Popular Portuguese Bakery of San Jose

A small caring bakery that presents delicious traditional breads and sweets. Text Cash and closes at 2:00 p.m. authentic. And an assortment of fresh bread. Imported Portuguese goods, chorico, olives, hot sauce. Beautiful selection of Portuguese and Azorian sweets.

At 9am no one was there as I walked in and then later walked out after no one showed up. They had basically had some bread but nothing that looked like a Portuguese bakery. Lots of stuff covered up and limited bakery goods. Maybe an off day? Or you need to pre-order?

Very unfriendly staff. I was excited to try some Portuguese pastries; however, after calling them I changed my mind. The lady was unnecessarily rude and unpleasant. Too bad, I’ll look for good pastries somewhere else.

Best Bakery and owner in the bay area! Maria feels like my grandma when I talked to her face to face, she is nice, kind and caring. Made my girl a beautiful unicorn cake and it tastes very delicious too! She took her time helped me with every little detail of the cake. I parked my car a little far, she helped me carried the cake to my car, we also love her egg tarts. Thank you！

Lovely local owned small business. Besides the popular items that everyone discussed to death about, one of my other favorite is the sweet rolls. If you had French brioche before, this taste very similar and contain 8 simple ingredients that I can read. No funny tongue rolling bad for your body ingredients. Oh....and they are baked fresh daily too. As I'm moving toward clean eating, I'm making an effort to be mindful what I put into my body

Fresh baked bread, reasonable prices, and select Portuguese imports! Great family-run village vibe; an institution.

On the sweet side. I'd like the egg tarts to be more eggy personally, but that might just be me preferring the hong kong variety. Store is cute. Cash only.

For authentic Portuguese baked delicacies try this bakery. Their selection may not be vast but what they do have is amazing. The papo seco rolls are so soft and delicious. Warm them at home for an out of this world roll! Gotta go back and try the natas!

Nicest lady and best pastie del nata make sure to go and buy a lot she could use it!!

I've been here multiple times, the bread is always fresh, the employees are kind and easy to talk to. It's a small family shop, not a place to stay and hangout but perfect for dropping by and getting fresh baked Portuguese goods. I'll always return!

I went in today to pick up dinner rolls and desserts for an early Thanksgiving with my family. Parking is awkward in their lot so people tend to park at the Beauty Supply which threatens to tow you and charges for parking. CASH ONLY and NO ATM so with $13, I was only able to buy the dinner rolls. Most of my family liked them but some felt they were not soft enough. I thought they were soft but hardy enough to withstand food like bbq and gravy. They definitely smelled fresh and at $4.25 per dozen, you can't beat that for fresh bread. I know it is easier to handle cash only for a mom n pop, but it definitely isn't millennial friendly because we don't carry cash. Nonetheless, I plan to go back and try the pastries!

I was in the area and decided to stop by Popular Bakery after reading many positive reviews about their Portuguese egg tarts (Pasteis de Nata). I'm a huge fan them and haven't had them in years, so I popped in the small bakery. Parking can be confusing, since there's no street parking. I parked in the lot right next to the bakery. The signage around was intimidating and made it seem like I could get my car towed. I made the trip very quick. I came in around 11am on a Saturday morning. The place wasn't busy, but there was a steady stream of customers. As I came in, someone was heading out. When I was ready to leave, customers strolled in. Customer service was excellent. The server that morning was so friendly and welcoming, and she walked me through all the desserts that were on display. There was no way that I was going to go home with just Pasteis de Nata. I ended up trying one of almost everything including an orange tart, milk tart, almond tart, chocolate rum ball, and a cinnamon tart. I absolutely loved everything I tried. The crust on the Pasteis de Nata was so flaky, and I enjoyed the sweet egg custard inside. The milk tart had a nice mild flavor. Wasn't as sweet as the Pasteis de Nata. The orange and cinnamon tarts were bursting with flavor, and I just loved the almond tart. It reminded me of marzipan, and the texture was so gooey.

