Torres Bakery in Cudahy draws on lessons of 3 generations and 30 years of note-taking

From Mexico to Milwaukee, the Torres family has worked to create their dream: a family bakery. The recipes, passed down over three generations, became the building block for the family’s new business, Torres Bakery, 4759 S. Packard Ave., Cudahy. 

Back in 2013, they bought the building just south of Layton Avenue in Cudahy. It was a process to renovate and build their dream, and finally they opened the bakery and coffee shop in April. 

Mario Torres and his wife, Sophia Salvat, run the day to day business, which they operate with Torres’ parents handling baking and cooking. Salvat brings along her experience as a barista and manager, along with her own Colombian and Puerto Rican roots.

Traditional Mexican breads and desserts are made in-house daily, including pan dulce, conchas and churros. They also make sweet empanadas, doughnuts, flan, churro cheesecake and pastries. Panini are served on house-made bread, with popular options so far including the chipotle chicken, Cubano, and the tuna melt. Valentine coffee is served daily, and the menu includes cold brew, lattes, frappes and smoothies plus aguas frescas for summer. 

Current hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. For updates go to facebook.com/theetorresbakery. 

Bakery beginnings

Mario: The baking was passed on from generations. My grandfather had a business in Mexico. He passed that on to my dad. Because of crime, my parents decided to sell and travel here. It took some time. First we were in Los Angeles. Then we came here.

My dad has been working and saving his money so we could open this bakery. We bought the building. It used to be a TV repair shop. We had to update and change a lot. My father is a third-generation baker.

We’re from Morelos, an hour away from Mexico City. 

Their specialties

Sophia: He makes traditional Mexican breads. Pan dulce specifically, the sweet pans (breads) with the sugar crusting are his specialty. ,,,  It is made by hand, not just machinery. He is spending hours on the pastry. 

Mario: It is his passion. I’ve never heard him complain once. 

Connecting to customers

Sophia: We definitely want to offer something that is familiar. 

Mario: The majority of our clients are not Mexican, so we try to give a variety. 

Sophia: We try to appeal to the customer. Some people don't know what an empanada is by looking at it, but people like them. Especially kids. Mexican bread is a bit denser, too. 

Mario: You usually have it with coffee on the side.

Sophia: It is not served alone, it is with coffee or hot chocolate or milk. If you don't know that, you think it is so dry. There is some culture clash.

Mario: That's also why we have other options like doughnuts. Our panini are homemade. My dad makes the bread for that. It is fresh every day and sets us apart, and also aguas frescas with fresh fruit. 

Sophia: We try to have versatility. We are a newer business, and we are learning what people want here, but we're getting there. 

Mario: We're local as much as we can be, that's our goal. Our coffee is Valentine. 

Sophia: We sat down with three different coffee roasters and tried to figure out the one that was the best fit. We knew when it came to coffee, people would come if it was good. We care about quality.

Regional recipes

Sophia: You’ll see different flavors in the food in different regions (of Mexico). Like with our empanadas, it is strawberry or pineapple compared to some places using peach and cherry for fillings, or guava or pumpkin. It is all regional.

Some people will come in and ask if we have sweet potato. Just because we are a a Mexican bakery would not mean we have sweet potato. 

Mario: That is regional. We had never heard of it. We tried it.

Sophia: Now we do empanadas with the calabaza, pumpkin. Everything pumpkin spice is popular, so why not?

Looking ahead

Sophia: We’d like to do more Mexican food, but that is on the back burner. We're thinking of adding tamales or tacos, but we already have Luna’s and Lalas right here (in Cudahy). We hear there is still a wanting in this community for more. We’re trying to figure out what that is. 

Mario: My mom’s tamales are thick, you get really full. We make our own homemade tortillas. My mom does the cooking. My dad does the baking.

Comfort food craving

Sophia: I feel like almost every day I have a concha sandwich. His dad makes them for me fresh from the oven, so good.

Mario: It literally falls apart in your mouth.

Sophia: And he genuinely loves making them. He puts so much love and passion into it. 

Favorite sweet treat

Mario: I love the churros. 

Sophia: We make them every day, multiple times a day. We have Bavarian filled, strawberry filled or plain right now.

Skip the lard

Sophia: People should know our bakery is all vegetarian. Typically Mexican bakery is made with lard. Not everyone can eat lard. We use a vegetarian manteca (shortening) made with soy. It is vegetarian completely. There is no lard going into our bakery. 

Mario: This comes directly from our region of Mexico.

Milwaukee must

Mario: We do hot ham and rolls on Sundays. 

Sophia: The rolls are baked fresh that day, made by us. We do plan on upping our ham game. We didn't know the ham and rolls thing and how hard people went for it. 

What keeps them going

Mario: My dad is my inspiration. They were retired. They used all their savings for this. They don't have to do this, but something in them makes them here for it. That inspires us to come here every day. 

Sophia: His dad works so hard, it can’t help but inspire you. 

Mario: He has scales. He’s old school, by the milligram. He has really old books in Spanish with  recipes. I got him new notepads, because his old ones were falling apart at the seams. He has been keeping notes for more than 30 years. Some of these are my grandfather’s recipes. I never met my grandfather.

Fork. Spoon. Life. explores the everyday relationship that local notables (within the food community and without) have with food. To suggest future personalities to profile, email psullivan@gannett.com.