After years of long drives and lines, Inland Empire fans are getting their own Porto’s Bakery & Cafe.
The Cuban-American bakery is bringing its yellow boxes to a new location in Ontario, located near Interstate 10. Slated to open in 2028, the new spot will be part of a new commercial development spanning 50,000 square feet across three buildings.
Founded by Rosa Porto, the bakery opened in a Silver Lake strip mall in 1976. Since then, Porto’s has expanded to six locations across Southern California. From Burbank to West Covina, lines tend to form out the door at each of the chain’s locations, with patrons ordering boxes of their signature potato balls, cheese rolls and other pastries.
For many, that wait comes after a long commute. Beatriz Porto, an owner and vice president of Porto’s, said the West Covina bakery is the chain’s busiest, in part because devoted fans drive in from Temecula, Riverside, Rancho Cucamonga and beyond.
“They come once a week because they’re so far, or twice a week,” she said. “Now we’re gonna be on their doorstep.”
Ontario City Manager Scott Ochoa approached the family about opening a location. The city says it had been working to land Porto’s for nearly a decade.
The new site will have 500 parking spots, Porto said.
“We just were lucky enough that we found a spot,” Beatriz Porto said. “The hardest thing about opening a bakery is finding the right location.”
Porto’s also has plans to expand to the happiest place on earth. Disney filed demolition permits last year for the building that previously housed La Brea Bakery in Downtown Disney. The Anaheim site is slated to become the seventh Porto’s location in Southern California.
Despite earlier announcementsthat the bakery would open in 2025, it hasn’t yet opened the Disney location.
Beatriz Porto said the project is “a lot more complicated” and has been delayed due to construction issues. Still, she said, the family hopes it will open before the Ontario location.
Porto’s also has found success outside its brick-and-mortar stores by shipping a selection of its unbaked pastries nationwide. Before the pandemic, Porto said, the bakery averaged 100 orders a day. During the coronavirus pandemic, that number jumped to 1,000.
Those hoping Porto’s will open in other states might have to wait. Porto says she and her siblings plan to keep the business rooted in Southern California.
“That’s going to be up to the third generation,” Porto said. “I’m kind of old-fashioned, so I want to be close to the family.”
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