I really enjoyed this little bakery. Run by a sweet Portuguese couple, they were great to us. She even complimented me on my ability to pronounce the baked goods and talked to us about Portugal, as she learned we had visited in the not-so-far past. We got Pasteis de Nata, and they were solid. The texture was just spot on. Were they a Pasteis de Belem or Manteigaria level pasteis? I'd probably put these a tier below, but they were quite delicious! They had a little taste at the end that was different from those two Lisbon powerhouses, I think it was a bit of vanilla/sweetness. They were quite good, and I wouldn't hesitate to order again when feeling a need for those delicious Portuguese treats. We also got Portuguese sweet breads, and I ate those up. They were great! I really enjoyed this little bakery, and I'll definitely be back. They also accept credit card, which is nice.

Located in an area known as Little Portugal is this small bakery shop been in business for 37 years and run by an elderly Portuguese couple so polite and attentive been here a few times always greeted wlth a friendly smile and would sample a few treats a nice gesture. Their Portuguese sweet breads are a real winner along with pastel del nata or commonly known as egg tarts for a $1.50 and meringue cookies for .60 cents only wished they extend their hours longer and they are closed on Monday and Sunday. They do have a customer parking on the right side and in the back lot. Definitely my go-to for freshly baked Portuguese bread, rolls and custard tarts.

I was super excited to try Popular Bakery as they have limited hours from 7am-2pm Tue-Sat. I purchased a few Queijadas (tarts made of egg, milk, and sugar) also known as Pateis de Nata (custard tarts) for $2.50 each. I took the treats home and popped them in the oven for a few minutes and ohhhh my kitchen was smelling fragrant of cinnamon and coconut! The pastries were very sweet but the custard texture was nice and buttery smooth which I liked. If you're in the area and want to give these pastries a try I recommend the coconut queijada (I love anything with coconut!) There is limited parking available behind the bakery otherwise you'll need to find street parking nearby.

Does not get any more authentic or better than this place. I was born and raised in Little Portugal. I have lived here my whole life. The couple that runs the bakery is the exact same couple as when I was just a kid. There isn't a single thing in this bakery that is not absolute perfection! I love that Sra. has not turned into a bakery Nazi! LOL. You would think after so many years she would be cranky and mean. Nope. She is lovely. Smiles, laughs, engages with all the customers. I literally can not say enough about this place. When I walk in, I am home.

Adorable little Portugese bakery. Mary, the owner is super friendly and helpful. Many cool pastries here, all delicious. They have malsadas on Thursdays.

My mission is to find the best pastel de nata in the Bay Area, and this is where I have found it. I could eat a dozen of their nada's due to the crispy and flavor of the custard with hints of lemon. Best around!!! This little mom and pop bakery is ran by the sweetest couple who are from the Azores. The other desserts at this bakery are beautiful and very tasty. If you need to bring a nice dessert for any party, I would recommend stopping here first to see how beautiful their pastries and cakes are.

I got 3 types of mini tarts (queijadas).  In general, I felt they were all too sweet but I tend to decrease my sugar intake; good thing they come in small portions. Custard (famous pasteis de nata) - It taste European because it's so different from the Macau version.  Filling is gooey with notes of cinnamon and lemon, Crust is thick and buttery. Almond- Love the flavor and texture. Honey and Cinnamon (queen marie amelia) -  dense spice cake like, topped with powdered sugar

Great little bakery with good quality and reasonable prices. Their papo secos bring me back to my childhood.

Popular Bakery has some of the best Portuguese desserts and THE best paposecos in the area. Paposecos are fluffy rolls which they make in small and large sizes. They have excellent Portuguese sweet bread. I love their breakfast cookies, the Dona Amelias, the cream custard tarts. I have been coming here for decades.

