La Espiga De Oro Bakery

Lots of variety. The guy behind the counter was nice, prices are fair. Coffee was fresh. Chocolate cupcake and budin were good. I came looking for soft fresh baked bread, didn’t see it out in the case but good thing I asked bc they had some in the back.

If you stand in line at the counter (at least at lunch) you can get delicious and HUGE tamales. There’s pork or chicken, and they’re hot, fresh, and almost as big as a Chipotle burrito! They also come with a green, spicy sauce in a little plastic cup that goes great on them. For $ 2.50, it’s a cheap and delicious lunch! (My coworker at my job introduced me to them, and I’m hooked… even if it is a little odd getting tamales from a bakery.)

An Old School Panaderia with lunch
My wife and I visited the Panaderia (Latin american bakery) La Espiga de Oro for the first time. My wife had lived in Mexico and we have visited Mexico, and crave traditional Mexican food. La Espiga de Oro makes the food closer to the traditional way, so the baked goods are delicious but not overly sugared. They have delicious sweet breads, so far I’ve tried conchas (sweet rolls with a sugary top, a true Mexican favorite with coffee), orejas de elefantes (palmiers or elephant ears), and they were quite good. They also have bolillos (mexican rolls for tortas, Mexican sandiwiches), which is very good. As a panaderia they appear very promising (although La Flor de Puebla in College Park, MD has more variety in baked goods, the quality in both establishments is good).
Unlike La Flor de Puebla, they have a few tables, and sell coffee and some lunch dishes. I don’t know who is in the kitchen, but I saw some happy Latino families, and some workers having a snack/​lunch. My wife and I ordered two tamales (Mexican dumplings, wrapped in banana leaves or corn husks), one pork and one chicken, which were very generously sized and had wonderful texture in the masa (the steamed corn meal) and the filling was quite good (I’ve never seen it before, but they cooked a whole chicken leg in mine). Someone in that kitchen cares. My son was with us, was hungry, and we asked if we could order lunch for him. The lady at the counter did the traditional mothering of kids and offered many choices to him, all traditional Latin dishes. My son ordered whole Mojarra (whole fried fish, with delicious seasoning), and was allowed to chose his fish (the were already cooked), with delicious rice and beans.
I’m not sure if these items are available every day or just on weekends.
I recommend this place for people who enjoy well made traditional baked goods and home style latin food, the tamales are the best I’ve had in the Baltimore/​DC metro area. This place was recommended to us when we were grocery shopping for latin ingredients nearby and has exceeded our expectations.

A new Latin American bakery has opened in Laurel, and the sugar cookies are a terrific treat if you’re cruising along near U.S. 1 and Rte 198.
La Espiga de Oro bakery opened in the same shopping center as the Eastern Bazaar Indian grocery. The small shop sells many of the lightly-​sweet breads that I have tried at Lily’s Mexican Market in Columbia. There are some cupcakes, some cakes, and a small display of what looked like rolls or sandwich breads. I may come back one night for those rolls for dinner.
But start with the sugar cookies. Espiga de Oro’s cookies are thick and perfectly crisp — just the right amount of sugar. For 50 cents, we bought cookies from the main display area that were the size of a large business check. But there were others that were strikingly large — looking more like flattened baguettes. I was smart enough to photograph them, but I should have actually bought two because I want to be eating one right now.
Seriously, these cookies are worth a drive if you are inspired. They’re so large (and delicious) that I’m already imaging how to create some dramatic dessert with a homemade ice cream.
(Espiga de Oro and Eastern Bazaar are just east of U.S. 1 near the intersection with Rte 198. They actually face Rte 198, although you can only reach their shopping center from the north-​bound lanes of U.S.1. From Howard County, you need to take U.S. 1 south past the Five Guys, then U-​turn back onto north-​bound U.S. 1 and turn into the last parking lot before the Rte 198 intersection. Turn left in the shopping center and drive past the Aunt Susan’s Jamaican restaurant to reach the other stores.)