The Baker's Son
Credit: Matt Keller Lehman

The Valerios are a multigenerational family of bakers who owe a large part of their success to the late Victor Valerio Sr. and his better half, Milagros. The husband-and-wife tandem brought their baking talents from the Philippines to the United States and, in 1979, opened the modest Valerio City Bakery in San Diego County. It would become, fittingly, Valerio’s 1979, which then led to a string of namesake bakeshops — Valerio’s, Valerio’s Bakeshop, Valerio’s Tropical Bake Shop — to open on the West Coast, into Hawaii, over to Chicago and across the border to Toronto, all led by the children of Victor and Milagros.

Now, the next generation, led by Jun Valerio, is spreading the gospel of Pinoy pastry-making eastbound and down into Texas and Florida. With the Baker’s Son, Jun proudly continues what his grandparents started. In fact, Jun’s son, Arvin, manages the gleaming white Kissimmee shop, marking a fourth generation of rolling-pin wizards in the Valerio family. I gotta say, the space’s mishmash of patterns, furniture and lighting is eye-catching — but it works. 

And wonders are worked inside the kitchen, where kneading commences every day at 4 a.m. Three hours later, folks line up for poofy, crumb-coated pandesal buns (available hot or bagged) and peanut-crusted twisted donuts called bicho-bicho ($3.50 for three). But the girl behind the counter insisted we get our hands on some crispy turon (99 cents) before they ran out, which they did about a minute after I bit into the deep-fried, lumpia-like pastry filled with plantains and jackfruit. 

As good as the turon was, the savory lumpia filled with ground pork ($7) is the kind of offering that separates this Baker’s Son from the ones in Texas and Jacksonville. Yes, there’s a whole menu of Filipino fare that lends credence to the Kissimmee outpost’s roster of breakfast and lunchtime snacks. That lumpia, served with a sweet chili sauce, was one of the best renditions of the fried Filipino rolls I’ve had in a very long time. And the beef empanada ($3.50), resembling the glove of a boxer more than a crimped half-moon, was a heavyweight pastry that also knocked us the eff out. The filling of ground beef, carrots, diced potatoes and raisins was of a wetter consistency — “like a Sloppy Joe,” said my dining comrade — while the pocket’s flaky texture didn’t come at the expense of its durability.

Breakfast menu items like longsilog ($12), centered around two sweet and seasoned longanisa patties sitting atop garlic fried rice, with sunny-side-up egg, sliced tomato and cucumber, can really be enjoyed any time of day. And that includes the bacon, egg & cheese ($8) sandwich. Tocino, a sweet, fruity, garlicky glaze, caramelizes the bacon stuffed inside the pandesal bun, while the hashbrown was a nice surprise. 

It’s no secret that sweet notes, particularly in meats, are very much characteristic of Filipino cuisine. Even the sliced steak inside the Fili bistek sando ($9) — a Philly cheesesteak by way of Manila — is marinated in soy sauce and calamansi to give it a subtly sweet and tangy kick. The exception came in the form of popcorn chicken ($7), where tamarind-based sinigang lent the addictive bite-sized nugs their sour-and-savory pucker. Calamansi, BTW, is offered in juice form ($5), and it’s always a go-to favorite of mine, though there are plenty of milkshakes, coffees, teas and signature drinks that draw a lot of attention. Soft-serve ice cream ($4), too.

I had googly eyes for the cream- and strawberry-filled brioche pastries ($5) sitting in the display case next to the checkout register. I couldn’t resist ordering one, even after all the sweet and savory goods I’d shoveled into my greasy trap. I should’ve known that the only one who could ever reach me, was the son of a baker man.

The Baker’s Son: 4797 W. Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway, Kissimmee, 689-610-1965, thebakersonusa.com.

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This article appears in March 18-24, 2026.

Orlando restaurant critic. Orlando Weekly restaurant critic since 2006.