Sunrise Snacks to Sunset Suppers

The loyalty of the neighborhood to Caprichos Antioquenos Bakery & Restaurant is evident on a Sunday evening around 7:30 pm. The eight tables are packed, separate lines for savory or sweet items form down the center and customers keep coming in the door. The eatery’s hours (daily from 5 am to 9 pm) pinpoint another loyal cadre: nurses, doctors, construction workers, first-shift workers. For 32 years, it’s been welcoming hungry visitors to its corner spot just off I-95 in Pawtucket; founded by the Colombian immigrant parents of Danny and Diana Espinosa, who grew up working in the bakery after school and are now carrying on their parents’ initiative.

The most important reason for its popularity is the daily-fresh, handmade food, especially the delicately fried treats—pasteles and empanadas. Savory varieties are made from house-ground white hominy and filled with shredded chicken (pastel de pollo, the house favorite shown here with their homemade salsa); or queso blanco; potatoes-and-beef; and Hawaiian with pineapple, ham and cheese. The flaky dough tastes as light as the puff pastry they use to bake the numerous sweet treats. Sweet favorites are the pasteles dulces—turnovers filled with pineapple, guava or dulce de leche (“our Colombian peanut butter,” laughs Danny)—and an eye-catching lemon meringue puffball.

“We take care to remain a staple in the community,” he stresses. And they certainly have!

173 Lonsdale Ave., Pawtucket. 401.728.9495; CaprichosAntioquenos.com