I decided to give this place a try because they sell Mexican sweet bread. They had a limited selection but ones you can't find at nearby Mexican bakeries so I was excited to try them. I got only a couple pastries and it turned out to be more expensive then expected. At this point I had high expectations but was let down when I took the first bite. Their cinnamon roll is good but was a bit dry and a VERY strong taste of cinnamon. I really enjoyed their muffins but they taste like the ones from Costco. I got another bread (not sure what it's called) but it seemed as if they poured over a tbsp of sugar over it and that's the only thing that gave it flavor. Overall, I did like that they weren't overly sweet or buttery like other places but I don't think this place is worth it. It didn't taste fresh or of high quality. Service was okay as it took them a while to acknowledge us & we were the only ones in there. Bread: 7/10 Service: 6/10 read more

the best bread ive ever tried in the city of lake forest, 10/10 rating overall. amazing and very loving peopl. pls visit you won't be disappointed. read more

Beautiful bakery and amazing sweets. They can creat your vision. Perfect for any "theme" event. Yummy cakes and sweets

Tasty queso pupusas, chicken tamales. Friendly service. Wide assortment of bakery items. Also bought yummy looking caramel nut buns for breakfast tomorrow. Reasonable prices. Will be back. read more

-1/5** "Worst Cake and Terrible Customer Service!" I ordered a Milhojas cake from this place, and it was an absolute disaster from start to finish. The cake arrived completely frozen and tasted stale--how do you mess up a cake that's supposed to be fresh and flaky? It was like biting into cardboard. Not only was the cake inedible, but when I reached out to notify them (both by calling and texting), they didn't even bother to respond. Zero communication. Zero care for their customers. Customer service is a joke. No response, no apology, no offer to fix the situation or give me a refund. For a place that charges this much for a cake, you'd think they'd have the decency to at least acknowledge when they completely screw up an order. But nope, they ignored me completely. Never buying a cake from here again. Save your money and avoid this place unless you enjoy disappointment served cold. Unbelievable. read more

Other Yelpers had commented on the rye bread here and I stopped by to buy a loaf. Small shop with easy parking, it's got a nice display of pastries and bread on the rack. Very nice staff, loved the display of Mexican bakery items but I was there for Rye Bread. The bread was delicious and still warm when I got home. I even shared with a neighbor who also is a Rye fan .Yelpers were accurate, this is the spot if you're looking for excellent bread and pastries. read more

Efren's bakery is one of my "Go to" locations for BOTH Mexican panaderia pan dulces, empanadas, and Jewish/Kosher style pastries, cookies, brugala, and challa breads. Always really fresh baked and delicious. The cochitos cookies are some of the best I've ever had!!! read more

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SERIOUSLY, THE BEST TRES LECHES CAKE EVER!!! We buy the large (10 inch) and it easily EASILY feeds 8-10 people. You can also buy it by the slice! We get it every year for our Christmas family gathering. This year we bought extra slices already packaged so, after our guests enjoyed the big cake, everyone could take an extra piece home. That was a hit!!!!! I hear good things about the other things they offer...but I haven't tried other things...YET! The quality and taste is WELL WORTH THE PRICE!!!!! read more

Nice people. Yummy cinnamon rolls and doughnuts. Very convenient location, clean and delicious.

