La Victoria

Technically La Victoria is only 67 years old, but its legacy lies in being a first in a long line of copycats. La Victoria brought Mexican pastries to San Francisco’s Mission District back in 1951, before the neighborhood earned its reputation as a Latino enclave. Today, across the street from its original location (it moved in 1955), La Victoria still sells colorful, traditional pan dulce like conchas (shell-shaped sweet buns), polvoron rosa (pink sugar cookies) and cublietes de queso (sweet cheese cupcakes). After falling on hard times a few years back, the panaderia expanded their offerings to include treats from small neighborhood bakers including vegan goods by Wholesome Bakery and El Porteño’s empanadas, but their original Mexican pastries remain the star of the show.