Corona's Panaderia, a dimly-lit bakery behind a sun- and dust-worn façade, will make sure you never look at a rural Interstate exit the same way again. You see, Ontario, Oregon, a town of 11,000, has long been merely a pit stop along I-84 between Portland and Boise, remembered only for the McDonald's™ restroom from which one was thankful to not get gonorrhea. But Ontario's growing Mexican population has upped the town's ante, filling it with cheap taquerias and panaderias.
At Corona's, the freshly-baked sweets - you can take a peek into the kitchen - are displayed in neat rows on high shelves. Pick up a tray and a pair of tongs, then start piling treats between your arms like a fat kid on Halloween. Corona's versions of empañadas, pan de huevos, conchas, pan dulces, and galletas (all $0.50/ea) are the consummate Mexican pastries - toeing the line between being as dense as bricks and as bready as the dinner roll at a Detroit Chinese restaurant.
The pan de huevos are my favorite at Corona's - a leavened egg bread topped with compacts of sugar in a shade of fluorescent pink not seen since one of A.C. Slater's muscle shirts. But for a savory craving, pick up a pan con queso y jalapeño ($1/ea) - an airy bread filled with rich cream cheese and roasted peppers, harkening to a bagel with schmear.
Corona's is one of several Ontario businesses that make this town a legitimate destination for day-trippers. And for those just passing through, Corona's pastries are infinitely more satisfying than a day-old gas station Krispy Kreme™.
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