La Esmeralda Bakery

Simply the freshest in pan dulce… what a great find! They bake limited daily quantities and when they run out that’s it until the next day! Delicious, fresh and always nicely varied with hometown favorites!!!

Finally a great place to get some fresh baked bread
Great selection
Reminds me of the panaderia in my home town down south.

Panaderias make my world go ’round. I want mountains of sweet bread and people who don’t speak English– ahora!
This place rules. Mi Tierra has good pastries, but for a real Mexicana experience– head to La Esmeralda. The price is much better, and the quality is superior. It’s clearly an older, family owned business too– which I love.
Try the empanadas and bunelos!

Don’t live in San Antonio anymore, but remember Mexican pastry from my childhood here. Had been getting it from Mi Tierra on my visits here. Not any more. Discovered La Esmeralda on my current trip and it is so much better. Nice lady behind counter. Pastries are not oversized. Filling to pastry ratio was just right without too much of the bread part like at Mi Tierra. Varied selection with more obscure choices. I love this place and everything I got there!

Mexican bakeries have a special place in my heart. When I was a kid, my Dad used to take me to one and I would get to choose one or two treats just for me. I remember how an entire bag of baked goodness could be had for only a few dollars.
Today, the cost has gone up much like everything else so it is important to get your money’s worth for Pan dulce. With several years of panaderia experience under my belt, I can without a doubt say that La Esmeralda Bakery is the best in town. If I wasn’t happily married, I would use my best pick-​up lines on the lady behind the counter in the hopes that she would elope with me and I would have Pan de huevos, marranitos and galletas in bed every morning.
Enough about my twisted hair-​net bakery fantasy. I’ve got some tasty comments to share. Here is the deal:
Pan de huevo: literally translate to «egg bread». This treat is normally yeasty and thick, but La Esmeralda found just the right combination of denseness while not making you feel bloated afterward.
Marranito: Gingerbread flavored sweet bread in the shape of a pig and with a hint of anise. These are soft and have an amazing flavor. Not too sweet, which is a plus in my book. These are a winner.
Cuernos de azucar — France thought they broke the mold with the croissant. Well, Mexico opened a can of whoop a** on France by taking their croissant, brushing it with melted butter and then rolling it around in sugar. These «sugar horns» turn a good thing into a great thing.
Regalo: Literally, a «gift». These are a yellow cake/​cookie squared and cut in half with a camote (sweet potato) filling in between. La Esmeralda takes my favorite treat to a whole new level.
Camote empanadas are the bomb as well as all of the resposteria (cookies) they serve. You really can’t go wrong here and if you find something you don’t like, then I would venture to say that you probably can find something else that will blow your taste buds away. Get on down to La Esmeralda Bakery and tell them Adam sent you. Chances are they won’t know who the heck I am. ;-)

Awesome Mexican bread, cookies and wedding cakes available to you when your taste buds are demanding something fresh and sweet. Service is great and comes highly recommended.

Who doesn’t love a bakery (panaderia)!?! It’s is all so delicious. I like the jelly filled donuts and piggies (marranitos). Right now they have bunuelos for the holiday’s and offer specialty cakes all year round. You know milk and sweet bread goes hand and hand so they have that too.