Chinese Bakery Near Me in Monterey Park: Jim's Bakery's $2.30 Po Tart

Jim's Bakery sells its classic egg tart for $2.10 and its Portuguese-style po tart for $2.30, and the po tarts are usually gone by late afternoon. The family-run Hong Kong-style shop is at 400 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754, in a strip plaza next to an LA Fitness, and it opens Wednesday to Sunday from 8 am to 5 pm. Monday and Tuesday it is closed. For a chinese bakery near me search anywhere along Atlantic Boulevard, this is the tart counter the San Gabriel Valley argues about.

Jim's Bakery opened in 1992 and is still family owned and operated 34 years later. The Chinese name on the sign is 金獅餅家, Golden Lion Bakery. The family describes its range as Hong Kong bakery classics, crispy-top pineapple buns and mango cakes among them, but it calls the egg tart the flagship and the po tart its popular spin-off, and the menu is built around those two trays.

The shop's fame got an unusual boost from television. In the Netflix series The Brothers Sun, the fictional Sun family raves about the tiny bakery next to an LA Fitness in Monterey Park, a line the bakery now quotes on its own homepage. The gym really is next door, at the same plaza on Atlantic Boulevard, which makes the shop easy to spot from the parking lot even if you cannot read the Chinese characters.

The classic egg tart is a flaky puff-pastry shell filled with bright yellow, silky custard, and it costs $2.10. The po tart, short for Portuguese tart, costs $2.30 and has a caramelized, brûléed top with a sweeter, more custardy center. Finno W., writing on Yelp in August 2026, said the custard on the classic was smooth, creamy and not overly sweet, and called the egg tarts the highlight of a box that also held a honey bun.

Not everyone loves the po tart's crust. Winn H., reviewing in April 2026, found the caramelized top on the brittle, candy-like side while praising the custard. A Google reviewer who knows the Macau originals said the flavor comes close, though the crust is not quite the same. If you like a softer top, pick the classic egg tart, and if you want crackle, the po tart is the one.

Beyond the two stars, the tart shelf holds a honey walnut tart at $3.25, which Time Out singled out as a house signature, a coconut tart at $3.25 and a fruit tart at $5. A few regulars come only for tarts and skip everything else, and they are explicit about it. One Google reviewer told readers to spend all their money and calories on po tarts and nothing more.

The bread case is short but priced like a neighborhood bakery. A pineapple bun is $2, and the coconut cream bun, red bean bun, cocktail bun, raisin twist and taro bun are $2.20 each. A pineapple bun stuffed with milk custard costs $2.50. Savory buns include BBQ pork, hot dog and curry beef at $2.40, plus pork floss buns and steamed napa-and-pork buns at $2.50. Sandra L., a longtime regular, singled out the pineapple BBQ pork bun in April 2026.

Flaky pastries run $3.25 for chicken pie, curry beef pie, BBQ pork puff, napoleon and wintermelon delight, the shop's name for wife cake. A taro delight is $3.50. Here is the honest skip: the hot dog bun. The same reviewer who adores the po tarts called the hot dog bread meh and the chicken and curry pies merely ok, so fill the box with tarts and one pineapple bun.

Whole cakes are made too. A 6-inch strawberry cake is $27, an 8-inch strawberry cake is $37 and an 8-inch mango cake is $44, and one Google reviewer wrote that she absolutely loves the mango cake. Swiss rolls include coffee and chocolate at $15, tiger and rainbow at $16, mango at $19 and durian at $22. Boxed almond, walnut almond and butter cookies are $5 each.

Po tarts are the first thing to disappear. A Google reviewer warned that they often sell out by 4 to 4:30 pm, and other regulars advise calling ahead to reserve tarts, especially on weekends. Since the doors close at 5 pm, a visit after 4 pm is the time not to come if tarts are the point. Arrive by late morning instead, when both tart trays are still full.

The schedule is the other trap. Jim's is closed every Monday and Tuesday, so a weekday craving early in the week needs a backup. Walk or drive a few blocks north to Kee Wah Bakery on Garvey Avenue, the Hong Kong bakery chain's Monterey Park branch, which opens seven days from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm and sells wife cakes, egg rolls and boxed cookies.

Seating is limited to a few spots, so most people take boxes to go. Reviewers note that cards are accepted but that purchases under $12 are cash only, so carry a few small bills if you only want two tarts. One reviewer summed up the loyalty bluntly: if Jim's is closed, their household simply does not eat egg tarts that day.

Jim's shares its plaza with NBC Seafood Restaurant, a Monterey Park mainstay that is one of the last dim sum halls in the San Gabriel Valley still pushing carts. A 2026 local dim sum ranking named it alongside Five Star Seafood in San Gabriel as the last holdouts, and recommended it to first-timers because seeing dishes roll past makes it easier to try new things. Do dim sum first, then cross the lot for dessert tarts.

NBC serves dim sum daily from 8 am to 3 pm, so a 10 am table followed by a tart run lands well before the afternoon sell-out. After lunch, the Garvey Avenue corridor a few blocks north makes a short second stop, with Kee Wah's glass cases of boxed cookies and tea gift tins just off Atlantic. Metro bus Line 260 runs along Atlantic Boulevard past the plaza, and Line 70 runs along Garvey Avenue.

Jim's Bakery (金獅餅家), 400 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754, in the plaza next to LA Fitness. Open Wednesday to Sunday 8 am to 5 pm, closed Monday and Tuesday. Egg tart $2.10, po tart $2.30, pineapple bun $2, 8-inch mango cake $44. Takeout by phone or in store. Free plaza parking lot. Cards accepted, with cash for purchases under $12. Few seats, so plan to take your box to go.