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Mon-Thu. 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sun. 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
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Amazing Birthday Cake absolutely AMAZING! Great service!
I tried nothing else at this location but the cake and based on the clients that line up around the counter of treats and the ample seating available for those who order sandwiches and more, this Yelper can not expect anything less than deliciouness (that's right, delicious-ness) for its customers.
For my cousin's 37th birthday I ordered a marble chocolate cake, layered with a whipped cream strawberry filling, topped with a variety of fruit - kiwi, strawberries, mango, peaches, etc. An absolute delight.
My mom was worried when I told her I ordered a half-sheet that served 50 people because she wanted me to purchase a full sheet. Good thing I stuck with the half-sheet because after serving up to 60+ people, we still had leftover cake because the cake was fittingly thick.
So delicious.
And...it was sprinkled with coconut flakes.
They topped the cake with so much fruit that they wrote my happy birthday message on a think plastic to go OVER the fruit. It was tastefully done.
The cake texture was moist, not too sweet at all. The frosting wasn't overwhelming either. You just let the natural fruit flavors merge with the cake, filling, and frosting in your mouth. Perfect for your taste buds.
They also design and make wedding cakes. They're pretty too...maybe even for other occasions like quinceneras (spelling?).
Oh man, TRY it!
This place ROCKS!!!!!!
Love, Love, Love this place!!! Every time I walk in the music makes me want to dance...A total HOT SPOT to hang out or to have group meetings here.
The food is AMAZING! Sometimes the wait is a little long, but totally worth it because the food is super fresh and authentic! Staff is super nice!
I've never had better guava and cheese pasteries in my life! They're seriously finger licking good! and Wow, the coffee is way better than Starbucks or Coffee Bean.
I hear Porto's is coming to Downey...NAH! I'll stick with Tropicana!!!!
Seriously excellent papa rellenos. Large , nearly peach size. Wonderful filling. Better than both Portos and Felix's.
Tiramisu was just okay! Napolean was good, nice and custardy. Then there was another cake that ended up being napolean without fruit and a layer of cake.
The best bakery I have every been too! This place is always crowded no matter what time of day! Everything is delicious! Amazing service !
Prices are sooo reasonable! Who wouldn't love this place! Music always makes you want to learn how to salsa dance from the second you walk in! Not a good place to eat if you are dieting- because you cannot say no to any of the delicious goodies! :)
Don't compare it to Portos its wrong to do so. BUT that being said their Cubano sandwhich was very delicious and their sugar free desserts are a yummy treat. I need to go back to scope out the other desserts.
I went last nigth for the very first time. I was impressed. i was expecting a little hole in the wal but to my surprise it was a llittle cute bakery reminded me of the ones in Miami. I odered a Frita (cuban hamburgers) it was good but the meat was to much on the well side. the croquetas were my favorite. Theay were made out of ham and chicken. I took home potato balls, meat empanadas, chese and guayaba rolls. I took a bite out each an everyone of them and it was very tasty. Love the decor the dining room reminded me of my Grandmas's house (im cuban). I was not impressed by the service. Very un-organized. no spcific are to line up. the girl who took my order seemed like she was in a hurry and I felt ancy as I was ordering. overall I will give this place a 2nd chance. I plan to take my dad for breakfast this Saturday. Cross my fingers.
By far thee BEST Cuban Bakery I've ever been to!!! The staff is very friendly and the service is quick! But more importantly, the food is delicious! They have a wide assortment of entrees and the desserts are yummy! Great presentation all around...from the food, to the decor, to the dining experience! I love Tropicana!
Would recommend everyone to try it! It's DELICIOUS!
The Best Cuban Bakery in LA!!
I love cuban pastries, but my low carb diet does not (*grin*)
However, I love the Tropicana. They have a wide variety of desserts, treats, coffees and other tasty treats here! They have a great cheesecake an dulce du leche cakes here!
Its great if you want to pick up a large sheet cake for a birthday party or occassion! The staff is friendly and everything is so very tasty!
I remember watching "I Love Lucy" as a kid and I always wondered why Ricky never kicked Lucy out of the house after all her crazy antics and surprises. Lucille ball probably got all of her Cuban treats from the Tropicana Bakery! Now we know why Ricky always forgave Lucy for all of her crazy stunts! j/k :)
The pastries are good and the food is good..