I call and order ahead of time and they are always on top of things. The pastries are delicious. It's like I'm back in the old country. The sweet bread and pao de milo are great! I always get the rosquillas. Friendly service. I do recommend. It's a mom and pops shop.

This place makes the best Portuguese pastries, whenever I'm in the San Jose area I have to stop by and pick some up.

This review is based on their Pastéis de Nata which are Portuguese custard tarts. Ever since I tried the ones in Lisbon, I've been craving more so I found this place through yelp. I stopped by this morning and got a dozen of their Pastéis de Nata. They were cold when I got them as if it was refrigerated. It was pretty good but not the same as the ones from Pastéis de Belém in Lisbon. The puff pastry on the outside was a bit too over cooked and hard. I suggest warming it up before so that you get the custard warm and nice. The custard was delicious. I ate most of the Pastéis de natas all by myself lol. It would've been awesome if they made them fresh as you order them but I think they just make a certain amount every morning.

I went on Tuesday and bought some egg tarts and orange cupcakes, found that they were cold so I asked whether they were freshly made. Staff said it was made Saturday because they were closed Monday! It was too late to cancel so I took a chance. Ended up not eatable at all. The egg tarts were sooo sweet that I took a bite and had to throw the rest away.

Hole-in-the-wall bakery with good prices and yummy treats: What I got: -Tarts (around $1): egg, bean (surprisingly my favorite; it looks like chocolate but it's not!), honey & cinnamon - Meringue: airy and sweet, just the way it should be. - Portuguese sweet bread: a big loaf that reminds me of challah with a touch of lemon. I bet it would be great for French toast!

1st time here and we were greeted by the friendly boss. We were craving for some fresh bread and Portuguese egg tart so we came to the perfect spot. I wish we brought the egg tarts home before indulging in them. The crust would have been crispy if we stuck them in the air fryer for several minutes. The custard was perfect - perfect sweetness for my sweet tooth.

Best yelp find to date! I was looking for a small smash cake for our daughter and wanted a specific design. Most places were charging me as much as $60 (crazy!). I called to get a quote and her price was more than reasonable. She also offered a fruit filling at no additional charge. When we finally got the cake, the taste and design exceeded all expectations! Needless to say we've used this bakery for every special event since! We now get constant compliments on our cakes and how delicious and moist they taste. Oh -- and the owner is super friendly (she's the one that bakes the cakes). I can't say enough good things about this bakery and her!

A coworker turned me on to this place The bread is fresh and so soft it goes killer with my homemade 3meat spicy meatballs and my Tri Tip stew the bread even though soft holds up as a vessel to these dishes. I haven't tried the other breads but I hear they are excellent Worth the trip

I've been going to this bakery since I was a little girl being that I'm Portuguese and I really like it. The bread is made fresh daily it is so soft and you can always count on delicious pastries. Also I've had cakes made here and there are fresh and yummy. I also priced chase Natas here which are are so fresh and yummy. I purchase 9 this morning and it tasted like Lisbon and priced right! There's a new bakery in downtown that's Portuguese and though I'm happy to see my cultures dessert be enjoyed and recognize their price for a nata is 4 bucks!!!!! Crazy. While this location they sell them for $1.50!!!! And their honestly as good or better!!!!!!!

Love this place ... every time I eat there bread reminds me of my childhood... best paposecos in the Bay Area!

Went deep into San Jose and decided to check out this place with supposedly the best portuguese baked goods in the Bay Area... and it was okay (but I'm no Portugese dessert expert). Their location doesn't stand out - if I weren't looking for this place, I totally could miss it even if I drove down Alum Rock 30 times. Popular Bakery is a very modest store - once you walk in, you are surrounded by Portuguese breads to your front and right. To the left is the bakery case with all the cookies and pastries. I decided to try the pasteis de nata (custard tart) and several queijadas (tiny tarts) in the various flavors. The queijadas were all moist and flavorful. I didn't expect the custard tart to be lemon flavored - maybe because I'm used to the custard tarts and Portuguese custard tarts you buy at a Chinese bakery. The one from Popular was good too but think I prefer the Chinese style ones. Bottom line: The stuff at Popular Bakery tasted good overall but none of it made me say "wow, I'm coming back to buy a dozen more". However, I'm no Portuguese dessert expert. And warning: this ain't downtown Palo Alto - you're definitely in the San Jose hood so don't expect any fancy streets or neighborhoods.

