Porto's Bakery and Cafe • 1976

When Rosa Porto arrived from Cuba in the 1960s, she baked cakes from her home kitchen before opening her first storefront in 1976, launching what would become a Southern California institution. Her family's Cuban bakery built its cult following on pillowy Cheese Rolls, flaky guava-and-cheese Refugiados, and the famous Potato Ball—a crispy sphere of mashed potato wrapped around seasoned meat. Lines snake out the door at all five locations, where glass cases overflow with pastelitos, Cuban sandwiches, and towering cakes that still follow Rosa's original recipes.