I ordered a cake on Wednesday for a Saturday pickup. It was a gender reveal cake. I text the bakery a picture to show what I was asking for. The outside of the cake was poorly made with mistakes that were not bothered to be fixed. I was okay with getting past that as long as the flavor was okay. I ordered a light pink color cake on the inside with fresh strawberries. I got a regular yellow cake with pink frosting in the center with strawberries. After cutting the cake, when I pulled out the slice of cake, everyone looked at it for a minute trying to figure out what the reveal was because it was not easy to tell. Not only that, I was given a three milks (tres leches) cake when I never ordered that. 5 out of the 10 people eating the cake were lactose sensitive and could not eat the cake. More than half of it went in the trash. To top it all off, this cake was $91!!! This cake was not even worth $50 even without the mistakes. I reached out to Diana, who too my order, to let her know I didn't want a refund but I just wanted to let her know they got my entire order wrong and ruined my gender reveal. She apologized but then excused herself by saying that she shouldn't have taken a last minute order and next time she will only take orders 2-3 weeks prior. I am never going back to this bakery again, which is unfortunate because it is one of the only bakeries in the area that makes pan dulce, but I refuse to give my business to business owners who execute their business practices so poorly and who deliver poor quality products without remorse or regard for ruining someone's special moment. Update: The owner's response is a lie. I have all the text message communications to show exactly what was agreed on, which was two colors on the exterior (pink and blue, without smudges), pink cake bread and strawberry filling. It is shameful for a business owner to respond with such unprofessionalism. A good business owner would accept their mistakes and learn from them to improve their business instead of trying to make the customer look bad, when they already ruined the customer's special moment and experience in something that is supposed to be joyful. She should be ashamed of herself. read more

Efren's Bakery - What I ordered versus what I got. - Bakeries Near Me - Lake Forest, California

Always a fresh and delicious challah or rye. Customer service A+++++ Hamantaschen at Putim is delicious

Food is fresh and service was very friendly. Exactly what we were looking for! Delicious and ready to go

Bottom line - do not support a rude business owner!!! I had absolute horrible experience with Efren (owner). My nephew's birthday cake and cupcakes order was placed with Diana (Efren's wife) about two weeks ago. We shared the design and all with her via text messages and had the proof of her responding back. On Saturday at 10:45 AM I go to pick up the cake and cupcakes, Efren is there and I tell him the order. He cannot find the order. I tell him we had placed the order with Diana, so he calls Diana and tells us she forgot to place the order. I am super calm, and understand this kind of stuff happens, so I let it be and I call my sister-in-law and explain her the situation. The party starts at 11:30 AM and we don't have time so I am ready to pick up a tres-les cake and some cake pops and call it a day. But my sister-in-law calls Diana and Diana is panicking and promises my sister-in-law she will make the cake and cupcakes by 12:30 PM. While I am in the store, I request Efren if they could deliver the order since the party will start shortly. He says he cannot, so I leave the store to go help my sister-in-law at the Irvine Regional Park; we are expecting about 25 children, their parents and family so the party is about 75 people. When I get back to the bakery, I am not greeted, no apologies and when I request for a discount (because of stress, time, cost of driving and park re- entry fees) Efren says no discount, take it or leave it! My husband and I have owned business so we are all about supporting small businesses and also understand how valuable each and every customer is to us. All Efren had to do was give a sincere apology and either give a small discount or give like one or two animation cookies that were in the bakery. Instead he was rude, if it wasn't for my nephew I would not have paid for the order. The order cost $182 for a cake that was made half hazardous and the cupcakes looked like they were picked up from Costco. I even told him he is rude, he said I don't care! I did mention to him I was going to write a bad review, again he says I don't care ‍ I really don't know what to say at this point. Hopefully this helps someone decide when purchasing a cakes for your loved ones on their special day. read more

I've been coming here for years and they never disappoint. I'm a professional chef, and when I cater a party I always come here for the desserts - very reliable, very delicious, very reasonably priced. I especially love their rainbow cake - it's layers of beautiful colors with raspberry filling in the middles covered in chocolate - just slice them like bread and put them around your platter for a party. Yum!! And I haven't even had a cake from them yet because everything else is so good!!! read more

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Hardly any merchandise. Very small. Location hard to find. Pastries displayed well and all looked fresh.

I've been going to Efren's for almost two decades. Back when I was much younger, I'd get two cupcakes to enjoy for the week (red velvet and vanilla). Then after getting married, my husband would get their tres leches cake for my birthday or other special occasions. Now with my 1 year old son, we enjoy their chocoflan and tres leches cake as a family. Their tres leches is the best, just the right amount of sweetness, not cloying, perfect mix of moist cake, whipped cream topping, fruit, and milk. Their éclairs are also really good, bursting with filling. The chocoflan is also perfectly moist, the chocolate and caramel a good blend. They also make Jewish bread and pastries! I've had their rugulach which is also good. I need to get their challah bread next time, but their tres leches will always brings me back. read more

Amazing bakery and Efren could not have been nicer. I purchased the Flan and Chocolate cake. It was amazing!!!! I will certainly be back!!!

