Skip to main content
A dual split image. To the left is a photo of Beatriz Porto holding a tray of refugiados, golden brown, rectangular shaped pastries. Beatriz is wearing a dark teal button up shirt with an embroidered Porto's logo over the right breast. Her hair is short and curly. To the right is an overhead photo of golden brown refugiados, cheese guava danishes.
Beatriz Porto, co-owner of Porto's Bakery alongside her siblings, with freshly baked refugiados — Porto's iconic guava cheese danishes. | Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Porto's Bakery and the Meaning Behind Refugiados

Support Provided By
This article is presented in partnership with the Natural History Museum's ""Kneaded: L.A. Bread Stories," a project that celebrates L.A. history, heritage and communities through the lens of bread.

Porto’s Bakery is an L.A. icon. But who is the family behind the bakery and the creators of the legendary guava cheese pastry — the refugiado? In an interview co-owner of Porto’s Bakery, Beatriz Porto tells us about the start of her family's bakery at their home in Cuba, the important meaning behind the refugiado, and how Porto’s has helped support communities in L.A.

Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Beatriz Porto, and I am one of the owners, along with my siblings, of Porto's Cafe. We started Porto’s out of necessity. My mom, Rosa Porto, and dad, Raul Porto, started the small bakery on Sunset and Silver Lake. We kids did what we had to do to support the business, whether it was dishes or learning how to bake. My sister and I became cake decorators just by watching my mother! So becoming this big name wasn't deliberate. I just started helping out my family because that's what you had to do. All of us would come out of school and help every day.

Beatriz Porto of Porto's Bakery  stands in front of a glass case of pastries and baked goods. She's leaning on it with one of her elbows as she smiles at the camera. She's wearing a dark teal button up shirt with a Porto's embroidered logo over the right breast.
Beatriz Porto of Porto's Bakery | Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

How did Porto's Bakery get started?

We lived in Cuba when we started. In 1962, our family presented papers to leave the country. It was a difficult time because both my parents were fired from their jobs. Prior they had made very good salaries, and then we went from that to making zero dollars. Our neighbor told my mother, "Hey, you got to start making those cakes that you make for your kids, for everybody else, because you need to make some money." My mother was a talented baker — she was self-taught and so that is how we got started. But money was illegal, and you were not supposed to have a private enterprise. Every day, my mother ran the risk of being caught and going to jail for 25 years. We were lucky enough to live in a neighborhood where our neighbors would tell us when the secret police were coming. Through the backyard, my mother would quickly get everything (baking supplies) out of the house. She was doing that until we left for the United States in 1971.

An old black and white photo of three children standing side by side. In front of them is a table with two decorative cakes and bottles of sparkling juice.
An old black and white photo of three children standing side by side. In front of them is a table with two decorative cakes and bottles of sparkling juice.
1/3 From left to right, Margarita Porto, Raul Porto Jr. and Betty Porto are the second generation of Portos to run the family business. This photo was taken in 1966 in Cuba and they are posing with cakes made by their mother, Rosa Porto. | Porto's Bakery
An old black and white photo of a Rosa Porto and Raul Porto with their daughter, Margarita Porto. Margarita is a baby in the photo, wearing a ruffled dress. Rosa is holding Margarita. In front of the three is a table with cakes.
An old black and white photo of a Rosa Porto and Raul Porto with their daughter, Margarita Porto. Margarita is a baby in the photo, wearing a ruffled dress. Rosa is holding Margarita. In front of the three is a table with cakes.
2/3 Rosa Porto, Raul Porto and their daughter Margarita Porto standing in front of one of Rosa's cakes. | Porto's Bakery
Rosa Porto as a young girl stands wearing a pleated dress with a decorative trim. The top of the dress has buttons down the middle, a collar and puff short sleeves. Her hair is short and curly.
Rosa Porto as a young girl stands wearing a pleated dress with a decorative trim. The top of the dress has buttons down the middle, a collar and puff short sleeves. Her hair is short and curly.
3/3 Founder of Porto's Bakery, Rosa Porto, as a young girl living in Cuba. | Porto's Bakery

Really the community was the one that supported our household buying our cakes, for friends, families, the whole neighborhood. So finally in 1971, we were able to come to Los Angeles and again, I found out that friends and family were here! There was a large Cuban community from our town so when they found out she was in Los Angeles the orders started. She was here only a month when she made her first wedding cake.

So she went from Cuba baking illegally to the U.S. baking out of her home again. My brother says she never went to bed because she would have to make three wedding cakes every weekend. That means she was baking all night long. And sometimes we would go to the movies and come back and she was still baking. She would put baking sheets on our beds, to cool the cakes because she didn't have enough room. Then she realized that there's not enough space she needed to rent the place to bake. That's exactly what she did. In 1976, she opened her first little 300 square foot bakery on Sunset and Silver Lake.

