CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Located on the west side of Corpus Christi, City Bakery & Restaurant, originally named Mexico City Bakery, has been in operation since 1958.
Due to its service to the community for the last six decades, the City of Corpus Christi designated the bakery as a historical landmark in the city on Tuesday.
Mexico City Bakery was started by Antonio and Juanita Gomez, their daughter Emma and her husband Santiago Rivera continued with City Bakery. The business has continued to operate through three generations of the family. Currently, Barbara Handy, granddaughter of Emma and Santiago, owns and operates the business.
“It’s very emotional, we’re very grateful," Handy said about receiving the historical designation. "This is something my grandfather would’ve been proud of us, this is something that’s going to solidify their legacy of City Bakery & Restaurant; their hard work."
Handy was in attendance at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, along with several family members, where the motion to designate City Bakery as a historical site was approved unanimously.
The family wished Emma and Santiago could’ve been at the meeting to hear the news.
“Their kids, their kids, and now our kids will always have this to live up for because this is what they worked for," said their granddaughter, Priscilla Rivera. "They would be very happy right now."
The bakery is perhaps most well-known for its biscuits, which are a hit among customers, but it is also praised for its affordable meals and welcoming atmosphere.
“I’ve made friends with the owner and with the family,” said customer Rachel Sosa, who has been going to the bakery multiple times a week for about five years. “Every time I come, they talk to me, they’re like friends, and they’re really nice people.”
That’s the way it's been for generations; the grandchildren of Emma and Santiago continue what their grandparents started. And now, customers who visited the bakery as kids bring their children in.
“They still come back, they always come back and they remember the biscuits from when they were little kids, and their parents bringing them,” Rivera said.
City Bakery is located at 808 S. 19th St. in Corpus Christi, just a few blocks south of Agnes St.