Portuguese delicacies. This bakery definitely has a warm, cozy and relaxing vibe. Upon entrance, I was greeted by a sweet and respectful host. She pointed out todays specials and the goods spread throughout the small bakery. Don't be fooled. Simply because it is a small bakery, it gives the customer more of a reason to stop by and pick up a few goodies. Highly recommended. Use Google maps especially if you're not from the San Jose/Santa Clara region. Happy Eating! J.R.

I found this Portuguese bakery by accident with my sister. We needed to order a cake for my daughters 1st birthday. The staff is so nice & friendly I honestly couldn't believe how easy they made it. She got everything perfect and even had me send her the pictures to her email as a reference. The only concern I had was my party was on a Sunday. And they weren't open on Sundays. So I had to pick up the cake Saturday morning so there for they did the cake Friday. It wasn't as fresh and the fondant was already cracking. I do consider coming back in the future,not just for there cakes but for their bread and pastries ! YUM !

Cute little store with lots of sweets to see. Authentic made from scratch shortbread cookies are good. The owner gave one to my daughter she never want to let go lol

I was very disappointed last week when I went to buy corn bread it looked like a little pancake not the nice fluffy full corn bread like they used to make they made it cheap Xtra small and flat and put the same price talk about greedy very disappointed.

The best Portuguese bakery I have ever been to. The egg tarts (cajadas com nata) are out of this world. Very clean place with friendly service. I love this place! A+++ all the way!

I was on a hunt for authentic portuguese tarts (they are one of my favorite items to order when I go out for dim sum). Popular Bakery didn't seem to have what I had in mind. The friendly woman behind the counter showed me queijadas, which were similar to what I was looking for...only without that buttery, flaky crust! there were a variety of queijadas - original, cheese, orange, bean, and cinnamon and honey. I tried the original and cheese. The original is lemony, and they looked like they were undercooked. I was hoping for the tops to look nicely toasted. The cheese queijada was good, but it wasn't so good that I had to buy a dozen! On to the next...

