midnight and open at 7am, so if you want fresh bread and tarts get there early!
The little custard tarts are the best ones I’ve ever tried, they are not cheap but are delicious!
They sell Goularts linguica,(smoked, hot, chunky, home style and organic)
Also the Goularts blood sausage is very good too!
Lots of different imported Portuguese cheeses and canned goods too.
If you like fresh authentic Portuguese foods, visit this place.

3.5 stars. I would have never found Silva Bakery if not for Unilocal.The first time I stopped by this teensy weensy little bakery with my friend, they were out of egg custard tarts. Of course I came back the very next day, and bought these lovelies:
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Egg custard tart:
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Contrary to egg custard tarts served in traditional dim sum restaurants, these were more gelatinous and less liquidy. The crusts were also softer, unlike flakey dim sum custards. The flavor was indeed good and eggy, but I think the expectation for these to represent egg custard tarts that I’ve had before threw me off initially. Even after having a few, I think I still prefer the softer, more flakey sister to these egg custard tarts, but I can see how they’re so popular.
S cookie:
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I’d actually never seen these cookies before, and I was intrigued when the lady behind the counter told me they were made with star anise. To me, they tasted like bland biscotti cookies with a hint of star anise aftertaste. Not necessarily bad, but I would perhaps choose to dip these in tea or coffee next time rather than eating them plain, as they became rather dry fairly quickly.
Almond pastry:
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This pastry was my favorite out of the three items I tried. It was flaky and soft at the same time, the toasted almonds lent a really nice fragrance, and the custard in the middle set off the entire thing beautifully. The best part was that it wasn’t too sweet, so I felt like I could eat these one after another after another without them being too heavy (which I was incredibly tempted to do).
Even with just a counter and no seating inside this little shop, I can understand why they sell out of items so quickly. Pastries are indeed made fresh each day, and I appreciate the quality and affordability. I’d be happy to stop by again for an almond pastry sometime.

I’ve had various pastries from here before, but never actually had the opportunity of coming in. Until today… I was already on my way over here and realized I would not make it for the 3pm Saturday closing. The guy asked how long it would take me to get there, and gladly offered to wait!!! They are closed on Sundays, and coming on a weekday is out of the question for me living in SF. The fact that he offered and even insisted on waiting for me says wonders about how much they care about their customers. Beyond that, he even showed me around and pointed out the most popular items.
But enough about that. On to the food:
As almost every other review has mentioned, the pasteis de nata are the big attraction here, and it is very well deserved! Comparing these to egg tarts from Chinatown (or anywhere else for that matter) is a disservice. These knock all other egg/​custard tarts out of the park! Flaky, not too egg-​y or dough-​y, and just the right amount of sweet AND pretty cheap! Beyond the pasteis, they have a wide variety of breads, biscoitos, cheeses, etc. I was even further impressed that they carried some brazilian products as well!
I left here with a half dozen pasteis (should have gotten a full dozen. the half was gone within an hour)
Papo Seco — sort of like a french roll almost. Perfect for breakfast and really fresh.
Guarana antartica (brazilian soda)
and brazilian chocolates.
I didn’t want to abuse the fact that I was already there after hours, so I picked a couple of things and left. I definitely plan on coming back to get some of their other items like the sweet bread. The point is — despite being extremely out of the way for me, it is still absolutely worth it. The lady in the store was telling me she had come all the way from Pleasanton for the pasteis. If you’ve had them before, these will be the best you’ve had. If you haven’t, then you’re in for a huge treat.
I cannot wait to go back!

Awsome Place to shop, They have everything I need and pasteries are really fresh.
Love the Bread and sweet bread, YUM, YUM
Place is clean and convenient to shop, frendly employees with very good service.
Prices are much better than the competor.
Glad to have a place with such fresh Bakery goods.

Best pasteis de nata that I’ve had in a while! And it’s incredible value — $ 12 for a dozen little pieces of heaven :)
Plus, the woman who helped me was such a sweetheart. She truly brightened my morning especially as I was so deprived of sleep.

The sweet bread is evil. It calls my name in the middle of the night. Toasted and buttered for an extra sweet and savory treat. It’s great as bread pudding or french toast. Again, EVIL because I can’t stop eating it!!!

Pasteis de nata!!! Bite of heaven (Portuguese egg custard tarts)…I think they put crack (or sweet condensed milk on top)…IT’s freaking good…5 stars just for that!
Order ahead as they run out (I’m glad I got 3 dz for our NYE party, but wish I had gotten 5)…They were already sold out when I picked up my order so better to call in your order ahead (sometimes you’ll get the answer machine, but it’s a small business with just one employee at times so keep trying it’s worth it).

