You’ve seen the videos. You know the pink box. The ubiquitous, dare I say infamous, overly sweet, 800-calorie Crumbl cookie that dominates TikTok taste tests. At La Usuluteca in Arlington Heights, the trend inspired something far more authentic.
Once a month, the bakery releases its own “drop.” Instead of ultra-processed cookies, customers get a curated selection of homemade pan dulce.
And what is pan dulce? It translates to “sweet bread” in English — the umbrella term for, in this case, Salvadoran cookies, cakes, pastries and breads.
They’re packed into a bright blue box, a playful contrast to Crumbl’s pink and a reminder that this drop is rooted in tradition.
The idea actually started as a joke post made by none other than Alexia Torres, the self-proclaimed “chronically online” social media manager for her family’s bakery.
“The joke quickly turned into real demand. We’ve had a lot of repeat clients. People from Instagram come and ask, ‘Can we have the box?’” she said.
Toni Torres, Alexia’s mother and co-owner of La Usuluteca, said that since Alexia started running the bakery’s social media earlier this year, the family has seen online engagement grow by about a third. Alexia posts the monthly “drop” videos, but also updates and behind-the-scenes content, helping build a wider audience far beyond Arlington Heights.
“I think when it comes to these viral things, it comes and goes,” Alexia said. “It’ll be really popular for three months, and then people are like, ‘What was that?’ But with us, it’s authentic, it’s the real deal. It doesn’t get old. No one’s ever going to get tired of pan dulce. We keep it real. And I think that’s why we’ve been able to stay open so many years and been so busy, because of its consistency.”
And that consistency has been a hallmark of La Usuluteca since 2012, when Toni and Juan Torres first opened its doors, building a bakery rooted in authentic Salvadoran recipes and long-standing family traditions.
“My parents, my husband, and I started this business from scratch, from selecting a logo to trial and error in recipes. My husband’s grandma was a baker in their hometown of Usulután, which inspired the name La Usuluteca, the feminine term for someone from there,” Toni said. “After 12 years, four hours a day, producing 2,000 to 2,500 pieces of bread a day.”
When Juan and his brother came to the U.S. in 2008, they first worked at a Latin supermarket in the San Fernando Valley, where they noticed none of the products came close to the pan dulce of El Salvador. To recreate those flavors, the family did their own research: scouring the web, traveling back to El Salvador, and collecting recipes from family members who had baked for generations.
One recipe that quickly became a La Usuluteca bestseller is the quesadilla.
“Most of the bakeries do quesadillas with American-style cream cheese and sour cream,” Toni said. “We go above and beyond because we do purchase them locally from people that import them from El Salvador. That’s what I mean when I say sticking to original recipes.”
The quesadilla has become a staple item in the pan dulce boxes and an especially sweet reminder of home for long-time customer Mario Lopez Ramos.
“My personal favorite, definitely the quesadilla,” Ramos said, “That’s the one that really hits home, something my mom always got. They really do taste like El Salvador.”
Every second Sunday of the month, Ramos makes the trek from Arlington Heights to bring his coworkers a pan dulce box.
“I mean incomparable, Crumbl cookies, they’re just cookies,” Ramos said, “But with my team being about 80% Latino, I think it is important for them to feel that I am catering to all of us, and even the people that are not Latino, they do appreciate it being distinctly Salvadoran. I think that’s what makes it more special, versus just getting something that everyone’s getting, like the Crumbl cookies.”
The pan dulce boxes, combined with the bakery’s increased social media presence, have expanded La Usuluteca’s reach beyond the Salvadoran community.
“We see a lot of more cultures and people from different neighborhoods. Not so much just Hispanic people. We’re seeing like a lot of different people coming in, which is awesome, because, you know, we could share the culture with,” Alexia said.
But beyond sharing culture and tradition, the bakery also serves as a small refuge amid recent ICE raids in Los Angeles that have left many in the Latine community anxious.
“With everything going on, it’s sad to see fewer people out and about. But having a bakery like this close to me makes me feel comforted, a little safer. Even just sitting down to get one of my favorite pastries helps me feel at ease for a moment,” Ramos said.
In 2020, the family opened a Pico Union production facility to bring authentic pan dulce to about 40 stores across California, including Bayard, Northgate, Valley Market, Baja Ranch Market, and even via e-commerce — a full-circle moment from what first inspired Juan to start the bakery.
Even with larger-scale production, everything is made without machines, from the rolling of the dough to the packaging process. This is a point of pride for the bakery and a defining distinction from the mass-produced cookies.
Alexia said the next pan dulce box “drop” is already in the works, though she won’t reveal the pastries, only that it will stay true to the bakery’s roots.
They’re also expanding into cold brew. While pan dulce is traditionally paired with hot coffee, Alexia noticed Gen Z gravitating toward cold brew.
“The girls in the back, we perfected the cold brew recipe ourselves. It’s only been about three months, and people are loving it. It’s selling out fast,” Alexia said.
Interestingly, Crumbl is also experimenting with drinks, hopping on the “Mormon-style” dirty sodas trend. But at La Usuluteca, they’re bringing something authentic to the Angeleno community, an experience that honors the Salvadoran roots and traditions of every pan dulce box. They’re open Monday to Sunday, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
4014 W Washington Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90018