Portal to Portugal In the Bay Area, you can easily eat your way around the world. Here's a sampling of three Portuguese bakeries in Silicon Valley. - Padaria Acoreana Bakery - sweet bread (massa sovada), cornbread (broa/pao de milho), crusty rolls (papo-secos), biscuits (biscoitos), custard tarts (pasteis de nata) - Padaria Popular Bakery - cupcakes (pasteis/queijadas de Sintra), custard tarts, bread pudding (pudim de pao), pudim flan, sponge cake (pao-de-lo), sweet bread, crusty rolls - Portuguese Bakery - sugar donuts (malasadas/filhoses), rice pudding (arroz doce), sweet bread, crusty rolls, biscuits, cupcakes Acoreana and Popular are located in San Jose's Little Portugal just east of the intersection of U.S. 101 and Alum Rock Avenue. Yes, Little Portugal could use a makeover; the city can start by redoing the banners (don't blink or you'll miss this small neighborhood). Most Portuguese Americans in the Bay Area trace their roots to the Azores, a group of islands off the coast of Portugal. Acoreana's Azorean-style cornbread, made with white cornmeal, is not sweet like American cornbread. It should go well with canned sardines, of which Acoreana stocks several varieties. You can also use this country bread for rustic recipes like panzanella (Italian bread salad) and muffuletta (New Orleans sandwich). This bakery's crusty rolls come in two shapes and are big enough for Portuguese sandwiches such as bifanas de porco. Popular makes six flavors of "cupcakes": custard, orange, almond, bean, coconut, and honey raisin (also named after Queen Amelia). These bite-sized cakes/tarts don't need frosting to complete them. The queijada with the namesake cheese filling may be available on special occasions. It's hard to find the traditional sheep's milk cheese for this recipe, so the bakery probably uses mozzarella instead. Popular's bread pudding resembles a bundt cake and rivals any good American bread pudding. And you must try its custard tarts. Portuguese Bakery (portuguesebakery.com), located in Santa Clara, makes "donuts" that you won't find at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. Its queijadas have lemon, coconut, or almond filling. Sweet bread is a sweet round loaf that Hawaiians are quite familiar with. Acoreana's version is denser than Portuguese Bakery's and has a complementary sour taste to it (some people may prefer the airy type). So if you're looking for Portuguese cakes and tarts, make Popular your first stop. Acoreana is the place for breads and rolls. And get your donuts and rice pudding from Portuguese Bakery (skip the bags of "day-old" donuts as they are sometimes moldy). Final tally: For its quality and rarity, Popular Bakery earns three stars (for Good). Where else can we get a nata fix without having to drive to Hayward (Hiser Bakery) or Rohnert Park (9 Islands Bakery Cafe)? Feed me: So who makes the best custard tarts in the Bay Area (see below for details)? If you have an opinion on any of the four varieties (English/Portuguese/Chinese/Macanese), write to bayblog at the domain lycos[dot]com. Make sure to put the word "Yelp" in your e-mail subject. As far as the Chinese egg tart is concerned, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bakery is the best (though the crust is a tad greasy). Attention, foodies: While you're in Little Portugal, you should check out Sousa's, the oldest (and only?) Portuguese restaurant in the South Bay, and Rosa's Trade Rite Market, whose deli serves breakfast and lunch. There are also annual Portuguese festivals in San Jose (diadeportugalca.org) and other cities in California (idesofca.org). And if you find yourself in Big Portugal, you should head straight for Lisbon's Antiga Confeitaria de Belem (pasteisdebelem.pt), the most famous place for pastel de nata, and Sapa in Sintra, a pastry shop that supposedly makes the best queijada. Recipes: Pastel de nata; queijada; massa sovada; broa; pao de milho; papo-seco; malasada; arroz doce; pudim de pao; pao-de-lo; biscoito; English custard tart; Hong Kong egg tart; Macanese egg tart (see below). -------------------- More to chew over...go to bayphile.yelp.com and read my other Bay Area reviews. And go to bayphile.blogspot.com for recipe links, surveys, and part 2 of this review, including: About Madeira Islands and the Azores About Portuguese bakeries Memo to Portuguese bakeries About custard tarts --------------------

Yelp is awesome for discovering little gems like this Portuguese Bakery. Its not the sexiest looking bakery with a fairly limited selection of items but they really nail those petite egg tarts. Flaky, custardy, goodness with a hint of cinnamon. At $1.00 a pop I will be making a lot more trips here. Closed on Sundays.

The best Portuguese Bakery in the Bay Area located in San Jose's Little Portugal on Alum Rock. Popular sells very good Portuguese rolls, sweet breads, cookies and pastries. There is a cooler with a little Portuguese sausages and cheese. The staff is very helpful, friendly and patiently explain the different sweets. QUEIJADAS (tiny tarts): Five delicious flavors: orange, coconut, almond, bean, and Marie Amelie, They are full of deep flavor. PASTEIS DE NATA: Tiny lemon-flavored custard tart. The best in the Bay Area. ROLLS: Good soft roll with a thin crispy crust. Available it two shapes: round and a sub-shaped roll. WITCHES: Small brown and white rings similar to biscottos with allspice, pepper, cinnamon., The name is because the spices were meant to keep you guessing. MALASADAS / FILHOS: Portuguese sugar donuts served for the Mardi Gras. Available on Fat Tuesday.