I have been to Portos and the lines are 10 times longer but for some reason I have to wait 10 times longer at Tropicana. The service is not very organized and it seems like people are running around confused.
They better shape up cuz big time competition is on the way...
My wife and I had dinner there tonight and we LOVED this place!
The food was great, the portions were large, the restaurant was clean and trend-setting. It's also a cafe as the name mentions, so it's got a homey, nice living-room feel to it.
My one and only qualm was that the service could have been better. Our waitress was a doll, but she just didn't seek to keep my drink full or check on us more than once.
Still, our experience there was awesome. We are definitely going back.
YOU NEED TO GO. Now.
PS: Use caution in their driveway. It's a killer.
A friend picked up a chorizo sandwich and guava rolls for me for lunch at work. I didn't know there was a nice concentration of Cubans and Dominicans around the Downey area. Even though the sandwich was cold...it was still good and delicious!!!!
Thanks!
We cannot deny this place has good pastries, I haven't eaten their food, only because my husband gets flustered everytime we go there with their massive crowds and un-organized service. We can pratically walk there from our house. I will say, their guayaba con queso bread is awsome, especially when their warm. I'll give it a four because I am a fan, but they do need to work on their service. Especially now that Portos's is coming to Downey!!!!
I am a huge fan of the Cuban coffee more so than the regular coffee you buy at Starbucks because for some reason they seem to take their coffee much more seriously. I love it and I will continue to visit this place whenever I am in the location and int dire need of some good coffee.
This place is very inviting, with an open and contemporary atmosphere, but it is grounded in authenticity. The crowds at the counters are a testament to the quality and popularity of this restaurant/cafe. One set of display cases house hot items such as empanadas of various sorts, and while another set contains a variety of cakes, pastries and desserts. Enjoyed some canoli and a rich cup of cafe con leche. Will be back to try some of their lunch & dinner fare, all of which looks very appetizing in the photos on display.
Went here on the weekend with my Mom and snuck in my dog in her carrier. :) Great place with incredible pastries. It looks a bit old on the outside, but the decor inside is very neat. Love the tropical theme!
We were seated quickly. It was lunchtime and starting to get busy. I ordered an iced tea, which was okay, but not spectacular. Mom got a ice blended caramel coffee drink. No comment on that, but she slurped it down vigorously, so I assume it was good. She wanted to get the breaded steak. She also wanted white rice and we got the fried plantains. We split the plate, because we didn't want to overeat. Mom did NOT like it and hated the plantains. But Mom only likes Northern Chinese food, so her opinion doesn't count. ;)
I thought it was pretty darn tasty. I loved the fried plantains. We also got a layered flaky pastry dessert with vanilla custard filling, topped with fruits. I enjoyed that too. Prices were reasonable. It was about $20 for the entire meal and I felt full.
I wish I wasn't on a budget or trying to eat healthy, otherwise, I'd be back for their scrumptious pastries. They look very "high-end" and would make great gifts. Ah well, perhaps the next time I'm in Downey!
The food is good. The pastries are delicious and the coffee is great. It's a cool local spot. Every time I come here there is always lots of people waiting for service. The service is hit or miss but what can you expect when there is always so many people here. It looks like they have plenty of staff. Sometimes it just takes a while to get service.
I came here last week as I've been craving a Cuban sandwich and some pastry but also because I needed a hideaway to work at all day. I need a place that was not too noisy and not too quiet. Also needed good free wifi, outlet, and some room to work.
Got here in the morning and had a nice Cafe con leche and an Apple/cheese pastry. It was very yummy and I appreciated it a lot more than a starbucks coffee n pastry. Just seemed a lot more home made than other places. They had so many pastries but I had to limit it to just one.
Was able to get a corner to myself, had good wifi there, was able to make my calls without bothering anyone or the noise level being too high. Had headline news on the tv so was able to keep tabs on things.
Then friend popped over for lunch. We had some Cuban Sandwiches. He had the beef sandwich and I had the Media Noche. It was really good. Ham, Soft cheese, pulled pork, good bread. Was a really good sandwich. Not too big, could have been larger but it was enough. Was very tasty though. The bread was soft and baked well.
