Criollas Pastries makes authentic handmade pastries from South America -- I highly recommend trying them!
My wife found Criollas on Facebook. She's from Peru and she had cravings for some of her favorite childhood pastries, especially Alfajores.
We ordered 3 kinds of pastries for a New Year's party. It was my first time trying all of them. They were GREAT! The sweet style pastries are quite a bit different from some of the traditional European-style pastries that we're all familiar with.
Paola, the owner, is super friendly and charming. I had a blast talking to her when we picked up our order. She sells her pastries at several farmer's markets around the metro. She also delivers and caters special events. Finally, you can place an order on-line or over the phone and pick it up at her house.
Paola operates the business out of her personal house on Gerard Avenue South in Minneapolis. So DON'T just show up at her front door unannounced. But she'll definitely schedule pickups at her house if it's convenient for you. Also, if you do a Google search, her address might come up in White Bear Lake. This is a commercial kitchen (not open to the public) where she makes all of her goodies. She's totally legal with all of the correct licensing, public health training, etc. I grilled her about this when first ordered from her...and she's good-to-go.
My only (minor) gripe is her pastries are a little pricey. We got 3 dozen items (12 beef Empanadas and 24 sweet pastries) for $64.00. It was supposed to be $70. But we got a 6 dollar discount (50 cents each) because we wanted the Empanadas uncooked so we could cook them ourselves at our party.
If you don't mind spending a little more money on something new, I highly recommend that you try them. You can call, e-mail, or message Paola...or find her at one of the farmer's markets in the summer. Try some Criollas Pastries -- yum!!!
-Daddy Maxx Retro
P.S. I wasn't sure exactly how to categorize Criollas so picked Latin American Restaurant -- Bakery -- Pop Up Restaurant. read more