The Original Luisa & Son Bakeshop

I love good Filipino foods and I get thrilled when I find nearby Filipino bakery or restaurant. However, Our experiences here were disappointing. I’ve Been here a few times and their products have Too much sugar in almost everything they have in the bakery. The banana Turon was crispy but too oily and very sweet, my husband and I had a tummy ache after we shared one piece. They need to drain the oil from the Turon. The pansit malabon had msg and too much noodles & chicharron in it. Where’s the seafood? Only 3 shrimps and small slices of imitation crab. The nilupak texture was makunat as it should be but very sweet, I can’t taste the cassava anymore. The espasol was a big disappointment because it looked and tasted like tikoy. That’s definitely not authentic espasol. Same thing with the tarts, polvoron, hopia and other sweets. Do sweets have to be very sweet? Maybe the sugar ratio should be less so we can taste the real food underneath the sweetness. The chicken empanadas were not that impressive either. The pastry was under baked and the meat had sugar added to make it sweet. It’s already got raisins, I dont think it needed sugar to make it sweet. Their ensaymada and other breads are also too sweet. I miss the monay, pan de coco, ensaymada etc of the olden days when they were baked with less sugar. More sugar does not mean better taste. I’m still looking for a good traditional Filipino bakery in the Bay Area. I thought I found it at Luisa & Son but I guess I have to keep looking…

Seeing is believing. Upon a fellow foodie’s calm but ecstatic recommendation of this place I took it upon myself to make the trip over.
And like a beacon of ‘goods’ hope, I saw it. It was empty upon arrival– of people (for a second); And some items (bleh) but Nevertheless, it did not scare me away.
I saw, I picked and I ate. I must have it ALL muhahah. And so yes, I will eat again!

I love all kinds of sweets. Mostly European stuff like Kouign Amanns or Napoleons or German chocolates like Kinder. However, of course, there will always be a special place in my heart for Filipino sweets. Things like Sans Rival or Pastillas De Leche. That’s where The Original Luisa & Son Bakeshop comes in.
If you look at some of the other reviews, you will see that they sell out fast of certain items. Unfortunately, it’s true. HOWEVER, there is always some else good to eat. Case in point, I went in looking for Yema or Sans Rival. They were out of both. But, they had Ensaimada, which I hardly eat. But, since I wanted to get something, I got a few of the different flavors. They had Ube Macapuno and Buko Pandan. Both were fantastic! The Macapuno (sweet, coconut strips) brought just the right amount of sweetness. I even went back for more the next day. I also tried their Bola Bola and Chicken Asado Siopaos. Both really good, and from what my wife told me, reminded her of the ones in the Philippines.
With past visits, I have also tried their chicken empanadas, Yema Balls, Cashew Caramel Bars, Butterscotch bars, and Mamon. My mom, who makes empanadas, loved the empanadas just as much as hers. I loved the rest of the sweets, of course. I hope to try the vegetable lumpia, turon (banana fritters/​egg rolls), and polvoron (shortbread) in the near future, as they all looked good.

heard of this new branch opening in Bay Area. Congrats to all d Bay area pips and enjoy d delicious treats of L&S the way we enjoy the pinoy taste here in LA area…

With $ 30 worth of pastries, this store does not even want to spare a box. According to them, boxes are expensive. They shoved in about 15 pastries in a bag, but when I told them that I will take them to Seattle, the storekeeper attempted to put all 15 pastries in a small box. I asked for another box so the pastries would not be squished, but they refused. About 7 ensaymadas were inappropriately placed in a plastic bag. This visit was my first and definitely my last. This business failed to recognize that there are a lot of businesses in the same line that are more customer-​oriented. This bake shop is CHEAP!

What a HUGE disappointment this place is. I was so excited to try out a new Filipino bakery, but every item we purchased was low quality or totally wrong.
We stopped by for some sweets yesterday after lunch at the amazing Kalesa restaurant across the street. We purchased some hopia, turon, and polvoron. Simple, right?
Hopia — we told them mongo several times. We go home. Guess what they had put in the bag? Pork adobo. Seriously?!? You had one job… And the hopia which we were told was «new» and «fresh» was hard, salty, and not very good at all.
Turon — again, we were told they were just freshly made. The bananas were hard, and the turon was not warm at all. I’m sensing a pattern here… Inattentive ADHD employees taught to lie because all they have to offer are subpar products? Hmmm…
Polvoron — we ordered the plain… Yikes, way too sweet. :(
NEVER COMING BACK. I wasted my hard-​earned money at this place. I’m sticking with Valerio’s and Goldilocks.

Best empanadas! They’re always sold out so you better order ahead of time. I don’t know why they don’t make enough. = 2 stars. Maybe one day they’ll get another oven. The hopia ube is also very good!

Been here twice now. Their food is pretty good but they’re always out of everything!!!
Also msg everywhere!