Prices on everything are moderate. All good.
The service was good, everyone was very friendly and didn't bother me even though I was here most of the day. When I needed water they brought it for me, and treated us really well.
The place is very clean, lovely decor, and while the menu is small it all looked very good.
Definitely it will be on my list of morning places and work hideaways.
Will be coming back often.
I met with friends for dinner here tonight. Word of warning...do not make plans to be anywhere soon after you are here for a sit-down meal. Don't plan on having a quick meal, then heading off to a movie or show shortly after, because you won't make it. Service here is extremely SLOOOOOOOOOW. I don't think the place was meant to serve sit-down diners; it's more of an afterthought. Expect a leisurely meal and pick people you want to spend time with; we were there for almost 2.5 hours, and this was not an 8 course meal or anything like that. For example, I wouldn't recommend this place as a first date on the off chance that you may want to cut it short, because you'll be stuck with no way out!
As I walked in the back door from the parking lot, I noticed a symbol of a camera with a line through it...OK, no picture taking allowed, I guess. Sigh. I walked past the bakery cases & drooled, making my way to the dining area where my friends were already waiting. The place looked clean, and there was latin music playing...salsa (some Marc Anthony that I recognized) & merengue. There's a Cuban & US flag on the wall, some drum sets in the corner, & a large photo of a street, presumably in Cuba, on the wall. The bakery area was full of people waiting to place orders. The dining area has several tables & chairs, & two areas of chairs/couches with coffee tables.
While waiting for our food, I perused the bakery cases...it all looked amazing! Strangely enough, there's a separate case towards the back with pan dulce. So, I guess that's exclusively Mexican, & that's why it's in a separate case? Hmm, I still had no idea what I wanted for dessert; too much to choose from. I wish they labeled all of the desserts in the cases, not just some of them. How do you order the non-labeled desserts if you're sitting, unless you get up & point to it?
We all ordered combo plates, which come with black beans and rice or congri (?), which I think is black beans cooked/mixed with rice already, and sweet plantains, tostones, or yucca.
I had the ropa vieja (yes, it means old clothes, but is shredded flank steak in a tomato/vinegar? Base), with congri and sweet plantains (I really wanted some of those). The meat was quite tender, & I loved the platanos! Another friend had the arroz con pollo, which was very good too, very tender chicken meat. My other friend had bistec...damn, I forget the name, but it was sliced beef with red & green pepper slices, somewhat reminiscent of BBQ beef. That was also delicious. We also had café con leche and shared some desserts. So the café con leche (my 3rd coffee drink of the day) was nice & smooth...very good. It came with an anise flavored cookie. Both the choco-flan and cheesecake with fruit on top were excellent.
There was only 1 server & 1 buser for the whole seating area, & I don't think they're very well organized; they weren't super busy, but just don't have a good system in place, I think. I don't think they speak much English, either. It was very hard to get their attention for anything. The server always seemed flustered when dealing with us, until we started speaking Spanish to her towards the end.
When we finally got our check, we noticed that the papas rellenas my friend ordered but never received was on the check. We pointed it out to the server, & she asked if we wanted it to go, so my friend opted to get it to go.
There were 2 other tables that arrived & ordered right before we did, & 1 table left right before we got our coffee, & the other table was still there when we left, so it wasn't just us getting the really slow service. I think we were one of maybe two groups of non-native Spanish speakers there the whole time we were there (a group of about 5 or 6 Asian guys showed up while we were having dessert, but they didn't sit close enough to us for me to hear if they spoke in Spanish or not...you never know, since I've met people of Japanese decent from Peru who speak Spanish, a guy of Chinese descent when I was in Ecuador, & a Chinese guy from Panama. Maybe they were yelpers!?).
If you're just ordering from the bakery/to-go part, it looks like you grab a number (like at a deli/butcher counter), place your order when they call your number, pay & get your food. I'm wondering if you can do that & then sit & enjoy your snacks/food. It might be faster than the "table-service."
Overall, I thought that the food was fantastic! Service, on the other hand, was 1 star. I'll make it a 3.5 stars total, then.