I’ve never been to a Portuguese bakery before and I read on Unilocal that this place has the Portuguese Egg tart so I have to try it. I’ve only have Portuguese Egg tarts from Chinese bakeries.
I got the egg tarts and a jam-​filled bun. The bun was pretty good but it would have been better if the jam was more towards the center and maybe just a bit more. Portuguese egg tart was too sweet for my palate but my coworkers enjoyed them a lot.

They deserved 4 stars for their service as well as their yummy tarts. Their egg custard tarts are great, but they are a little too sweet for my taste. Almond tarts are alright and their coconut tarts are SO… DELICIOUS, not too sweet, they are just perfectly fit my taste of sweetness.

I’ve only tried egg tarts from Chinese bakeries or dim sum restaurants and only on a handful of occasions, but this small hole-​in-​the-​wall Portuguese bakery blew all other types of renditions of egg tarts I’ve ever had before out of the water.
It was so creamy and rich in flavor. I could eat 10 of them and still be hungry for more.
The owner there was extremely friendly and helpful as well. Will definitely be back for some more pastel de nata!

Love love the custard tarts! Call agead of time if they still have in stock bexause once they run out for tge day, they don’t bake some anymore. This means, they are freshly baked everyday and they run out fast!
The girl there is really sweet and helpful. She recommended other pastries that are also good in case there are no custards anymore.

Although I am Brazilian, my grandparents were Portuguese descendants and the baking goods from Silva Bakery bring me wonderful memories of my childhood at their house. My grandma used to bake me meringues and pasteis de nata. She always had biscoitos available for everyone visiting and serve them with coffee. Finding your bakery just made my life in the US much sweeter.
The individualized attention they give to customers makes me feel just at home.

I tried the custard egg tart and tasted really delicious creamy and sweet, and the apple turnover was very good too. I ordered one custard egg tart for $ 1.50 and a Apple turnover for $ 0.75. I guess I had imagined that these custard tarts would be maybe a little bit bigger. Or maybe I’m just use to paying that price for something that’s a little bit bigger than that, but I guess custard Tart would be costing more. The apple tart or turnover was also smaller than what I’m used to for that price. But I can tell that they were handmade at least the turnover seem to be, so the price made sense. This place had only one table and two chairs, so if you wanted to sit, it’s limited. They have a deal if you buy in bulk for the custard egg tarts.
Not easy to find:
I put the location into the GPS mapped it and it directed me to here, but then when it said to turn it didn’t look too obvious whether to turn into there. There was a gated place right next to it, and then my GPS said I am currently past it. So I pulled over into a residential area, housing try track and I parked in there.
Park in front:
The businesses around this place are kind of run down and I wasn’t too sure as to how safe it was there me being there by myself. I ran over to their because I’m used to running, but also because it seems like a run-​down area and they were a few somewhat gangsterish looking people that were walking around there. Nobody bothered me or anything but you should probably park in the parking lot directly in front of this place.
Clean hygienic food practices:
When I had to use the bathroom it was located in the back of this bakery, so I had to walk through the back of the bakery where they had their baking trays out and the floor in there was very clean as well as things around there in the back. It gives clues to how clean the food preparation practices are. It gives me peace when I know that anything that I eat or drink was made carefully in a clean environment.

As a current San Diego resident, there is NO place in SD that offers these delectable Portuguese tartlets called «pasteis de nata». Having heard about how delicious they were I would have to encounter these during my travels. En route to another lab tour (actually, more of a detour) I stopped by Silva’s Bakery.
This bakery is a very small complex with 2 – 3 other businesses right off the 238 as you exit Mission Blvd and can be easily missable. However, as I’m slowly finding out on my Bay Area foodie adventures, a lot of the notable places are tucked away.
The bakery is divided into two sections: the bakery where they sell other Portuguese baked goods and a small market that sells Portuguese specialty items. Although the website mentions that they sell pasteis de nata and other Unilocalers have bought them, I don’t think you can buy that many at once as they are not advertised on the store. The only indicator that they sell these tarts is that near the cashier there’s 3 tarts covered by a glass dome.
To not waste a trip to Hayward if you’re not near the area it’s best that you call them when they open and request them over the phone. The bakery takes orders individually (a little more than a dollar) or by the dozen (a little more than $ 12). I ordered a half dozen and when I arrived it took the lady a little while to produce the small box that contained these treats.
The tarts were quite delicious right off the box, though to truly enjoy them, I recommend reheat them in a convection oven for about 5 – 10 minutes (as suggested by the No1DP, thanks dear). The tarts have a flaky crust as they are made by puff pastry, but they are cleaner to eat than a dan tat from Golden Gate Bakery. The custard also keeps its shape more and has a more pudding-​like texture than a dan tat (more yolky), but the taste is much more enhanced by reheating. They serve these fresh every Saturday, so if you can, get these tarts fresh!
Not surprisingly I was quite impressed with Silva’s pasteis de nata and if I can’t make the journey to Hayward should I live in the Bay Area next year I’ll try to find other stores that sell them.