ALWAYS out of items. I gave this place a chance three times.
Either please make enough for your customers or use the hours before opening to prepare and bake your pastries before opening.
First experience, I came in at 9 hoping there will be goods available (heard already from others they’re always out of items) and there wasn’t any empanadas or palabok. Please don’t tell your customer to come back two hours later to check.
You guys need a better method. I gave you guys three chances.
At least their cupcakes are good! If you like sweet, they’ll give you sweet!

I’ve been wanting to visit this place since learning of its existence. Finally made time for it today.
As I first walk in, I notice that it is smaller than I had imagined. There are no seats or tables. This is simply a to-​go joint. Almost all the items were prepackaged.
I started grabbing some of the more familiar items from the shelves and cooler. I got some Chicharron, Pancit Malabon, Turon, Casava Cake, Pork Asado Siopao, Pork Bola-​Bola Siopao, Vegetable Lumpia and Nilupak.
The Pork Asado Siopao was pretty good. I like the flavor.
The Turon was really good and it was huge, bigger than most Turons that I’ve had. It was also sweetened nicely. Not to sweet, but just right.
The Vegetable Lumpia was good as well. It is also fairly large. I wish they offered some meat lumpias.
The Nilupak is a dish which I have never tried before getting it from Luisa & Son. The texture is very doughy with some coconuts flakes sprinkled into it which gives it some crunch. It was pretty good, not too sweet.
The Cassava Cake was delicious! I loved it! You can really taste the cassava and it wasn’t too sweet. Very good!
This first visit went very well! I loved most of the items that I bought. I’ll have to come back and try their other items.

I love this place and I’m hooked, I’ve visited this place on two occasions, especially after loving their pan de sals. The corned beef pan de sal is definitely a good thing to stock for food to bring at work (aka in tagalog– «Baon»). Their polvorons are okay, nothing to write home about. I also enjoyed their pancit malabon/​palabok, and it reminds me a lot of my mom’s version. Delicious! Only thing I’m afraid about Luisa’s, just as the other Unilocalers have stated, the way they stock their products. They easily run out of items, which can be a good or bad sign. Design is okay, it doesn’t bother me at all, as long as their products are top notch. Only other thing I can comment or suggest, they really need to turn it to a sit down/​lunch specials type of place, otherwise they cannot be a standalone bakery shop.

The store is plain and completely lackluster. But you don’t come here to admire the décor of the store… Not at all. Try the empanadas here and I promise you, your life will be changed forever. My mom tried out the mini empanadas here one day and brought them home.
My husband and I got a taste of them and the next day, I went back and bought a dozen if them in a box. Fantastic snack in and just the right size, too! Two is enough for a meal!

I would have given the store 5 stars for the taste of the food and stuff they sell in the store… The staff are nice and all.
Unfortunately, I may understand things can get out of stock most of the time… Just need improvement in stocking the store and keep it in business.
Must try if you’re lucky enough… Their heavenly goldmine Cashew Sansrival… The rest may just be good enough… But the Sansrival is what you will fight for on a Saturday morning…

So excited to find out that Luisa & Son’s opened up a location here in the Bay Area! From the looks of it, they’re still expanding their inventory as they do not have the same goodies as in their SoCal location. Turon and palabok our delicious! Will be back to try their pork asado siopao as they were already sold out. They didn’t have any pecan tarts yet either :(
I’m hoping on my next visit that they are fully stocked. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Luisa & Son serves Filipino baked delights, not italian pasta, just an headsup.
a discount store was here previously. look for «Chi’s» to the left of Lions Market. go down a few doors to the end, that’s Luisa! well worth the time and patience.
basically, there’s four sections:
–referigated foods (siopao-1.99, etc)
–baked items on trays in the center. all individually packaged, priced by category
–front counter where small items, turons, other freshly made items are displayed
–will forego naming all the goodies, see Albertino M’s review…
buys:
–ube .polvoron (.45)
flaky melt in ur mouth candy goodness
–chocolate cupcake (.65) ½ off, day old, tasted über fresh, chocolately
–ube, macapuno ensaimada (1.89)
has sell by date (⁹⁄₁₃), slight ube taste, strands of coconut strands present
*melt in ur bread texture, slightly buttery
crumbs:
–everything uberfresh or it’s in the «day old» tray.
all natural ingredients, no artificial flavors, spices noted, no perservatives noted on label.
made in house, not in a central food commiserary.
–pricing very reasonable, bye bye goldilocks!
–try it, you’ll love it. my tummy did.
–cashier very patient, no pressure, i point, she got it. from the counter
other items, self service…