They have a parking lot in the back, and the driveway is on the side of the building closer to Florence. It looks like you can also access the parking lot from Florence.
Located on the south-east side of Paramount Blvd., just south of Florence (OK, the streets don't exactly run north-south, east-west here, so it's hard to describe). Basically, it's by the south corner of the intersection
I was there 10/25 at 7:00pm and the service was AWFUL! First of all the table that were available were dirty. We ordered batidas de guabana and that took 20mins, another 20 mins for them to take order. I noticed some folks had french bread/butter. So, I asked the waitress could we get a basket... We were almost done with dinner and we still hadn't received the bread/butter. The girl said... Oh, I told the guy to get it... I guess he forgot... To make a long story short... we got our bread as we were closing our "to go boxes". Not enough employees to handle the amount of customer... and by the way... The food is just ok... I'll go to Versailles in West LA before I return to this place.
This place is a nightmare for anyone on a diet who likes sweets. My mouth watered just at the sight of the numerous pastries and goodies. I tried the Coconut and the Queso and they were both delicious and comparable to Portos. I also had a Chicken Sandwich there and it was very filling. The little chips that come with the sandwiches (don't know what they are called) were the best!
We just celebrated my husband Harry's 97th birthday here, and the gorgeously decorated carrot cake was so moist and delicious that we ate too much of it and spoiled our dinner! They wouldn't let us pay for the cake (we paid for the rest of our lunch, of course) but Harry said that was good publicity, and that "this cake is above all cakes." We packed up what was left and sent it to our friend The Ukulady's house, and she loved it, too.
I like to look at all the beautiful treats in the pastry counter, especially the Napoleons and other classics that remind me of my favorite city, Paris. So I am telling all my friends to come here (hi, friends!). There's a link to the birthday party video below if you'd like to see what you're missing.
http://the-ogs.com/pop...
I had a sweet tooth craving and found this place on Yelp.
One word, FLORENTINA!!! OMG this is soo yummy! Moist cake, whip cream (not frosting) a slice of a strawberry, a rasberry, peach, kiwi and a pear, all in an Florentine cup = mouth orgasm! The cake is so moist, not sweet, and if you have a thing for fruit, this is the best thing to get.
Dulce de Leche Eclair, good, not sweet, but the Dulce de Leche was ok.
Empanada de Pollo picoso (spicy chicken). Awesome!
They have a large selection of different sweets, from cheesecakes, to pan dulce and have a great menu of Cuban dishes. Next time I just might try one of their Cuban sandwiches.
They can get pretty busy, staff isn't the greatest, but they definitely are not the worst.
I will definitely be back when in the area.
We found Tropicana, via Yelp, when we were looking for a snack stop for Esotouric's South LA architecture tour, and it's proved to be a great favorite of both our passengers and our family. The savory items are delicious (I'm a big fan of the spinach empanada and the potato balls), but you don't want to fill up, because you must leave room to gorge on their incredible sweets. Oh, my gosh, that Choco-flan is inspired, and the Florentine cake perfectly splits the difference between sophisticated cookies and one of those trashy-yet-wonderful Americanized tostadas in the deep-fried tortilla "bowl."
So when we were looking for a place to celebrate PopPop's 97th birthday, we picked Tropicana... and when they heard what a momentous birthday he was celebrating, they refused to let us pay for his carrot cake. When we told PopPop this, he smiled and said it was good publicity, and I remembered I'd yet to review this place, so... here's a link to PopPop's birthday video:
http://the-ogs.com/pop...
This place is wonderful. Located in Downey. DOWNEY! Really?!
Yes, I'm still shocked to find such a nice Cuban bakery here. Their guava and cheese... out of this world; their Empanada.. fantastic! The price? Cheap!
You can stuff yourself with pastries and it will only cost you like 10 bucks.. for two people... with coffees...
Damn you yelpers sure let me down. After reading all the reviews on this place, I was convinced to come try this out since everyone swore this was the best place next to portos for Cuban pastries.
Ugh. Boy are you guys wrong.
I've came here twice for lunch & both times I was dissapointed. 1st off they have such a small menu on Cuban food, they only have like 6 plates and about 3-4 types of sandwiches. I have tried about 3 diffrent plates and I wasn't impressed.
