El Colonial Bakery

Let’s start off with the goods: This spot has great pastelitos and croquetas. The servers are very generous with the coffee (3 tasitas on my Cuban coffee scale) and bread for tostadas. When there is a crowd they seem to step it up and get things moving and the prices are very reasonable. The bads: They don’t have things that are on the menu (one of my pet peeves) like the desayuno (eggs and ham) hasn’t been available for months, no matter how early you go and it’s written really big on the menu. They will offer to make you a ham sandwich instead. The place is not that clean, especially the tables. There is no way to take a number or keep track of order when there are alot of customers.
Overall, the place is ok, without the A and capital letters. The place has been around a long time and I haven’t seen it change much. It is within walking distance to my house so it is convenient for me. If I could I would drive down to Francis Bakery a few blocks down on coral way.

Good cuban coffee, great food, quick service, cheap prices!!!
Amongst the many cuban bakery’s in Miami, this one has been pretty consistent with their food and beverages. Their coffee is always good, never too sweet or too bitter. Their croquetas are probably one of my favorites in Miami. The outsides are crunchy and their insides are filled with savory goodness. The pastelitos are good, with just the right amount of filling. And their tostadas and ham and cheese croissants are toasted to melty goodness. I frequent this place on Sunday mornings to grab something quick before church and have never had a bad experience here.

Stopped in at this bakery last week after making a run to CVS bright and early. I’m not really into cuban pastries, but the pastelito de queso at this bakery knocked my socks off. I had a moment of weakness that morning and it worked out for the best. Seriously! One of the best pastelitos I’ve ever had. The croquetas were darn good too. They were both served nice and warm… Fresh, fresh, fresh! Definitely worth a visit if you’re not counting calories.
Tip: Credit cards are accepted if your order is over $ 5. Otherwise bring some mula with you.

This place seemed to be a relatively popular spot. There were people inside sitting at tables and chatting and some who just dropped by to pick up their orders and be on their way. By the location, I kind of figured it wouldn’t be the best, but I was looking for some fresh bread, so I figured I’d give it a shot. It was the closest bakery to where I was at the time, according to my GPS.
I went here today and what I had was decent – enough to quench the craving until I can get to a better place. The prices are very reasonable and there’s a good variety of tasty Cuban treats. I had a pastelito de chorizo that I thought was VERY good! The pastelito was the one thing I was completely pleased with, but I’ve also never had that type before. It had a nice savory sausage inside (Spanish-​style chorizo, I think) a flaky pastry with a light sugar crust on top and the sugar was yummy and a little caramelized on the bottom. The sweet and the salty went very well together. I also got an order of guava and cheese bread (it was a large flat loaf to serve many, as opposed to a pastry). It was pretty tasty. It was a yellow egg-​ier bread, and there was actually a reasonable amount of filling inside, which isn’t always the case. The issue is that the cream cheese was straight up cream cheese, as opposed to the cream cheese custard you typically expect, but somehow it was still really good that way. Normally, that who straight up cream cheese thing is a definite turn-​off for me.
I also got a loaf of French bread (although I think she gave me Cuban, judging by what it says on the package, but I haven’t had any yet). I was disappointed that it clearly wasn’t fresh-​baked. The whole reason I came to this place was to get a FRESH loaf of bread, as opposed to the stuff that’s been sitting out at the grocery store. The hard loaf I got was a definite disappointment.
It’s unlikely I would return to this place with all of the other options North of where I live. I know I can find better, even though the price was nice. Sometimes, you’re better off spending a few cents more elsewhere.

A pretty popular cuban bakery in this area (well, there’s always people around whenever I go, but maybe I never go out to eat at a bad time ;-)), although I personally think there’s something fishy. Not my favorite, not even close, although the prices are good. Maybe that’s why it’s popular.