Twist on a Mexican classic: Popular Vegas bakery plans to expand

A small Las Vegas bakery that’s gone viral for its stuffed Mexican sweet bread is expanding.

Las Vegas Bakery chef-owner Ana Hernandez says she is opening a Mexico City-style coffee shop at Fergusons Downtown inspired by her viral stuffed conchas.

“I am so so grateful for Fergusons Downtown,” Hernandez said. “The owners have offered me a bigger space here, and the next step, in a couple of weeks maybe, or in a month, is to open a coffee shop.”

After her stuffed conchas went viral a few months ago, the hype for the sweet treat continues. The small shop is currently tucked down a hallway at Fergusons, 1028 E. Fremont St., where some customers have been lining up half an hour early, waiting for Hernandez to open her business for the day.

‘Not a traditional bakery’

Conchas are a fluffy bread topped with a sugar cookie crust. Traditionally, the treat, which resembles a shell, has no filling. Hernandez says she was surprised by the attention for her stuffed version.

“One day, there was a line out onto the street,” she said. “I didn’t have enough product. I didn’t know. I wasn’t prepared for that,” Hernandez said.

What followed was an overwhelming few weeks for her and her team of five, she added. They worked several days without much sleep, eventually finding a steady workflow to meet the high demand. For Hernandez, that meant starting the baking process at 3 a.m. because “all the bread we sell is made fresh that day.”

The concha flavors vary weekly, depending on Hernandez’s inspiration. Current flavors include pistachio, cookies and cream, and tiramisu.

“We are not a traditional bakery; it’s not my goal to be traditional,” she said. “My tradition is to be modern, contemporary, but of course have part of my roots in a modern way,” she said.

‘The bread has a history’

Hernandez has always had a passion for baking, she said. When she established the Las Vegas Bakery last year at Fergusons Downtown, her plan wasn’t just to sell conchas.

“In the beginning, we put cake, macarons, croissants and a lot of things, because I wasn’t exactly sure whether people would like it,” she said. “And one day, my husband said why don’t you put something inside the concha, like whipping cream and strawberries?”

At first, Hernandez said, she wasn’t convinced it was a good idea and thought anyone can just cut the bread in half and put their own filling inside, like Nutella.

“It has to be a way that isn’t just cream inside, because it’s not a doughnut — it’s different. The bread has a history. The bread is a staple,” she said.

After making her own version of the conchas, she started placing some at her shop, and soon saw demand grow. Eventually, influencers began posting about the doughy delight, making the bakery a big hit.

The Las Vegas Bakery is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., or until the shop sells out, Wednesdays through Sundays.