Congri doesn't have much flavor in this place, chicken was like ehhh, ropa vieja also ehhh, served me an extremely warm milkshake of mamey.
Some of the waiters take too damn long.
Don't get me wrong, I think people rate them on their interior décor & Cuban music they play, as far as the food goes, not much flavor & not much authenticity, very bland.
2 stars only because the papas rellenas look like they're on steroids and are about 3x the size if a Portos potato ball.
Looking forward to a new Portos in Downey 2010
Ok, it's hard not to compare this place with Porto's Bakery in Burbank. After all, how many good Cuban Pastries exist around my area?
This place is GOOD, but just not as good as Porto's. The potato ball is definitely on par with Porto's and it is much bigger and taste really satisfying.
However, the crust on their other pastries is just not as crisp and "flaky" as I would like. The insides are good, but if *only* the outside is more crisp, this would warrant a 5 star.
A good thing about this place is that there is ample parking in the back. And once you enter the establishment, make sure that you take a number from the "number dispenser" so that you'd be served accordingly. You don't just stand in line waiting to be served... it's like a meat market, where you pull the number and wait for the butcher to ask what you would like.
The interior is nice and big, it looks like they are taking two spots of a typical mom-and-pop establishment. Its a good sign that many of the customers here are of "Hispanic" descent, so you know that the Cuban taste is authentic. So check it out next time you are in the area, and don't want to drive all the way up to Porto's.
Okay, first and foremost I am no expert on the Cuban cuisine. Second, I love Portos in Glendale. Although Tropicana is good, is not as good as Portos. The pastries are fine and there are a lot to choose from. The food is decent but I feel a tad bland and there is not a tremendous selection. Decent place over all, but as I like to say nothing to wake up the dog for....
My review will be strictly for the Bakery section:
All I can say is WOW!
I found this place when my brother and I needed a cake for my dad's 60th bday. My brother and I wanted a cake from Porto's but didnt have the time to drive out there. I read about this place on yelp...we stopped by the same night. Sampled their pastries, cakes, etc and placed an order for a cake the same night (2-3 day special order minimum). The girl taking our cake order was so helpful and brought us a spoonful of each filling to help us decide.Their cakes are so pretty and have so much delicious fruit on them!
When we picked up the cake a few days later it was HUGE! I swear it was waaay bigger than the size we picked out. I think it was about $60 (i'll post pics of it). My entire family loved it! (latin american are picky about their cakes). The left overs remained moist for days. It was incredible really.
oh, a con would be the waiting time. BUT its so worth it.
I randomly picked this spot to pick up a birthday cake on the way to a friend's house in Huntington Park based on the positive yelp reviews. One positive is that they sell pre-made cakes that you can pick up on the spot. And by pre-made I mean the cake was probably baked that morning and went directly into the refrigerated case.
We bought the mango mousse cake, mostly because of the awesome fruit-tart decoration on top. Unfortunately, we didn't know that our friend's mom had baked her a cake, so that was a little social faux-pas on our part. The cake itself was delicious and moist! The mousse tasted of fresh mango and was not too sugary. They also pile on the frosting which is my favorite part of cake. The fruit topping was fresh and dipped into an interesting sweet syrup to keep it looking fresh. Their individual pastries looked so delicious that I wanted to order a whole bunch and eat them in the car, but alas I held back.
My only complaint was the service. There were only about 4 other patrons in the bakery when we arrived, but it took a good 10 minutes after we finally decided what cake to get to get anyone to take our order. It wasn't due to a shortage of staff either, there were three people behind the counter just talking with each other and basically ignoring us until they finally decided to wrap up their conversation. I speak Spanish, so I know they weren't having a work-related conversation... not a cool way to treat customers who drove 14 miles to get to your bakery.
We almost always get the cubano sandwich. Their pastries are heavenly. My favorite are the señoritas.
Whenever I am in Downey visiting a friend and running some errands for my business I usually go check out this Cuban bakery and cafe. The have the most tongue satisfying tres leches cake that I have ever tasted. They also have horchata that is very rich and refreshing and is also cold without using ice which makes it better because ice dilutes the taste. Go try this place next time you are in Downey.
