A new Porto’s Bakery location opened Wednesday in Buena Park, marking the popular restaurant’s expansion into Orange County.
A ribbon cutting ceremony at the new 25,000-square-foot store — located at 7640 Beach Boulevard — started around 10 a.m., and the eatery opened after, according to a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page.
The first 500 paying customers will receive a free gift, the post stated.
By 7:30 a.m., long lines had already formed outside the restaurant, Sky5 aerial video showed.
The Buena Park location is the Southern California mainstay’s fourth store, with the others located in Burbank, Glendale and Downey.
In 2016, the Burbank restaurant topped Yelp’s list of the top 100 places to eat in the United States; the other two locations were also ranked.
The annual list honors highly rated businesses, many of which have earned the status of “must try within this lifetime,” according to Yelp’s website.
Margarita Navarro, who along with her siblings runs Porto’s, said her parents — now 86 and 85 years old — never dreamed of the success their business has had when they opened it decades ago.
The Porto family came to California from Cuba, with the parents making the decision to leave with their three children in 1960, according to the restaurant’s website.
“Not at all. They did it to give us an education, that was the only thing they ever thought about,” Navarro told KTLA Wednesday morning. “They opened the bakery, my mom loved to make cakes, loved to make people happy with her food. But I don’t think she ever imagined it would turn into this.”