This is place is great! The homemade stuffing recipe we make at thanksgiving calls for bread cubes/croutons. We always use challah bread because it is soooo flavorful compared to just plain white bread. Trust me, change to challah bread in your stuffing recipes. We have always gotten our challah from French's but the one near us closed a few years back. We need to find our new go to bakery for our challah needs and Efren's bakery did not disappoint. Plus they are very nice at the front! read more

This is our favorite bakery in the area. We buy our challah here every week, and our kids are so excited they started selling donuts! Some of our other favorites are the cinnamon rolls, churros, cookies, brownies, rugelach, conchas, and biscotti. Great selection and friendly owners and employees! read more

Best Tres Leches cake I've had anywhere! Perfect texture with just the right amount of sweetness. Moist not soggy. The icing light and not heavy. Great service. Family loved it. I've had cakes in fancier places and they always looked better than they tasted. This cake tastes as good as it looks! Efren gets 5 stars! read more

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

Price gouging! Went in there this am to purchase a dozen triangle cookies for Purim. when I heard what they were charging, I told the counter agent they were overpriced. $1.50 for a very tiny one and $2.75 for a larger one. The founder of the bakery charged by the pound and not by the piece. No I did not allow myself to get ripped off. read more

Very disappointed with their service. They requested additional information for a cake order and upon receiving it they never responded back to me. Fortunately I was able to find another bakery in town that came through on a pinch. Piece of Cake was amazing on price, service, delivery and taste. read more

I arrived at 6:02 am for some goodies. The sign on the door said it opened at 6:00. The employee saw me at the door waiting but proceeded to go to the bathroom for 14 minutes. He was the only employee! It was freezing cold outside. After 14 minutes of waiting he opens the door. I told him I had been waiting outside in the cold for 14 minutes and his response was "so, that is not my fault you have to do that" I said that the place opened up at six and that he didn't open up the doors until 15 minutes later and he said "so I am very busy. What do you want?" I asked him his name, and he told me that he was Efren the owner. He was very rude to me, but I still decided to buy some baked goods to see how good his products were. I bought a croissant with jalapeño and cheese, which was absolutely delicious. I guess it's worth the five dollars he charged me for it. There are many good bakeries in the area to choose from, I've decided not to come back to this one after the way I was treated. read more

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Why would anyone ever buy pandulce from a Mexican grocery store again??? Efren's Bakery is a hidden gem of a panaderia in the corner of a nondescript strip mall. I've been to this area so many times and have never ever noticed it before. They bake the Mexican breads fresh daily and they also have other pastries and cakes too. You can order cakes for birthdays and special occasions, but it's the Mexican sweet breads that make them stand out. I'm not even a sweets fan and just standing there inside the store and smelling the stuff made me salivate. This is the only place you need to go for your Mexican bread cravings. read more

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

Simple no frills Mexican bakery. I really enjoyed the service from the owner, very nice guy and very proud of his business which I appreciate. Nice selection of serf serve pastries as well as a case of desserts and some challah breads. We went with several of the pastries and desserts as well as a chocolate cake. All very well priced and most of it very good. We got a box off assorted cookies, 12 for $3.50, most of which were stale, not worth getting again. The rest was very good, all very fresh, not too sweet and worth returning for. Always good to support a local business and i wish them all the best. read more

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Overdue review. Found this bakery on our way back from universal studios. We were really looking for another famous coffee chain but then noticed this one on Yelp. Mexican sweet bread in Mission Viejo? Needed to see how good it was. And it was good. Good coffee, good Xmas cookies, and good sweet bread. We sat outside in their little table and enjoyed our breakfast. If in the area again, I would stop again. read more