This bakery has the best cakes. They are delicious! The chocolate cake with chocolate mousse is my favorite. The guayaba and cheese pastelitos are incredible. I love this place!
Oh man, my mouth is watering when I think of those pastries filled with guava jelly and cream cheese...mmmmm I think they are called pastelitos de guayaba? I'm not sure... The meat filled pastries are so good too! I love this place!
Great place! Clean and modern but sticking to the Cubano theme. AMAZING pastries and cakes, the types topped with fruit. The coffee looks really good, served in oversized mugs. They have a full menu, comfortable, seating,maltas and you can't just eat a dish and run ...you must have desert! The arroz con pollo (7.99), garlic yuca and chicken tamales (about 2.50 and they're big) get two thumbs up. Yes it's a lot of carbs but hey it's filling. I'll be back often!
Mmmmm....is all I can say. This place is great, come for their sandwiches, hot food and please for the love of you know who don't leave without the pasteries. They have great coffee and gets crowded so be prepared to wait a little while. Their specialty cakes are to die for, you can order a cake, they layer them with fresh fruit and a sweet glaze and it's a tropical party in your mouth. Worth a try if your in the mood for cuban coffee, food and yummy pasteries.
I love love love the pastries here! The caramel (dulce de leche?) cheesecake is heaven slowly melting in your mouth and the white chocolate-covered flaky-vanilla creamy thing is wonderful too! Both are really rich and pretty generous in size so you might want to share them with someone.
The coffee with milk is yummy-- super smooth, not bitter at all, and pretty strong...it definitely kept me up that night.
I haven't had any of the dishes but the cuban sandwich is jam-packed! I order a small for myself and I can only really eat half of it.
People there are friendly and didn't seem to mind my questions about everything that looked good.
Next time I'm stuffing my face with their semi-sweet and meaty beef empanadas!
Thanks yelpers, for helping me find a cuban sandwich semi-near my workplace. I honestly think if more people tasted one of these, their popularity would spread like wildfire.
Co-worker and I each got a "small" cuban sandwich ($5.25), which is served with fried plantain chips. This "small" could have easily been shared between the two of us. Greasy and good. We also shared a chocolate tornillo pastry, mmm crunchy dough cream filling chocolaty goodness. We took our other co-worker a ginormous slice of strawberry cheesecake, only $2.75.
I took away a star because it took them like five minutes to figure out what I was asking for when I ordered "iced tea". Perhaps I am just an ignorant gringa bitch. But when I got the iced tea (made fresh with my choice of teabag) it was perfect.
Also, the parking lot is kind of difficult to access. Pull into Wamu, just watch out for the security guard. But you could probably bribe him with a potato ball. Mmmm...
Thank goodness Tropicana exists. I was beginning to think there were no good places to eat around here!
This place is definitely on par with Porto's quality-wise. The pastries are delicious. I have yet to eat a meal here but from the looks of things they're quite scrumptious as well.
Thank GOD!
Desserts galore!!! I've probably tried 10 desserts so far....chocolate cake, strawberry cheesecake, rice pudding, creme brulee....just some of my favs.
I've also tried their food....but I don't know the name of it!! It was a thin piece of beef fried (like country fried steak). It was covered in onions and parsley with a side of rice and beans and plantains. REALLY good.
Their coffees and lattes and smoothies are excellent as well!!!
Don't forget that when you go in, you need to get a # from the machine. They'll call out your number and then you order.
I haven't tried their food, but OMG their pasteries are AMAZING. Make sure you get a cafe con leche to wash the sweetness down after =) My favorite pastries are the guayaba/queso pastelitos. They simply melt in your mouth. Their coconut cookies are also solid. I agree with most of the other reviews that the service is lacking, but the pastries make up for it. Every time I visit my parents I stop by this place...it really is that good and I haven't found a Cuban bakery in Nor Cal that compares. I can't wait to try more of their desserts!!
Downey, CA
Category: Cuban
Downey, CA
Category: Fast Food
Bell, CA
Category: Restaurants
Downey, CA
Category: Cuban
Neighborhood: San Pedro
Category: Bakeries
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