Nestled between La Mixteca and El Oasis, San Miguel Panaderia is a great addition to the collection of Mexican food businesses on the corner of University and Cunningham Avenues.
They sell more than two dozen different baked goods each day, and with an average price of $1.50 per item, they are affordable. Since nothing is labeled, ask the staff for details if you have questions.
If you want to eat inside, they have a child-sized table and comfortable couches for seating. After using the freshly cleaned metal tongs to put everything I wanted on a large metal platter, I ended up with six different baked goods which I took them home to savor and share.
The first baked good was an ojo de buey. A round pastry with a flaky exterior and a soft, dark, bready center. Both layers were lightly sweetened, though the interior had a faint taste of orange. For anyone else who likes the texture combination of crunch and soft, I recommend the ojo de buey.
Next was a small, powdered sugar-covered pastry. Crumbly on the outside, it also contained a sweet custard. Easily the messiest of what I ordered — thanks to its fragile nature and sugar, I still appreciated this dessert. The custard was baked in and almost tasted a little like egg, so I was reminded of Lunar New Year treats. Although difficult to split cleanly, this small cake was quite rich, so it shares well.
I also bought a pan dulce barquillo. Filled with vanilla pudding, the flaky shell outside protected the gooey pudding of the interior. Thanks to the shape, I found this pastry easy to hold on one end and eat almost like an ice cream cone. Similar to an ice cream cone, the pan dulce barquillo is tricky to share, so just get enough for everyone to have their own.
Next, a tricolor sugar cookie, easily the sweetest of the treats I bought thanks to the coating of sugar on top and in the cookie. The horizontal and vertical size of this cookie (about twice as thick as what you’d find at an area grocery store) on top of the sweetness made this treat last much longer than I anticipated. Maybe the three colors were trying to tell me to split this cookie with two other people.
For something quite different, I took a bite into a San Miguel Panaderia donut. With the coating of powdered sugar and a core of vanilla pudding and strawberry, this was quite filling. The strawberry slices embedded in the pudding were refreshing and paired well with the yeast donut. This was another easily shareable dessert, though I had to be careful not to lose too much pudding and strawberry with my cuts.
Although it may seem like San Miguel Panaderia only sells sweet baked goods, that’s not the case! They also have a few savory items like torta bread. The one I bought was light and fluffy and would make a wonderful, although quite large, sandwich bread. That makes sense, as that is the purpose of this bread in Mexican cuisine. If torta bread is available, I suggest stocking up on a few to make sandwiches for friends, family, or yourself for a few days.
Even after all of that, I still felt like I’d only touched the surface of San Miguel Panederia. By my rough count, there were at least twenty-eight other baked goods I had left to try after these six. It will take many trips to make a dent on their variety, so I’ll have to make sure to stop by whenever I am grabbing ice cream from El Oasis or food from La Mixteca. With their long hours, I’m sure I won’t have a problem stopping by the bakery.
San Miguel Panaderia
510 N Cunningham Ave
Urbana
Th – Tu 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
W 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.