Around the corner of Buford Highway and McElroy Road is Panaderia Del Valle, a little latin bakery. Adam and I stopped in after a lovely dinner at Kochi Maru. The outside is unassuming but not dingy and the interior was spartan but clean.
There were not labels for the things in the cabinets, and the woman behind the counter seemed disinclined to say hello or make suggestions – reminded me of Pan Chapin. Like at Pan Chapin, Adam and I simply took an educated guess and selected three different but hopefully tasty pastries and hoped for the best.
Selecting stuff with your standard tongs and wax paper on a tray.
Due to a deserted dining area and therefore a slightly uncomfortable atmosphere with the not entirely warm lady behind the counter, we opted to take our three pastries back out to the car and chow down there. The first was a thing that looked like a big brown bun, and pretty much tasted like it looked. It wasn’t particular sweet and didn’t have any sort of flavor to it. A little dry and ho-hum.
A pastry we’ll call big brown bun.
Next up was a sort of pastry equivalent of a taquito. It was okay. The jelly didn’t really taste like much – a bit of pineapple perhaps? But the pastry didn’t taste like much either so overall, it wasn’t the big relief from the big brown bun that we were hoping for.
A rolled up fruit tart object.
Last up was a think that looked like a buttered slice of bread covered in sugar. I expected the seemingly butter to actually be custard or something, but I’ll be damned if it wasn’t exactly that: kinda sweet bread with butter and sugar. Honestly, the most enjoyable thing we had – sugar plus fat and not too dry.
A pastry that looked like buttered bread covered in sugar – and was!
It is entirely possible that Panaderia Del Valle has a wide variety of delightful things in its large glass-fronted wooden cabinets. But with no native knowledge of what I was viewing, and now labels or behind-the-counter help, if those things exist, they aren’t the things we got! Overall, we just weren’t impressed. I know we’re crossing cultures here, but I’d sooner go to Sweet Hut any day for better service, labeling, atmosphere and product. 2.5 stars.
Panaderia Del Valle
5781 Buford Highway NE
Atlanta GA 30340
emily
Nerd. Foodie. Gamer. Homecook. Perpetual planner. Gardener. Aspiring homesteader. Direct response graphic designer. I use too many damn commas.
Definitely give La Valle another try. My wife and I go there 5 or 6 times a year for a Sat or Sunday Brunch. If you approach the women behind the counter they are plenty friendly and helpful. Instead of just trying the sweets, give the savories a whirl. They have amazing gorditas and tamales. They are filled with either pork, cheese beans, cactus, beef or chicken. Whenever we have been there we have been able to get them just as they are bringing them out, hot and fresh. Also, the flan can be good but is up and down.
Will do, thanks for the tips!