Literally did so amazing on my cake! Definitely will come again for custom cakes. Thank you! read more

Efren's Bakery - Tres Leches . Amazing - Bakeries Near Me - Lake Forest, California

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Went in today for a tres leches cake, and received great service from owner, Efren, who went out of his way to take the cake to my vehicle as my toddler fell asleep on the car ride there. The cake was delicious and it's only a short drive away as there is not any panaderias in Irvine! read more

Don't order nothing from there really bad service and super high princess. I order blue cupcakes for a baby shower and they give me mantecadas with a little blue frosting on top. Super disappointed and mad. I thought it was a joke. read more

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

Came in early in the morning looking for last minute cake. Left with 2 cakes tres leches and a choco flan and some fresh bread. BEST DECISION EVER! It was soooo GOOOOOD, everyone at worked LOVED it. Ill definitely be back! Love the friendly service. Very welcoming and nice. So glad I stumbled upon this place. read more

The cake was so beautiful and it was sparkling. The tres leche was so good. I'll be back. read more

Efren's Bakery - smash cake tres leche teal roses - Bakeries Near Me - Lake Forest, California

I love Efren's. During the "Stay at home", quarantine, pandemic whatever you like to call it, I have treated myself to fresh bread. Efren's does a great challah in two shapes and with or without sesame seeds, and does a good sour rye, with or without carraway seeds. Both delicious. They also have Mexican style pastries and a general supply of cookies and cupcakes most days. The staff have been good about wearing masks and gloves and practicing distancing so I feel good about buying there. read more

At last minute I needed a graduation cake. I've loved everything I've purchased from Efren's bakery so this is where I decided to order from. Oh My Gosh!!! Diana, the cake was gorgeous! Full sheet cake and so tall! Whipped cream frosting, chocolate cake filled with strawberries and more whipped cream. It took 20 min to start to eat the cake because all the parents wanted pictures first of the fabulous picture of their kids that Diana had printed on the cake. The cake was light, fluffy and delicious. This is the only place I will purchase my cakes along with my baked goods. Thank you Efren's Bakery! read more

Popped in today (Valentine's Day) to pick up some cookies to drop off at my husband's work. I got an assortment of delicious treats; heart shaped fruit-filled cookies, some cookies with sprinkles, powdered sugar covered wedding cookies, etc. Needless to say, they were a hit! One of my husband's coworkers brought in cupcakes today as well, and my husband reports that while he was lucky to get one cookie for himself, the cupcakes were barely touched. In addition to the assorted smaller cookies, we also got two small strawberry tart thingies and a black and white cookie for ourselves (I took my step kids in with me - they wanted to eat everything in the place!) All were delicious! Looking forward to trying more of their treats, especially their tres leches cake! read more

Tenia mucho que no comprábamos pastel aquí por que los últimos que compramos estaban muy secos, a pesar de ser de tres leches. El sábado, volvimos a comprar uno y estaba riquísimo! Creo que ya recupero su toque la repostera :) Los recomiendo! read more

Great bakery!! They made a pumpernickel loaf for our Thanksgiving and it was perfect. Beautifully baked crust with soft center and very tasty. Highly recommended! read more

16 dollars for a challah and 5 rugula? Too pricy for me. They don't post prices on anything and make it as they go? I like their stuff but will ask prices next time. read more

I absolutely love tres leches cake, and this bakery has great quality. I went for the first time this past weekend, and I will definitely be back for their tamales, Mexican hot chocolate, and sweets. I highly recommend this place! read more

Fresh and Delicious. I recommend all but special on January one of the most delicious Rosca de Reyes i came all the years just for that also the friendly staff always with the smile and ready to help Thanks read more

Efren's Bakery - On mi side to get my Rosca the Reyes - Bakeries Near Me - Lake Forest, California

Amazing bakery for all fresh bakes. The challah bread, coconut macaroons and Jalapeño Ham Croissants are my personal favorites. The owner is very warm. His Tres Leches is a must try as well. Clean ambiance and very well kept. read more