House of Bread opened in spring 2014 with a model to replicate the tastes and smells of the Mexican bakeries owner Raul Narvaez grew up with as a child in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Narvaez uses baking techniques and recipes his mother and father passed down to him after moving to Houston when he was 19. After 30 years of living in Houston and one year as a businessowner, Narvaez said he has found his niche in Spring and The Woodlands. "We started in the area [because] there is a diverse population," Narvaez said. "There are a lot of people from South America and Mexico moving to the area, and we knew if we put a bakery right here it would be a big hit. " The bakery features more than 100 different breads and pastries each day including traditional Mexican bolillo bread, a variation of a baguette cooked in a stone oven, empanadas and cuernos bread, a horned-shaped pastry similar to French croissants. Each bread and pastry is hand-rolled and is rotated daily to ensure a fresh product, Narvaez said. The bakery has made its reputation within the local Mexican and South American community in the area because of its authenticity, Narvaez said. Customers are able walk in and hand pick items from the hundreds of breads and pastries the bakery prepares in its ovens. "In Mexico, it is very typical when people go to bakeries, there is a variety of different breads," he said. "Whatever we bring, we try to bring it in as close as possible to what people eat in their countries." House of Bread also makes cakes from scratch from five different family recipes for any occasion, such as weddings, birthdays and quinceaneras as well as holidays. Narvaez said House of Bread made more than 800 king cakes on Jan. 6 to celebrate Da de los Reyes Magos, a religious festival celebrated in Mexico. For wedding cakes, Narvaez said his bakery customizes each cake. "Not one cake will look like another one," Narvaez said. "Everyone gets something different each time." Due to the growth and success House of Bread has seen in the past year, Narvaez expanded the bakery in mid-March to house a dining area. While the cafe will serve the breads and pastries the bakery produces each day, it will also include traditional Mexican, Colombian and Argentinian dishes. Narvaez expanded empanada options to include Argentinian-style empanadas—which are traditionally filled with chicken, beef or pork and served with chimichurri sauce—and Colombian-style empanadas—which are stuffed with rice, beef, chicken and eggs. Narvaez said he decided to include a dining area because of growing demand for additional Mexican and South American dishes. "As we have been working through the year, we have been speaking with the people who come to the bakery, and we saw the need to have a dining area where people can have traditional Mexican and Colombian breakfasts," he said. Looking ahead, Narvaez said he wants to continue introducing different Mexican and South American pastries and bread. As the concept continues to gain popularity, Narvaez said he wants to expand the House of Bread throughout the Greater Houston area. "We want to give good service to the people and serve bread as fresh as possible," he said. "We have been getting very good references because people like what we do. We are trying to create this concept to where we could bring it to Sugar Land or the Katy area."