La Gran Via Bakery
“I eat it plain and dunked in the cafe con leche or toasted with butter, and yes you know it…dunked in the cafe con leche.”
“They never let me down with their café con leche and their pastelitos de guayaba y queso.”
“Addicted to their half moon shaped guava and cheese pastries, the crust is amazing.”
La Gran Via Bakery
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$ Price range Inexpensive
4 reviews
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The great thing about Hudson county is that it is filled with fabulous little hallways that bring so much goodness into your soul through something as simple as guava pastry. Be sure to get here with a little patience or a lot of luck to find parking, in case you don't feel free to use the small lot across the street.
I have spend the last 25 years coming here nearly every weekend to load up my favorites which include: guava & cheese pastries, beef pastries, cheese pastries, elephant ears, croquetas, flan and tres leches cake. Oh and don't forget to get a nice strong cafe con leche to wash it all down!
The best thing about this place is that it is super cheap and super delicious. Think like .30 cent pasteles, .60 cent baguette rolls, yes THAT CHEAP. The ladies behind the counter I don't think know much english, but the pointing method always works, if not make a bilingual friend while your here.
Just make sure to bring cash, altough they do take credit, it is a $1 surcharge, which is like 3 pastries! Alright, now head over there already!
I hate fruit pastries or anything sweet with cheese except, of course, for NY style cheesecake. So when one of my coworkers brought in a box from La Gran Via the other day, I politely declined. An hour or so later, my morning protein shake wore off and I was starving. Having to choose between a Nature Valley Granola Bar and one of Jess' pastries, I decided to bite the proverbial bullet and OMG, was I happy I did.
There must be 50 bakeries between my house and Union City, perhaps even more. But, like I said, it was phenomenal so last Sunday after getting the car washed, I made the trip. Parking can be a challenge but if you wait long enough a spot should open on the street. Once inside, I felt like I was transported back in time to when I was kid and my mother would take a number and wait inside the Royal Bakery in Fair Lawn. And wait I did as they were pretty much jammed. My Spanish is poor at best but I was able to order 19 of the very same pastries and a cup of coffee. Why 19, you ask? I couldn't remember how to say 20 in Spanish and diez y nueve immediately came to mind. The sweet grandma (abuela) looking woman behind the counter smiled, knowing all too well that I had reached the limit of what I could remember from Senora Shaw's 10th grade Spanish I class. Not being familiar with associated costs and mindful that they might not accept credit cards (they do), I brought $60 and hoped it was enough. The bill for all 19 and a cup of exceptional cafe con leche? $17.50. Wow.
I have to say that the other 20 reviewers who all raved about this place were all absolutely correct. Decidedly delicious and definitely old school, this is a destination worthy of a bit of drive time. Fantastic place, wonderful experience and way, way delicious.
Cuban pastries….another weakness of mine. From empanadas to guava and cheese pastries this is every person's dream if you share the same taste buds that I do.
Union City is known for having so many Latin bakeries especially Cuban bakeries. Traditional pastries include empanadas, croquetas, guava and cheese, flan, and of course cafe con leche! Although as mentioned this area is crawling with so many bakeries La Gran beats all the others. The tiny bakery located on the side street on 48th is always busy and for good reason. The always freshly baked goods are a hit and reasonably priced. My ritual when time allows is getting up early to get a ham and cheese sandwich on cuban bread.
For around $20 you can get yourself a little more than a dozens worth of a variety of pastries. If placing a large order for a family party or work event I would call ahead just so that it is ready and you can get a fresh batch. If I had any complaints about the pastries, I find the empanadas to be more oily than others. A small mishap certainly overlooked by the overall greatness of this bakery.
Guava and cream cheese pastries are AMAZING. They also have meat filled pastries covered in honey which are also delicious. My bf is a regular here and we are from Boston so that's saying something. Anytime we are in NY or NJ we make the trip to La Gran!