Pastelaria Adega is closing its downtown San Jose storefront on November 25, ending a seven-year run that turned the small bakery into the city's go-to source for pastéis de nata. Owners Carlos and Fernanda Carreira plan to begin selling the bakery's goods at Adega, their Portuguese fine dining restaurant, starting November 28.
A Downtown Lease Runs Out
As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, Carlos and Fernanda Carreira decided to close the bakery because its lease was ending and operating costs were climbing. Carlos Carreira said downtown operating costs had become too expensive to sustain, according to the same report. The storefront sits at 30 E. Santa Clara St. #130, per the bakery's own site, and the Chronicle notes the location also came with limited parking and difficulty for delivery drivers trying to stop nearby.
Fernanda Carreira said customer feedback repeatedly flagged the location itself as a problem, and the Chronicle's report adds that some customers complained about safety issues outside the bakery. Pastelaria Adega began in 2019 as a Saturday pop-up at Adega before growing into its own standalone spin-off bakery that same year, the outlet reports.
Pastries Relocate to Little Portugal's Adega
The bakery will sell most of its menu at Adega, the Portuguese restaurant the Chronicle describes as the first in San Jose to earn a Michelin star, located in the city's Little Portugal neighborhood. Fernanda Carreira said the move is meant to reach customers who do not want to come downtown, per the same account. Pastelaria Adega's pastéis de nata come in plain, lemon and ube flavors, and the bakery also makes malassadas filled with hazelnut chocolate and guava cheesecake, along with bolo de arroz and Portuguese breads, according to the Chronicle's reporting.
Once settled at Adega, the bakery will operate five days a week, closed Monday and Tuesday, the station's report notes. Customers will still be able to order pastries online for next-day pickup or delivery. The bakery's own website currently lists hours of Wednesday through Sunday, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and says it is available for delivery through DoorDash and Uber Eats.
Weekend Brunch and a New Coffee Bar
Pastelaria Adega will also host sit-down brunch in Adega's restaurant space on weekends, with chef Jessica Carreira, daughter of Carlos and Fernanda Carreira, hoping to serve classic brunch dishes with Portuguese twists. Possible dishes include eggs Benedict with bacalhau, per the Chronicle's report. The bakery also plans a coffee bar with specialty drinks, including a pastel de nata latte.
Jessica Carreira previously expanded the bakery into farmers markets in Walnut Creek, Santana Row and San Jose's Japantown, and she hopes to add more markets going forward, the Chronicle reports. The bakery's website currently lists traditional, hazelnut chocolate, passionfruit, guava, ube, lemon and pumpkin pastel de nata flavors for the month, with matcha green tea and peanut butter and jelly listed as new additions for November.
A Tart That Became a Regional Trend
Demand for the pastries has been intense before. A 2019 article from The Mercury News reported that Adega once sold 1,000 of the custard tarts in a single hour, and chef Telmo Faria of Uma Casa told Eater SF that year that pastéis de nata had become a genuine trend around the Bay Area. Adega Restaurant's own site says its pastéis de nata are handmade fresh daily.
For San Jose fans not ready to wait for the move, Eater SF's 2019 roundup also pointed to other local options, including longstanding Popular Bakery in San Jose, which a Visit San Jose listing describes as a Portuguese-owned Little Portugal mainstay of more than 30 years known for its pastéis de nata. Eater separately named Silva Bakery in Hayward, which The Mercury News reported bakes and ships the tarts, as another source for the pastries.