An old black and white photo of Raul Sr., Margarita, Rosa, Betty and Dolores Porto (Raul Sr.’s mother), photographed in 1976 outside the original Porto's Bakery located in Silver Lake, California. They're all standing in front of a storefront window with the words, "Porto's Bakery" and a cake on the window.
An old black and white photo of Raul Sr., Margarita, Rosa, Betty and Dolores Porto (Raul Sr.’s mother), photographed in 1976 outside the original Porto's Bakery located in Silver Lake, California. They're all standing in front of a storefront window with the words, "Porto's Bakery" and a cake on the window.
1/2 From left to right, Raul Sr., Margarita, Rosa, Betty and Dolores Porto (Raul Sr.’s mother), photographed in 1976 outside the original Porto's Bakery located in Silver Lake, California. | Porto's Bakery
Beatriz Porto stands in front of a glass case full of pastries and other baked goods. Her arm is resting on the top of the case as she looks at the camera. She's wearing a pinstriped suit. Her hair is short and curly. Margarita Porto is on the other side of the glass case.
Beatriz Porto stands in front of a glass case full of pastries and other baked goods. Her arm is resting on the top of the case as she looks at the camera. She's wearing a pinstriped suit. Her hair is short and curly. Margarita Porto is on the other side of the glass case.
2/2 Beatriz Porto (in front of the counter) and Margarita Porto, photographed inside the original Porto's Bakery in 1976. | Porto's Bakery

Can you tell me a little bit about the communities you serve?

In the beginning, at the Sunset and Silver Lake location, we were surrounded by friends and family. So it was a great place to be. Mind you, over the years, we changed menus to serve the Mexican community. We had a Mexican baker who started to teach my brother how to make conchas and we still sold all the Cuban cakes and goodies my mother made, but we also were serving the community. We understood that there was a community we were at. Whatever was needed was what we were making.

But then in the 1980s something came up. There was a baker who went out of business and was selling his 3,000 square-foot bakery. At the time there were like 100,000 Cubans living in Glendale and we went after our community. We bought the bakery. We didn't have an issue because our customers showed up. We started making donuts too because that's what the people in the area wanted to eat, donuts, bear claws and stuff like that. So again, we had to reinvent ourselves but we always stuck to our core products, like croquettes, potato balls and the guava and the guava cheese pastries. The thing is that people were coming to us, no matter where we went. Which is true to this day. The same products that my mother was selling out of the house are the ones we are still selling 40 something years later. It's amazing.

Two guests leave the Porto's Bakery building. Across the top of the building reads, "Porto's." One of the guests is holding a bag full of Porto's products while the other is holding a coffee.
Guests leave Porto's bakery with pastries and coffee in hand. | Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

We were really excited to talk to you about the infamous refugiado or the guava cheese pastry. How did that recipe come together?

There's nothing more to Cuban than guava and cheese. It was inexpensive. So my mother thought why don’t you put it inside a pastry? It was never done before, no one was selling it at the time. So we decided to make it and the reason we call it refugiado or refugee, remember we just got here, and when we came from Cuba that's what we were called. For us, it's a comfort food. It is what being Cuban American is all about.

A tray of golden brown pastries stuffed with guava and cheese. The pastries are square shaped with slender slits to ventilate the inside. A hand brushes on a sugar wash with a wooden brush.
A tray of refugiados are brushed with a light sugar wash at Porto's cafe in Glendale. | Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

It sounds like the refugiado has a deeper meaning. What would you say that is?

It just gives a sense of our survival because really we're here as immigrants or refugees to survive. We're here and we're here to stay. We wanted to mark our arrival, our presence in this country so we brought something that we love to everybody here in Los Angeles. Without realizing it, the refugiado has become a staple in Los Angeles. Now the people that are buying the refugiado are not just Cubans, there are Filipinos, Chinese, Salvadoreans who love our pastries. We also have the whole United Nations visiting us! People that come from other countries and they say when they get off the plane the first place they want to go is Porto's. When we created the recipe we really did it for ourselves—without knowing that people would fall in love with it.

A baker pours a golden yellow liquid into a large, industrial size stand mixer. Behind him are cooling racks full of golden brown pastries.
Porto's baker, Alejandro Martin Gomez, pours ingredients into the refugiado dough. | Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Are there certain memories or emotions that arise when you make the refugiado?

The name sparks memories and emotions. We call it refugiado to remind ourselves how we got here, and why we came to the United States. We are refugiados, refugees, so we never wanted to forget that. So that's why we gave it the name. To the ones that understand the struggle it is there as a reminder always.

A rack of refugiados are carefully pulled out of a large, industrial oven by a baker in a black uniform and hat.
A rack of refugiados are carefully pulled out of the oven. The smell of guava and sweet bread takes over the kitchen. | Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Do you have a favorite part of the baking process?

Oh yeah, when it comes out of the oven and we get to sample it! You can see the flaky dough getting brown and you see the guava and the cream cheese oozing through the sides. I am always on the lookout for that. I mean they look incredible, anything that comes out of the oven.

A tray of freshly baked guava cheese pastries are slid into a rack to cool.
Freshly out of the oven, the refugiados spend some time cooling before being shared with the Porto’s community. | Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Is there anything else you would want people to know about the communities that you serve?

Well, we started in one community, but now we're a part of multiple communities. We make an effort to choose either a service organization, or the local police or fire department to donate our pastries to that weren't purchased. For example, if you volunteer with a Union Rescue Mission, you're gonna see Porto’s pastries when you go there. When I visit the Mission, I'm like a rock star because they know where the cookies are coming from. It's really a nice way to build community. My mother never wanted to throw any food away because she knew how many people needed to be fed. So it’s something that we’ve been doing forever and ever.

To see what's baking at Porto’s Bakery check out portosbakery.com and find your nearest location to taste the delicious flaky layers of the refugiado.

What's your L.A. Bread Story?

Know an L.A. breadmaker that lovingly connects to your community, or want to share your favorite experience at Porto’s? Join the conversation by tagging @NHMLA with #KneadedLA, and your story could be featured next!

Support Provided By