El Fenix’s doughy delicacies a must-have

A glazed donut from El Fenix Bakery in Edinburg. (Omar Zapata | The Monitor)

EDINBURG — In the Rio Grande Valley, everyone has that one bakery, either from their childhood or just another time of their lives, which they hold close to their hearts.

Growing up in Alton, my mom would always get pan dulce, donuts and conchas from this one place on Conway Avenue. I remember walking into an array of sweet smells and colorful pastries. After moving to Edinburg, I began to miss that nostalgic experience of having a favorite bakery.

For this week’s South Texas Flavor, after having everyone in The Monitor’s newsroom talk highly about their sweet treats, I checked out El Fenix Bakery in downtown Edinburg. It might just be my new favorite bakery.

El Fenix is located at 718 E, University Drive and according to a Google search, has been around since 1947.

Just like a good barbecue joint, the bakery is just open for a limited time each day — a slight problem for a sleepy fella like me that hates anything involving the morning unless, of course, that includes food.

I was planning to go right at the crack of dawn to get first dibs at the sweet treats, but I ended up arriving at 9:30 a.m. and worried that I missed out on some selections. I was told they sell out quick, but I was lucky to still find plenty of pastries and no line at that time.

The sweet aroma of all the baked goods hit me right when I entered the bakery.

Greeted by the friendly and sweet workers, I said it was my first time there and they explained the pricing for all the different treats they had.

I, of course, had to get their famous glazed donuts and added a concha, a pastry filled with strawberry jelly, a biscuit with jelly in the middle and two cookies.

An assortment of pastries from El Fenix Bakery in Edinburg. (Omar Zapata | The Monitor)

One of the sweet ladies said oatmeal cookies were the best, another one said the chocolate chip was, so I ended up taking both. The box of assorted was about $8 dollars.

Another sign of good luck: Right when I was leaving, a rush of people came through.

The pastries were still hot in the box, so while rushing home, I tried the glazed donut and it certainly lived up to the hype my colleague had talked about.

The warm donut had such a soft texture to the dough and was perfectly glazed. It really does stand out compared to other donut places. In a way, you could taste the freshness to it and how homemade it is.

Being a menace to society, and because I couldn’t eat everything, I took smalls bites from the treats I had.

Aside from the glazed donut, my favorites were the biscuit with jelly in the middle and the oatmeal cookie.

The selection of some of the freshly made pastries at El Fenix Bakery in Edinburg. (Omar Zapata | The Monitor)

The biscuit itself really stood out and looking online is another staple of the bakery.

I kept it simple with my selection, but they did have a good handful of different treats and I’ll be sure to treat the rest of them another time.

If you’re a University of Texas Rio Grande Valley student or have some business at the new courthouse early in the morning, swing by El Fenix Bakery. Remember, you’re innocent until proven guilty but if you know you’re cooked, might as well get a donut.

El Fenix Bakery is open from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from 6:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday.

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