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From W.B.E.Z.

At Rosie's Bakery on 26th Street in the heart of Little Village, warm, sweet air wraps around you the minute you walk in.

Sugary Mexican pastries, colorful conchas, and savory breads line the glass containers.

Baker and owner Fernando Vasquez started this bakery 24 years ago, and today his two sons work

alongside him.

The bakery makes about 90 different items,

everything from traditional pan-dulce, that's Spanish for sweetbreads and pastries, to bolillos,

a traditional savory white bread, to custom cakes. Vaska says no other bakery can match the flavor of his pastries and breads.

It's a really special flavor, he says, that almost no one else has.

Rosie's is one of about 10 bakeries in the area, with at least four others located just down the street or close by.

And it's this phenomena that got one curious Chicagoan wondering,

how does Chicago's Mexican bakeries stay in business with so much competition?

And the question is an interesting one,

since if you take a walk in a neighborhood with Mexican residents,

you'll likely find a bakery, and usually more than one.

It turns out how they stay in business has a lot to do with both customers and tradition.

Each bakery has devoted clients. Take 15-year-old Daphne Posadas, who used to live by Salgado's Bakery in Albany Park. Her family moved to the

southwest side two years ago. But they still make the 45-minute drive to Salgado's to get their bread.

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