ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The legendary family-owned business based out of Ybor City, the La Segunda Bakery, officially opened its first Pinellas County location in St. Petersburg on Monday.
“We thought that this was our next natural step,” said fourth generation owner Copeland More, 41. “I grew up in Tampa, but I’ve been seeing what’s going on in St. Pete with the growth.”
What You Need To Know
- St. Pete store has decor that reflects Ybor roots
- The La Segunda Bakery in St. Pete is open every day from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- La Segunda buys 50,000 pounds of wheat per week and is the world’s largest producer of Cuban bread
The La Segunda Bakery in St. Petersburg is located at 2424 4th St. N. and has a uniquely decorated interior which reflects its Ybor roots. There’s a red brick accent wall, globe lights, street signs and custom made wrought iron by the Vasquez family.
“They made the majority of the wrought iron that’s on 7th Avenue right now,” said More. “So, a long, long, family history of iron work that we wanted to have a part of in our cafe here.”
The La Segunda Bakery is the world’s largest producer of Cuban bread. It has a signature palmetto leaf strip baked on top. The Cuban bread is delivered to some of the best-known restaurants in the Tampa Bay area and across the nation.
“Our main business in Ybor is wholesaling of bread,” said More. “It’s difficult to make the perfect loaf, but the guys and girls that we have are extremely talented.”
More said the bread will be baked fresh every day at the new store in St. Pete, but the dough will come from Ybor. It’s an essential element for their best-selling Cuban sandwich.
“The most important thing with a Cuban is the pork. We marinate our pork for 48 hours,” said More. “Then we overnight it. So, it’s a slow cook and then a hand pulled pork. We don’t slice our pork.”
More said it’s also important that his Cuban sandwiches have good, crunchy bread.
“Constantly adjusting the presses to make sure there is a little bit of crunch to the bread,” he said. “It’s not a hard crunch, but just crunchy enough to where you can feel it when you bite into it.”
The café con leche is also a hot seller, and the supplier of coffee beans has deep Ybor family roots as well.
“Naviera coffee, we’ve been doing business with them for a long time,” said More. “Their family has been in Ybor City for over 100 years now, too. In my opinion, it’s the best coffee around.”
More said expanding the business during high inflation and supply chain problems has not been easy. The restaurant had to raise its prices twice since the pandemic began.
“I never thought we’d have an $11 Cuban, but that’s necessary in business right now,” he said. “We want fair wages for our employees.”
More said because his employees are paid well, he hasn’t had any issues hiring during labor shortage problems. What has begun to affect his business is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. More said he buys 50,000 pounds of wheat every week.
“Turns out that 30 percent of the world’s production of wheat actually comes from Russia and Ukraine,” he said. “I didn’t actually know that until about a month ago, when this whole thing happened. So, yeah, the wheat market has gone a little crazy lately.”
More said he bought more wheat than he normally does to get his business through this point in time. After all, his family has survived economic turbulence over the past 107 years.
“We have high hopes for this region. So far, so good, with the opening,” he said. “Everyone has been very supportive.”
The La Segunda Bakery in St. Pete is open every day from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.