Time: 11:15am/70°F partly sunny
Purpose: Got a message from south bay source saying place is open since Monday. The following Thursday day, I drove down. Not my first trying Luisa’s, I know what is expected already.
Set-​up: Located in a strip mall complex adjoining Lion’s Supermarket. Luisa’s is the last shop on the other end of building complex. There are no seating inside/​outside as people buy them mostly for later use anyway. Color scheme inside of mostly white/​black/​gray with a green wall. On the wall are words of dessert names in english as well as tagalog. Counter area with tabletop warmer display box, acrylic four tier snack box, register, tip jar, napkin dispenser, hot food warmer slotted display case, three tier cookie/​candy display. Center area a walk around wire rack shelving with assorted goods lining every shelf. Other side of wall a four door refrigerator flush mounted. In those fridge are refrigerated cold good that needs to stay cold no matter what. Very spacious, but expect shop to look like their Norwalk location once settle down.
Staff: One older lady and one younger both tending front counter area. I went ahead and dealt with Mary Anne. Extremely friendly from the get go. Never left me standing there despite the fact that I was slow at deciding. She didn’t get upset or walk away while I took my time pointing out the cookies I wanted. She talk me into trying the turon as I had it before, but WTH, I’m there to eat right? Great CS no pressure to buy rung me up efficiently with no mistake. Receipt provided without asking.
Cleanliness: Grade A+, no complaints as place just open. Compliance met, as all items wrapped, cover or package till time of purchase. Worker in back wearing latex gloves and hairnet. Napkins available.
Eats/​Drinks: Five order of-​10 pcs of handmade and wrapped assorted candies $.45−79ea, ube and macapuno ensaimada $ 1.29, caramel cashew bar $.99, buko pandan cupcake $ 1.29, choco cheese cupcake $ 1.49, garlic peanuts $ 2.59.
Main Features: Hopia, empanada, ensaimada, ube.
Products/​Services: Assorted polvoron/​tart/​yema, espasol, siopao, ensaimada, caramel cashew bar, cream cheese roll, nilupak, pandesal, empanada, sansrival, turon, lumpia, chicharon, tuna/​chicken salad, Filipino spaghetti, leche flan, cassava cake, pancit, garlic peanuts, spanish bread, siomai, lanka, lupiang sariwa, hopia, buko pandan hopia, pan de sal, embutido, suman sa lihia, crispy dilis, sampaloc tamarind, Food for the God.
Punch Lines: Authentic, clean, pleasing flavor, friendly, knowledgeable, better than average, modest cost, drool-​worthy, always buzzing, devotees, well-​prepared, light bites, best cheap eats, can’t go wrong, casual and delicious, interesting takes, is the place to be, lot parking, shopping complex.
Tradeoffs: Not all three Luisa location sell the same item. They go by regional popularity and sales to determine what sells. What you had down solcal may not be available in norcal.
Final Thoughts: When I first try their goods at Norwalk location. I was pretty please with the quality. Prior to that, I was thinking Goldilock’s was the place. Fast forward 2015 sorry Goldilock’s, but there’s a new player in town. When people talk asian food. Filipino food are out of the picture. I guess its not mainstream enough, but that shouldn’t stop anyone not to try. It’s one of those under represented ethnic eats, that one must try to truly appreciate and understand the culture.

It is here in the Bay Area, finally!
The Original Luisa and Son from Norwalk and Artesia in So. California and Imus, Cavite, Philippines has found its way to NorCal!
Must try:
1.) My all-​time favorite SIOPAO (pork/​chicken bun). My personal favorite is the pork asado siopao. It tastes like sweet pork stew, almost like «pork belly korean barbeque» if there’s such a thing. IT IS DEFINITELY A MUST TRY! The fillings are soooo moist! Honestly, I hoard them for weeks in my freezer and warm them up in the microwave with moist paper towel to steam and the quality of the dough and meat are still topnotch!
They have 4 variations right now:
Pork Asado
Chicken Asado
Pork Bola-​Bola (meatball with salted egg and chinese sausage)
Chicken Bola-​Bola
2.) PANCIT MALABON. I don’t know how a «bakeshop» makes really REALLY really good Pancit Malabon. But this one is definitely the BEST I’ve tried especially here in the Bay. An order has generous amount of shrimp, eggs, bacon and ground pork cracklings!
3.) TARTS and YEMA BALLS. For the sweet tooth, these colorful rolls of milk, sugar and diff. flavors make me really happy and satisfied after a good meal. No wonder kids from 2 – 99 love them! Once you try them, you’ll ask for more!
4.) Luisa and Son became popular for its really great ENSAIMADA. These are sweet breads with sugary butter icing on top. More like a Filipino doughnut, but better! They have Ube Macapuno (purple yam with young coconut meat), Buko Pandan (green pandan leaf flavor with young coconut), cream cheese, cheese and plain. All of them are just so good! Especially with coffee, or tea, or orange juice, or whatever you want to pair them with! :)
There’s a lot lot more I love about Luisa and Son but I will just bore you with a very long review so why don’t you just check them out and see for your self? :) I promise you’ll thank me later!

The BEST bakeshop in the Phils, Southern CA and finally in Milpitas CA, if you compare it to Red Ribbon and Goldilocks their products are excellent even the price. Always fresh.

Been waiting for them to open ever since I learned about it last Christmas. Finally! They only opened last Saturday but they already have the good stuff in stock — variety of ensaymada, tarts, embutido, hopia, empanada, and their famous pancit malabon. Will have to go back next week to check if they have kikiam. So happy they’re here in the Bay. ;)

Hands down the best Filipino bake shop in the Bay Area! Goodbye Goldilocks and Red Ribbon!