5+ stars We have been going here for bread for several years and always enjoy a fresh challah. I called Wednesday night to order some for Thursday and the lady who took my order said they open at 6am and we can come early since they are closing early for Christmas Eve. When I got there at 9:30am it wasn't going to be ready for another 20+ mins and I had my family waiting in the car and was not able to return. The gentleman in the store (and I am sorry I did not get his name) handled the situation amazingly. He offered to drop it off at our house in the afternoon which was very nice especially on Christmas Eve. When they dropped it off they also left some extra treats. That gentleman went above and beyond and had exemplary customer service. I highly recommend them and their baked goods are always good. Thank you! read more

Best panaderia in South OC!! It's a mom pops shoppe and they make heavenly Mexican breads, special occasion yummies and other artisan breads

Their raspberry/coconut roll is wonderful here. Have passed by this bakery for years, however, never felt compelled to buy anything till my son noticed these rolls in the display. It was (literally) love at first sight. A little background about me. I'm from Phoenix and have had my share of Mexican pastries; my favorite being this roll (or ball). These are simply a cut above the rest (when enjoyed fresh). Give this bakery a try if you haven't. Bernie (who prepares the baked goods) is great at what he does. Called last Sunday because the rolls haven't been up to par in terms of freshness and he offered to make me a fresh batch (which was picked up last night). On the house. Really appreciate the outstanding customer service here. read more

This is the second location opened by the same wonderful and talented family that blessed us with Aliso Bakery and Donuts in Aliso Viejo. So they offer a lot of the same awesome baked goods, custom cakes etc. Try the delicious Mexican pastries and breads... It is all fantastic! read more

Excellent sweet mexican bread. Great customer service. All the bread that you buy is delicious, try the Conchas and empanadas, yummy. Thanks. read more

I was married last year and was looking for a wedding cake at a reasonable price. I called many bakeries but was not thrilled with the prices they were giving me, until I called Efren's. We went down for a tasting and picked what we wanted. The baker was so great, I told her a very simple explination of what I wanted and she HAND drew a design right there in front of me. She even made custom cake toppers for me. The price was fantastic and the cake was the best I have ever eaten. I live in Riverside County but I am going back there this August for a replica of my wedding cake for our 1 year anniversary. This place is great!! read more

I'm happy to say Efren is BACK! He bought the business back from the guy who he sold it to, who didn't really know how to run a bakery. It went downhill fast, and thank goodness Efren bought it back. He's only been back for 3 weeks, so is still getting things set up, but they are back to making Challah, Rye Bread and other breads, plus some of the other non Mexican baked goods they used to carry. They still have the full line of Mexican baked goods as well. The building currently says El Toro Bakery, but the new name will be Aliso Bakery. So glad they are back! read more

Delicious flan and pastries. Wish there was a bit more variety. The place is always clean, service quick. The prices are good too. I suggest the chocoflan cake! And tres leches. Yum read more

Awesome people here - my friend got married yesterday and their baker had a schedule conflict so they were informed that they had no cake 5 hours before the wedding. I called them up and asked if they would be able to help me out. Within 2 hours they were able to create a beautiful wedding styled 2-tier cake probably at a price much cheaper than a normal wedding cake would normally cost. Thanks for saving the day, ladies! read more

I have been going to Efren's bakery ever since I moved to Lake Forest five years ago. I have bought everything from tres leche cakes for birthday parties, flan for dessert, Pan de Muertos for Dia de los Muertos, and apple pies for Thanksgiving. They are a wonderful bakery. read more

Just ordered a tres leche cake for my boss. It was really good. The cake was really moist, not super sweet. I would definitely recommend it to people! read more

They made my daughters smash cake in less than three hours! Thank you so much for your fast service!

