Panaderia Lala's

Panaderia Lala's

827 Ventura Ave.

Ventura, CA

I like donuts, and will never turn one down, but about 10 years ago, I noticed that they seemed a bit heavy, and a little greasy on my tongue. That didn't stop me from powering down a 1/2 dozen every time I went to Krispy Kreme when there was one in Oxnard and the donuts were fresh and hot. 

My family would sometimes get pan dulce, but it always seemed stale. I'd eat it, of course, but it wasn't as good as a donut. Then, when I was working in San Gabriel, I used to drive by a panaderia, and on a whim, stopped in. The pan dulce was fresh from the oven, light, sweet and very tasty, and it became a regular stop. Fresh, pan dulce is soft and sweet and isn't greasy the way a donut can be. Plus, pan dulce is generally cheaper.

The Avenues, the area parallel to Highway 33 on the way to Ojai, is where the Mexican population (not white Mexicans, such as myself, but real Mexicans) live. When I need a taste of East LA, I head to the Avenues. Last week, I had some stale pan dulce in Carpenteria, and thought I'd try some better stuff this weekend. 

First, I went to Panaderia Herrera, where I've been a few times before. When I arrived this morning, I expected it to be open, but it wasn't. I parked in front and went to the door. It looked like a padlock is usually on it when the store is closed, but there wasn't one today, so I opened the door and went inside. Though there was pan dulce on the shelves, and milk and eggs in the refrigerator, no one was there. No one behind the counter, no one in the kitchen, nothing. I didn't see any sign of any trouble, just an empty store, as if they had closed the night before and forgot to lock the front door . I hung around for a few minutes, and then walked back out. I went into the smoke shop next door and asked the guy at the counter if he knew anything, but he didn't. I went back to my car, and called the police to let them know that there was a business that no one seemed to be in with an unlocked front door. I couldn't really think of anything else to do.

From the Avenue

I still wanted my pan dulce, though, so I continued to drive toward Ojai. A few blocks farther, I saw Panaderia Lala's across a parking lot in a strip mall. I could see cars parked in front, and as I got closer I saw people inside-much better than my first stop. It's a big space and at 9 AM, smelled great, bready and sweet, perfect for a panaderia. 

Fresh Baked Goodies

 There was one older woman working behind the counter who greeted me in Spanish, and who I then responded to in English.

If you go to a panaderia, it's customary to pick up a plastic tray and some tongs. Then you go to the trays and cases and using your tongs place the bread on the tray. It's a custom that I'm not used to, but the other customers had their trays, so I grabbed one and headed to the cases.

The cases had all manner of treats, and several looked pretty good. There were pretzel wrapped hot dogs that looked like a perfect lunch treat, and bread stuffed with jamon and queso, (ham and cheese), giant cookies, bread things covered in cheese and jalepenos, muffins that didn't really look like muffins, cheese cake that didn't look like cheese cake, and large pan dulce. I used my tongs and picked out some cookies, some pan dulce and what appeared to be an apple turnover.

I took my tray to the front, where the counter lady started to bag it all, saying, "$4.50." As she was about to bag my apple turnover, she said in heavily accented English, "No, no good." She pointed at something on it, which looked okay to me, and then threw it away. She brought me back to the racks and pointed at several other things, until I settled on what looked like a huge cinnamon roll with apple bits cooked into it. I was about to take one from the edge when she said, "No," again, and pointed me toward one in the middle, which I took.

The $4.50 Tray. Note the 'bad' apple
turnover at the bottom.

 With the change of turnover to cinnamon roll, the cost jumped up to $5, which I thought was more than reasonable for the food we purchased. And anytime that a counter person will say no to something that I was more than willing to buy to recommend something else is a counter person that I trust.

I drove by Panaderia Herrera on the way home. The police were just pulling up, and I was going to stop and ask what was up but decided I was hungry and had kept my family waiting long enough. I got the goodies home, and everything was warm and fresh. The large pastries were light and sweet, the cookies large and crumbly, and the cinnamon roll was sticky but not overly so and very good.

Certainly better than a donut.