Yuri T.
Yelp
Hayward is not a city I usually go to for... anything (no offense to anyone living there - although I have a few friends in the EB, I usually pass through to Oakland/Berkeley or to Milipitas from the peninsula). On Saturday morning (9/26/20), I was passing through from my friend's to get to the San Mateo Bridge to get over to the peninsula for a hike. It is not a big store, but there was one patron paying for her purchase when I went in. All of us, including the proprietor, were wearing masks and kept sufficient distance.
The food - Sadly, by the time I arrived (actually close to noon), all the tarts except coconut ones were sold out. Since I am not a huge coconut fan, my review would not include how the tarts were. I purchased a Linguiça Roll and Berry Turnover for the hike, and a small Massa Sovada (Portuguese Sweet Bread, with cinnamon and nutmeg) for my friend to have later. So... I was a bit thoughtless. It was a hot day, and on a day like this, I usually don't want to eat something that'd make me more thirsty. And Linguiça Roll was exactly that. I think I would have liked it a lot more, had I eaten it under different circumstances. But Linguiça was quite spicy, and the pie dough, though not too dry by any stretch, wasn't what I needed then. I believe I would have enjoyed it in a shade with a cold beer after the hike; not during.
I was smarter with the Berry Turnover. It was really good. I believe it had raspberry, but also some other berry (maybe blackberry) to balance out the raspberry tartness. It went well with my coffee in the morning. As for Massa Sovada, my friend respectfully rejected my gift (by saying she had too many breads to eat), so I ended up eating it myself. Not a regular sweet bread eater myself, but it was quite tasty, with just the right amount of cinnamon and nugmeg. I can see why some reviewers said they have this for breakfast toast.
The service - I always try to ask questions to staff/proprietors when I couldn't get what I wanted. So I asked the proprietor - Alvaro - how early I should have come by, if I wanted to get some tarts. He said no need and gave me his business card. "You can just call me the day before and tell me how many you want, and we can reserve some for you to pick up the next day." How about that for service? I saw in the reviews that this place has been in business for a long time, and I can see why. It's too bad that I don't live close enough to it.