Efrens bakery blew my expectations out of the water. I stopped in just before closing looking for a quick snack and ended up having an absolutely delightful experience. The owner was very welcoming and took the time to answer all our questions about his various baked goods and explained what was what and pointed out his favorites and popular items. His bakery was very clean and all of the baked goods (of which there was a large variety) were displayed in an aesthetically pleasing way. He wanted us to try his guava empanada so bad that when we were leaving he had us wait up so he could grab one and cut it up for us to try. It was absolutely amazing and he rest of the items I got were equally delicious. I highly recommend stopping in! read more

I must have grown up on amazing Mexican sweet bread because this place was just ok. Don't get me wrong, it satisfied my pregnancy craving, but the conchas weren't as soft as expected even though I arrived at 9am. The orejas de elephante were drenched in sugar which made them really hard instead of light and flaky. I'll keep coming here until I can find a better panaderia. read more

This Bakery is FANTASTIC! We've been waiting for years for a bakery like this, The Bread, pastries are some of the best we have ever eaten. So well done and professionally made. People should be waiting in line for this place, Challah fresh daily after 10A.M Pastries are sooooo good! I've only been there twice but I'll be there every week from this day forward read more

Very nice folks who operate a bakery that makes wonderful bread, the same kind of rye and pumpernickel bread I was accustomed to growing up in NYC. These are the main reasons I'm willing to travel a distance to this bakery but their rugelach is also very good as are their other cake/products. I've been a customer for years. read more

This little bakery on El Toro road is the best kept secret amongst deli bread lovers. Efren's makes the best rye bread outside of New York, according to my hubby, who was born and raised in Brooklyn. Hey, I agree. We make the trek down here 3 times a week for rye and pumpernickel bread. Oh, and don't forget to pick up a loaf of challah. It's outstanding! read more

Everything here smells fantastic and tastes delicious! The rye bread is as good as it is in NYC!!! Their challah bread is superb, sliced for french toast or any way you like your bread!!! It's hard not to devour the entire loaf before you get it home! The staff is very friendly. My entire family gives Efren's Bakery a 10! read more

One of the few places to get black and white cookies! Love them and so happy they have them!

BEST Tres Leches cake ever tasted!!! Not soggy nor heavy like in most Mexican bakeries. I recommend Efren's Bakery located in Lake Forest, CA to anyone who is looking for authentic flavors of home from their Hallah bread, Baklava & Mexican sweet breads. They also have excellent juices made fresh. So happy they are open early so I could get my ginger shot on the way to work!!!....Thank you, read more

An 8 inch basic chocolate birthday cake here is $40! very expensive for a typical mexican bakery. This is not an inexpensive bakery as it is indicated here. Just as a reference, a very elaborate birthday cake at Bristol Farms (a fancy expensive market in newport beach) is $45! This place is a rip off. read more

I was very happy with the baby shower cake I ordered from Efrem's. The staff listened to what I wanted and produced a lovely two-tiered cake that was exactly what I had in mind. It was delicious and beautiful and received rave reviews! Definitely five stars :). read more

Efren's Bakery - Baby shower cake - Bakeries Near Me - Lake Forest, California

I used to love this place for their tres leches cake. They recently changed ownership and the place isn't the same. Even the pastries are lacking. The only thing I still enjoy is the rainbow cake. Reminds me of gansitos. read more

Efron's bakery is under new ownership by a guy that has no customer service and the name of the bakery has changed to El Toro Bakery & Cake Shop. The owner of Efron's moved their store somewhere in Aliso Viejo on Aliso Creek road. I am researching where he went because the family was great and their baked goods were great. Now the store is owned by Bret who is absolutely rude on the phone. Hung up the phone on me once for no reason. I used to order Chocolate Chip danish to order, now when I call Bret he says he can't make them, or last time he told me he is not making them anymore. I ordered Round Challahs for the Jewish New Year and it seemed like he didn't even know what I was talking about. I would recommend that no one use this Bakery. Solomon's is on Lake Forest close by and I will find out where Efron and his family went in Aliso Viejo... read more

We asked Efren's Bakery to make a farewell party cake for one of our employees, and boy did they deliver! It looked amazing and really resembled a Coke Zero Can (inside joke)! Look in the pictures section to see how it turned out. We highly recommend going to Efren's when you need a custom cake. read more

Efren's Bakery - Efren's Bakery did an amazing job making a Coke Zero cake! Thank you!! - Bakeries Near Me - Lake Forest, California

Bought 2 different pastry's - one apple fritter and another big flat skinny thing that was supposed to have some fruit filling. Taste Result- the apple fritter has ZERO apple pieces in it. very faint taste of apple if imagination stretched. -is this becoming common with bakeries??? There was ZERO filling in the other pastry - NOTHING no flavor either tasted like eating baked greased flour. Plus the pastry was VERY brittle meaning it was at least a FEW days old. Had to eat with spoon. I will not go back. I enjoy baking, so I can say one thing. They are using cheap ingredients, and selling day old product. read more

