Imagine a cozy, calming, and a sweetly aroma filled space where you could enjoy a warm cup of coffee along with all sorts of freshly baked goods. Bakeries have a variety of desserts and pastries to choose from; cookies, cakes, donuts, and all sorts of breads are only a few examples.  Panaderia Cultura y Cafe, a new bakery in Kearns, offers just that and more. They offer a series of authentic Mexican desserts and pastries ranging from all sorts of sweet breads, cakes, and a popular choice, flan, which are all made by the family who owns and runs the bakery.

In order to properly showcase this new local bakery, I paid a visit and bought a few different items to try. I was able to buy a few different breads and a slice of their flan, writing down my personal opinion on each one as I tried them. My personal review on the bakery will not only include my opinion on the products but also on service and ambience. Panaderia Cultura is located at 5480 S 4220 W. It first opened its doors towards the end of October in 2023. “My mother, Itzel, owns the bakery. After coming here from Mexico and working since she was 16 years old, she wanted to have something that belonged to her and that showed how hard she worked. It allowed my mom to bring a piece of her country here in our cakes and sweet breads…” The hard work of the daughter, Stephanie and the mother, Itzel both had paid off with the opening of the bakery, introducing the community to goods from their culture.

All of the sweet breads we selected had their own unique taste. One of them, most commonly known as a concha (Spanish, Shell’) is best described as a bread roll with a crunchy topping. The conchas were one of our favorites as they were the perfect amount of tenderness along with it just being delicious. Next, the slice of flan we bought was very rich in flavor along with the texture and consistency being thick and creamy making it a perfect slice of flan. Panaderia Cultura also offered two larger cookie breads, a sprinkle topping one and a chocolate chip cookie. I would personally recommend the sprinkle one more as the chocolate chip one just didn’t taste as good as their other sweet breads. They had several other sweet breads they offered that we didn’t get the chance to try, however, they looked very appetizing and would recommend others to go give them a try.

The bakery first seems to be a bit hidden with the other businesses around it, however, upon arrival it tends to stand out with the bright white curtains and lights hanging on the large window that helps showcase the pastries awaiting inside. Once inside, you can’t help but notice the glass cabinets displaying all the different types of sweet breads. The bakery also offers a coffee machine for those who would like to enjoy a cup of coffee with their sweet breads. On one of the walls of the bakery there is a grass background with lighting they set up for those who would like to take photos of their purchase or even just to get some pretty selfies. When asked about the location choice, Stephanie states, ”We have lived in Kearns our whole lives. We wanted to continue to stay in the Kearns community because we love how strong the community is and wanted to continue to grow within.” Overall, the interior of the bakery gives a very calming scenery, and while the location may keep the bakery hidden, the bakery can help bring more attention to the plaza it is located in. Our whole visit to the bakery was great, Itzel made sure we were comfortable and was such a great person to interact with and get to talk to while there.

Panaderia Cultura is still a fairly new bakery with it only being opened less than a year ago. Although there are a few things that can be improved, there is no doubt this business will be able to flourish as time goes on and more people learn about it. Stephanie states, “This is our first business and of course not having much experience with running a business did not help. The first days were slow of course. We didn’t have too much advertising done, but we knew in our little plaza that once people started to notice we were a bakery they would start to trickle in and enjoy our baked goods…” As time goes on, Stephanie hopes for more people to notice the bakery, helping them grow their business and continue introducing the community to part of their culture. The bakery is open everyday except Tuesday, their business hours Monday-Saturday are 9AM-8PM while on Sundays it is 9AM-3PM.