The pastelito run just got shorter for Palm Beach County. Pinecrest Bakery, the Miami-born Cuban bakery, has opened its first Boynton Beach-area location at 9929 S. Military Trail, bringing guava and cheese pastelitos, croquetas, Cuban sandwiches and cafecito to the west side of town.

The drive south is over

Ask anyone who moved north from Miami-Dade what they miss, and a Cuban bakery comes up fast. Pinecrest Bakery says it heard exactly that: customers who regularly made the drive all the way down to Miami for a pastelito or a proper cafecito. With this opening, the company is taking its flavors further north, and Boynton Beach is the newest stop on that path.

It is a meaningful step for the brand. Pinecrest Bakery opened its first doors in 2012 and has grown from a neighborhood bakery into a South Florida brand with locations throughout the region. Its founder and CEO, Joel Rodriguez, has been building the family of bakeries through new locations and, more recently, franchise opportunities. The company calls Boynton Beach a milestone, and for residents west of Interstate 95 it means a Cuban bakery within a few minutes of home.

Rodriguez has been telling that story more publicly lately. In September he sat down with Aly Sánchez on El News Café to talk about how the bakery started, how it has grown since 2012 and where it is headed, a sign of how much the brand's ambitions have widened beyond Miami-Dade.

What to order

Start where everyone starts: the pastelitos. Guava and cheese is the classic, and the one that disappears first from any office box. Add a savory croqueta or two, and pair the whole thing with a cafecito or a cafe con leche.

For lunch, the Cuban sandwich is the anchor, but this fall the bakery is pushing something new. Its lineup called 4 Ways to Bowl adds four lunch bowls: churrasco for a hearty day, chicken as the easy classic, pork for the comfort-food crowd and tuna for something lighter. The idea is a sit-down-worthy lunch that still moves at bakery speed.

The bakery also does breakfast, seasonal specials, family desserts, gourmet and custom cakes, and party platters and catering trays. If you are hosting a birthday, a baby shower or a game day, that last category is where a Cuban bakery really earns its place in the neighborhood.

Why it feels different from a chain cafe

Pinecrest Bakery leans hard into the experience of a busy Cuban bakery: the smell of pastries coming out of the oven, the noise at the counter, the moment of deciding which pastelito to get. Much of South Florida grew up with that ritual, on the way to school or at a ventanita between errands. For families who carried it north, a location on Military Trail is a small piece of home.

It also matters for people who never had it. For newcomers to Palm Beach County, a bakery like this is one of the easiest introductions to Miami's food culture there is: a pastry, a coffee and a sandwich at the counter.

How to go

The bakery is at 9929 S. Military Trail, Boynton Beach, FL 33436. Pinecrest Bakery takes orders for pickup online, and its bakeries are also on Uber Eats and DoorDash. If you are planning a party, look at the catering and platter menus on the company's website before you go, and order ahead.

First visit tip: get a dozen pastelitos in mixed flavors instead of one. They do not last long in any house, and you will want to know your favorite before your next trip.