Some coffee and the ham and cheese deal they have there. so good! always a great start to my morning. also employees are very friendly. they make you feel like a regular. thanks guys! read more

I wanted to try this place out really bad. I needed a cake for my daughters birthday. I called them and I spoke to some girl that said yes they could do it. She asked me to text her a picture of what I wanted, so I did. Then she told me she'd give me a call the following day to go over a price and everything else. So the following day I waited until the afternoon I reached out and they stopped replying to me. I was over here thinking I had a cake booked and nope had to look for a place last minute. I texted her my feedback on how it's rude to not reply to their customers and again I have yet to hear from them. So if you're looking for a birthday cake or a special occasion DO NOT COME HERE!!! They won't answer and you'll end up settling for anything last minute read more

I called Efran's bakery on a recommendation from a friend because I needed to order a cake. I order two cakes, one square one and a round one that were not only beautiful but delicious to taste. They were a hit! People commented and said "This is a quality cake". Thank you so much for making my niece's bridal shower such a beautiful event. Thank you, maggie read more

Delish local bakery. The lemon bars are SO GOOD!!! They have an assortments of pastries. They also juice there. So yummy here

Worst bakery that I have ever gone to. This was the first and last time that I will go here. I ordered a cake with white roses and silver/gray writing and accents to celebrate a silver wedding anniversary (I have the order sheet to prove it) and I got a cake with red roses and black writing. Not at all what I ordered. Unfortunately, it was New Years Eve and too late to go somewhere else so I took the cake. I was given a small refund but would have much preferred to have the cake that I ordered. read more

Cake wasn't good, too dry. paid extra for my animals to be fondent. Didn't turn out that way even though I had send her pictures. Was ok with buttercream but I wanted my animals to be more detailed. She even missed an important animal that I told her it was a must. read more

We ordered a birthday cake for our daughter a week ago. Upon the pick up time today we were told it wasn't yet made (as in they didn't even start yet). They had clearly forgotten my order, which I put in a week in advance. The lady who was supposed to make it was not in the store; she was still at home sleeping!!!!! They offered a 9 dollar discount on an already 114 dollar 8" cake. Horrid customer service and a sad way to do business for customers. Highly recommend not using them for time sensitive projects. read more

Tres Leche cake was the bet I've ever had ! I want more! It was so moist and milky I tested multiple different bakery's but by far this was the best one! I had it for my birthday and it made it all the way to Arizona and was still delicious the next couple of day after cutting into it. read more

This place has the BEST challah in Orange County! The owner was an apprentice to an old-time Jewish baker - and it shows! Who knew a Mexican baker could make such great traditional Jewish goods? Keep up the great work! (I just wish you were open on Mondays. ) read more

Well I had high hopes for this little bakery. I bought some bagged mexican sweet breads and a fresh loaf. To my dismay the bagged breads were stale. Needless to say I was not happy. The only good thing is I paid less than I would have at the Grocery store lol. The fresh loaf was good and not stale. However they lost my return business with the stale items. I just don't understand how a bakery can sell stale items and think they will get repeat business. So no hidden gem just a stale experience. read more

We ordered a tres leches cake and it was unbelievable! Moist, not too sweet, but ohhh so delicious!

As the other Yelpers have said, the sweet bread here is to die for. Everything is freshly baked and absolutely gorgeous. there is some real artistry going on at this place. The Loaf of bread up on the wall behind the cashier is so buttery and delicious. You can't beat that presentation either if your looking for a dinner or sandwich bread. read more

Their tres leche cake is da bomb! Bought one of these on Valentine's day for da wife. I'd give it five stars if it had rum in it like da Cuban version. Since there were some leftovers, I juiced it up with rum myself. After sitting overnight, it was muy excelente. read more

For someone who loves sweets, I'm pretty picky on birthday cakes. It's *hard* to find a great birthday cake! I tried Efren's for my son's first birthday cake, and if all of their cakes are as good as this one, I won't be visiting another bakery as long as Efren's is in business. The cake I ordered was a marble cake with whipped cream frosting, fresh strawberries in the filling, and Thomas the Train on top. It was adorable, perfectly moist, not too sweet (I can't stand overly sweet cakes), and the frosting was light and wonderful. I got lots of comments on how delicious the cake was, and of course, the birthday boy thought it was to die for! read more