SALCHICHICHON CHIMEX FULL

But Flores Bakery's shining glory is its traditional Mexican pan dulce (sweet bread) in a variety of colorfully decorated shapes and flaky puff pastry orejas (or palmas, buttery palm-shaped sweet pastries). Besides the usual quick packaged snacks, you'll find a small meat counter serving up fresh tortas with carnitas and barbacoa, as well as prepared masa for homemade tortillas, premade tortillas, sopes and crispy tostaditas. Flores Bakery in Guadalupe is just that kind of place, an old-fashioned blast from the past with exceptional baked goodies to boot.

We miss the good ol' days when, instead of a 7-Eleven or Circle K, every neighborhood had its own little grocery pit stop right around the corner.

SALCHICHICHON CHIMEX FULL

They've got a golden brown crust that's not too tough, and insides full of melt-in-your-mouth softness, which is the perfect combo for making sandwiches that won't put your jaws out of joint or break your back teeth. But our favorite variety, ubiquitous around the Valley, is the round, slightly flattened version like those baked by La Sonorense Bakery. Some are shaped like small footballs with hernias, hard and crusty on the outside and soft or chewy on the inside. We've had any number of versions of the bolillo purchased from panaderías throughout Mexico. Since that time, the bolillo - used as an alternative to tortillas for slurping up runny food and for making tortas (or, if you prefer, el sandwich) - has steadily gained in popularity and is a staple in any Mexican bakery. Lucky for us, Mexico ultimately kept the bread recipes but booted out the French, creating Cinco de Mayo for us to drunkenly celebrate here in the U.S., as well as the Mexican version of the baguette - the bolillo. In the 1860s, the French under Napoleon III descended for a short time on Mexico, dragging with them European-style breads and pastries.

Salchichichon chimex