A popular bakery with three locations on Route 1 is known for its Mexican sweet breads and pastries.

With locations in Edmonston, Riverdale Park and Beltsville, along with two locations in Virginia, La Flor de Puebla offers a wide range of breads, pastries and cakes, with specialties such as pan de Manteca, a type of Cuban bread, and mantecadas, a sweet muffin popular in Mexico.

La Flor de Puebla also supplies restaurants, working with the chef at El Sol restaurant in Vienna, Va., to make exactly the right kind of bread for its tortas.

Owner Mario Hernandez Alcala learned the trade from his uncle, who ran a bakery in his hometown of Tehuitzingo in the Puebla state of Mexico.

After immigrating to the U.S., he opened his first bakery in Passaic, N.J., calling it La Flor de Tehuitzingo, but when he opened his second bakery in a part of Edmonston he renamed it after his home state.

Over the years, La Flor de Puebla has gotten notice for its bolas de Berlin cream-filled doughnuts — which have gotten repeated shout-outs by Washingtonian magazine —  its rosca de reyes Christmas cake, its bolillos and conchas and its tres leches cake.

La Flor de Puebla is one of 10 local eateries that are being highlighted as part of a self-guided restaurant tour in Riverdale Park over the next month.

Other participating businesses include 2Fifty Texas BBQ, Banana Blossom Bistro and Queensway Restaurant. As part of the Taste of Greater Riverdale, customers at La Flor de Puebla who post a photo on social media with the hashtag #tasteofGR by Sept. 18 will be entered to win a $200 Target gift card.

La Flor de Puebla is located at 5024 Edmonston Rd. in Hyattsville, 6300 Kenilworth Ave. in Riverdale Park and 10800 Rhode Island Ave. in Beltsville. It also has a location in Manassas, Va.

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