The founder of the family-owned Porto's Bakery & Cafe, which started in Southern California with a store in Echo Park and expanded to locations throughout the region, has died at age 92, the company announced Friday.
Raul Porto Sr. died Wednesday surrounded by family, the bakery said in an Instagram post featuring a picture of the smiling founder outside a Porto's Cafe.
"Raul Sr. was an extraordinary man who, alongside his wife Rosa, founded Porto's Bakery from their home kitchen, selling cakes and pastries to friends and family," the statement siad. "Through their hard work, humility, and dedication, they transformed a small family endeavor into a cherished community treasure."
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Wife Rose died in 2019 at age 89.
Porto's became a Southern California institution after the family arrived in the United States from Cuba, where Rosa began selling cakes out of her home to neighbors and friends to support the family after losing her job under the Castro regime.
"So when Castro comes to power and neither one of them has a job, my dad goes to a labor camp and my mom had to kind of re-invent herself," Betty Porto said in an October 2023 interview with NBC News. "And that's how she started. It wasn't something that she was planning to do. She just kind of had to jump into it in order to survive."
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In 1971, the couple and their three children boarded one of the Freedom Flights from Cuba to Miami, bringing nothing but the clothes they were wearing. The family moved from Florida to California, where the first storefront opened on Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park in 1976.
The bakery now has locations in Burbank, Glendale, Northridge, Buena Park, Downey and West Covina. A seventh location is planned for Downtown Disney District. The siblings took over the business when Rosa Porto retired.
"To all our family, friends, and guests from across our communities: while words cannot fully express our sadness at this time, we want to extend our deepest gratitude for your continued support and all the love and kindness you have shown us throughout the years," the Instagram post said.
