Family spirit and 4:30 a.m. opening contribute to success of Panadería

By Paulette Greenhouse

It is 3:30 am. As late night bar hoppers head home after a night of drinking and socializing, Blanca Valle is stepping into Panadería La Mexicana to begin her long day of work. Blanca is joined by various family members and a select few others to help run the small shop at 24th Avenue and York Street. It’s simple layout is reminiscent of your favorite bakery in Mexico.
Upon arrival, Blanca hurries to prepare the trays of freshly baked bread that bakers had spent all night preparing, from 9 p.m. until about 5 or 6 in the morning. Bread is transferred from black baking trays onto white trays for display.
“Everything is placed in the same spot,” Blanca explains in Spanish. “The client knows what he wants and where to find it.”
By the time all the bread is in place, fresh coffee has been made, and all the milk is set in the refrigerators. The clock now strikes 4:30 a.m. and Blanca opens the shop to begin the new day.
Although this might seem like an odd hour to open a bakery, Panadería La Mexicana enjoys a large flow of customers as it is the area’s first bakery to open in the morning.
“People come in before they go to work to get their coffee and favorite bread,” explains Blanca’s brother, Francisco Valle, who co-founded the shop back in 1972.
Blanca always expects one of her first sales to be to a man whom she calls Don Carlos and who has been a loyal customer for years. “Customers begin to feel like family because they have been coming here for so long.”
She also has had the opportunity to witness many customers grow up before her own eyes. “It’s such a wonderful thing because the same people who have been coming here since they could barely look over the counter are now bringing their own kids.”
Other customers are people who are just looking for the familiar taste of home.
Rosario Jaime-Lara, 21, travels from Fremont in the South Bay whenever she gets a chance to bring home a bag or two full of goodies, “When I moved from Mexico 12 years ago, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to find elements of home here in California. Thankfully, (Panadería La Mexicana is able) to remind me of my morning breakfasts and midnight snacks that I was used to.”
This taste of home is exactly what Francisco and his now deceased brother Emilio had in mind when they opened the shop 36 years ago.
Francisco, whose friends and family call Paco, explained how he got started in the bakery business: “I came from Atlixco in Puebla, Mexico, and it was there that I began working in bakeries, making bread.”
His father worked raising cattle, while his mother worked at home. Both Francisco and his brother began working at a very early age. “I was about five years old when I started working…I had to help our family.”
He had no idea that he would have the opportunity to own his own shop in San Francisco years later. Francisco arrived in 1970 and worked in other bakeries located within the Mission District, including La Victoria Bakery on 24th and Alabama streets. “I came to San Francisco with the intention of setting up my own shop. I’m glad I was finally able to do so.”
Blanca, too, came to San Francisco to work with her brothers. “As a child, I worked as a nanny and later as a cook…I came here, though, to work in this shop and be with my family. Family is the most important thing.”
Family is one of the main factors that is believed to have helped the shop stay in business for so long and was one detail that Francisco and Emilio strived to keep consistent over the years since its grand opening.
“People like that it is run purely by family. We treat them like family and they treat us like family. I have people that will move away…and come back to visit their family and still come here because they remember that this is where they got their bread as a child,” Blanca explains.
Today, the Valle family continues to keep the business within the family. One of Blanca’s sons, Francisco, currently helps run the shop and her eighteen-year old daughter, who should be graduating from high school at the end of the school year, will begin working there this summer.
“It was always important to Francisco and Emilio to keep the shop in the family…It’s what has helped keep our shop strong all these years.”
The shop’s location also contributes to the large number of families coming in. Panadería La Mexicana is located next to the mini-park at 24th and York streets and across from Roosevelt Tamales Parlor, a popular restaurant.
“My family and I like to get our bread at La Panadería and then eat them on the benches at the park next door. It’s one of our favorite family rituals,” customer Rosario comments.
With the business remaining in the hands of his own family, Francisco has high hopes for the future of his shop. His excitement is reflected in the work he continually puts in day to day.
“I take pride in what I do and I still can’t believe that years later I’m doing what I love and it feels great.”
Panadería La Mexicana is open daily from 4:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and sells an assortment of delicious Mexican and Salvadorian treats.