Facing Seaside II: Lupita's Bakery
Lupita's Bakery stems from strong generational and local roots. In 2018, Allen and Tommy Morales were inspired by their mother, Lupita, to open their restaurant, saying, "After our mother's passing, we wanted to honor her name and continue the family tradition." For generations, family members have owned bakeries throughout Monterey County. They offer meals and baked goods cooked using recipes and techniques from their Oaxacan heritage dating back to the 1800s. The brothers explain their history:
We come from a long line of bakers. Our great-great-grandparents from our father's side were bakers in Oaxaca. Our Pan Dulce recipes can date back hundreds of years and have been passed down many generations.
When you enter Lupita's, the most beautiful pastries stacked up high await you. Choosing is almost impossible, so be prepared to walk out with a box in hand. Their offerings don't stop in the bakery when you step inside; you immediately notice the large kitchen and hot bar. While they have perfected the baked goods, they offer equally delicious traditional Oaxacan food.
Recently, local artist Jorge Torres completed the large, brightly painted mural that greets you when you walk in. Commissioning the mural is a reflection of Lupita's investment in the community of Seaside. As a result, the bakery and restaurant have a welcoming energy that recalls its strong Oaxacan heritage and the business's support of the culture of Seaside.
Student Portrait Session
Behind the Scenes
Business Visit
Lupita’s Bakery Business Invterview
Name(s):
Allen and Tommy Morales
Name of business:
Lupita’s Bakery
What your business offers the community of Seaside:
We offer a variety of Mexican pan dulce, pastries, fresh juices, and Oaxacan food.
Are you from Monterey County, if not where are you from?
We are originally from Seaside. However, our family is originally from San Pablo Huixtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico.
When did you move to Seaside?
My brother and I have lived here our entire lives.
What brought you to Seaside?
Our parents emigrated from Oaxcaca to Seaside in the 1980’s.
When was your business established in Seaside?
My brother and I established our business in 2018.
What was the main reason / motivation to start your business?
After our mother’s passing, we wanted to honor her name and continue the family tradition.
Do you have an educational background that helped start up the business or are you self taught?
We are self taught. We come from a long line of bakers. Our great-great-grandparents from our father’s side were bakers in Oaxaca. Our pan dulce recipes can date back hundreds of years and have been passed down many generations.
How did you learn all that you do, who were your mentors, or folks who encouraged / supported you when you decided to start your business?
We definitely learned a lot from our father and mother. Our father supported us greatly when we first opened our business and we are grateful for his mentorship.
Is this work that has been in your family for generations, or did you start this business with a vision of your own?
Baking has been in our family for generations. However, my brother and I came into this business with our own vision and have incorporated new and old ideas into the business.
Who are your inspirations? (business or otherwise)
It may sound a bit cliche, but our future selves are our biggest inspiration. We will continue to show up for ourselves and our community.
What would you say is your business specialty?
Our specialty is baking but especially pan dulce.
What are your hopes and dreams for the future of your business?
We would like to expand outside of Seaside one day. We would also like for our business to be passed down to future generations.
What would be a single piece of advice that you would give someone who is thinking of starting up their own business?
Don’t be afraid to fully go for it even if there’s the possibility of failure. Never let one failure keep you from achieving your dreams.
What are your feelings about community, what does community mean to you here in Seaside? Is community important to you?
Our community here in Seaside means everything to us. Seaside has a large Latino community and is considered a mini Oaxaca. We all share the same culture, heritage, and traditions. Seaside is also very diverse and we are proud to be a part of such a beautiful community with people from all walks of life.
How does the community influence and or engage with your business?
We love that we can offer a little piece of home to our Mexican community here in Seaside and they love that we can offer that to them. As Seaside expands in popularity, we are also happy that people from different backgrounds come in and try our bread and food for the first time and see how positively they react to it.
Were you thinking of setting up your business in any other location? Or was it always meant to be here in Seaside?
Our business was always meant to be in Seaside. Our father and his brother started their very first bakery, San Pablo Bakery, back in the 90’s in this very building here in Seaside before our father branched out to start our family’s second bakery, Cypress Bakery. It was almost meant to be for us to be back in their original location as the next generation of brother’s to run our own bakery with the same family recipes everyone has come to love today.
Do you have any plans for expansion?
We would love to someday, but not for the meantime.
Who is your typical customer?
I don’t think we have a typical customer. We have customers from different places, backgrounds, and ethnicities. However, our Oaxacan customers visit most frequently and are our biggest supporters which we are very grateful for.
How long have you had your business here on Broadway Street?
My brother and I have had Lupita’s Bakery here on Broadway since 2018.
However our family’s first two bakeries, Cypress Bakery and San Pablo Bakery, were also located on Broadway Street in the 90’s and 00’s before we relocated back to this building in 2018.
What is your customer demographic, who are you trying to reach?
We definitely want to reach out to as many different groups of people as possible. We think food is a universal language and it’s a way to share our culture with everyone.
Do you have social media for your business? What platforms?
Yes, we are mainly on Instagram (@lupitasbaking) which has helped us immensely and currently trying to expand on Tik Tok.
Do you have a current website?
Yes, you can find us at lupitasbaking.com
How are you currently marketing to potential customers?
We mostly market ourselves on social media and by word of mouth.
Please provide an example of our community in action in relation to your business? Or when do/have you feel most supported by the community?
In 2018, because of unprecedented circumstances with our property owner we were forced to relocate and rename our business, Cypress Bakery, overnight. My brother and I had to start again from zero. It was definitely scary. We thought we were going to lose everything and that people would have a hard time finding us under our new name. Despite these fears, our strong team stayed with us and our community continued to support us because of how much they loved our bakery. Without them our business would not be where it is today and we are eternally grateful for our community here in Seaside.
How does your business show up for the community?
We try to help our community as much as we can by donating our baked goods to schools and nursing homes. We have also sponsored local children’s sports teams and have offered field trips to our bakery in the past. We want to give back to our community as much as we can.
Over the years, what have you seen change on Broadway? Good and/or bad.
Broadway has drastically changed since the old days! It’s expanding at a very fast rate. Many new businesses have opened up in recent years due to Seaside becoming the new “it” place. Being from Seaside it’s very exciting to see Broadway receive more attention.
What sets your business apart from the other businesses in the area? What makes your business unique, desirable or in demand in 2022?
We think what sets us apart from other businesses and our competitors is that we’re constantly developing new recipes and ideas to keep our menu exciting no matter what year we’re in.