I have grown up eating paposecos from this bakery, along with the other tasty treats they offer. I love that this place still has non-commercialized feel to it. I suggest calling in your order in advance if you aren't planning on coming in early in the day. Paposecos and pao de milho fly out the door! I took a star away because it might not appeal to the non-Portuguese customer due to the atmosphere. But in my heart it deserves five stars but I am probably a little biased =)

This is a great little bakery in East San Jose. Their specialty is Portuguese style breads such as massa sovada and papo secos. They also make great queijadas and a bread pudding made of Portuguese sweet bread (massa sovada) that is EXCELLENT! It is dripping in a sauce and is fantastic for breakfast, lunch, snack, etc. This is old fashioned food that has flavor and lingers in the mouth. Parking can be a challenge, but the family that operates it is friendly and will explain the different breads and desserts to you. Afterwords pop across the street for a coffee at Cafe do Canto and you will have visited Portugal.

The best cakes EVER! The whipped cream is to die for! We get sweet bread from here every week and its gone in a few days! Try it you will love it!

They have a limited selection but nice treats. We got rum ball, cinnamon, orange pasteis. Quite good. We root for the mom n pop shops.

I love this place. The lady is totally nice and has made a great cake for my Bridal Shower. i will upload a pic of my cake. It's tiffany theme. So cute.

After eating the chinese version of the egg tart for the majority of my childhood, I decided to go explore the source material of the eggtart and ultimately found myself in this adorable little store in little Portugal. The lady taking my order was super sweet, gave me wonderful explanations of the two different types of egg tarts that they serve, one traditionalist puff pastry based egg tart as well as the version found in her home state without a puff pastry shell. She also told me the story of little portugual, specifically how the young new generation of Portuguese are moving out leaving only members of previous generations to hold the town together. In terms of the egg tarts, they were absolutely amazing, they had the perfect amount of richness balanced by a slight hint of citrus flavor as to not make it overbearing. If you want to try a true egg tart, definitely check this place out.

The lady was really rude to me the whole time making smart comments. I didnt know that malasadas were seasonal so she told me if i wanted to get donuts to walk across the street to 7-11. But whatever, i let it go. I will never come here again.

Awesome. Sweet. Bread. Papos secos are super soft, and they sell sao jorge cheese, which is (stinky but also) spicy and full of flavor. Love it!

I recently purchased some Portuguese Sweetbread here in Ceres where I live. It brought back memories when my Aunt Mary use to make Sweetbread for Easter. Their Sweetbread tasted exactly like my Aunt's. I went back to food 4 less and they did not have any in stock. I am hoping it was not just a one time thing.

Satisfied my craving for Portuguese pastries and cheaply. Not the same as the things I ate in Lisbon but good.

Nice Portuguese bakery with great bread....go in the morning it's made fresh and the bread is nice and warm. Cash only....

Its a portuguese bakery but i couldnt find anything thats really athentic portuguese pasteries. The service is nice but there isnt much variety. Their tarts are pretty sweet to my liking but thats just me. Ita a nice place to check out once just to tru it but i dont think i will go there again.

A little piece of heaven. The Queijadas were the sweetest, freshest tasting ones I have ever tried. My in laws regularly pick up the sweet bread when they roll into town and that is always yummy too. Today was my first visit and I will definitely be back here more often. Delicious :)

Been going to this bakery for over 10 years and still love it! Great paposecos (bread rolls), sweat bread and pasteis de nata (azorean style).

Not much to see in this bakery. Most items here were plain breads or plain breads with a sweet taste. I walked in asking if they sold pastel de queijo and the lady owner was pretty rude. I'm still looking for places in SJ near alum rock that sells pastel.

Great portuguese rolls... would be nice if there were a price list of items but the bread is great... just like the real thing in Portugal.