If you live in Madrid and the name of Manolo Bakes is mentioned, surely his delicious Manolitos come to mind, some small croissants that although we can find in other similar companies the truth is that they have a texture and a flavor that makes them unique in the market, but what is the origin of Manolo Bakes and why are they called Manolitos ?.
What is the origin of Manolo Bakes and why are they called Manolitos
Although very popular in Madrid, Manolo Bakes has managed to make his name known beyond the capital thanks to a small expansion that in recent years has allowed him to take his star product, the Manolitos, to other Spanish cities such as Barcelona, Valencia, Coruña and Zaragoza .
But what is the origin of Manolo Bakes? The company was not born as such, since in reality it originally arose as a result of Pastelería Artesanal Manolo , a family business born in Colmenar Viejo almost 30 years ago by the hand of Manolo Manzano , son and grandson of pastry chefs, who decided to open his first pastry shop thanks to a loan from her grandmother. The young man wanted to follow the tradition of his family and managed to create a small empire since as a result of his first store and the creation of the Manolitos, he managed to open three more stores in Colmenar and expand to Tres Cantos, Majadahonda and Madrid itself (with a pastry shop in the Chamartín market).
How were the manoliths created?
Manolo Manzano’s bakery, in which his sisters, Remedios and Noelia were also involved, managed to be on everyone’s lips in a short time thanks to the Manolitos, some small butter croissants that Manolo created with his father. Legend has it that they both made a mistake when they put the butter on some croissants they were preparing and that was how their most iconic sweets were born.
As for the name they did not have any in particular but when they began to become popular, people called them “Manolitos” since Manolo is the name of their creator and that is how they stayed and that is how they ended up being known throughout Madrid, to the point of forming Long lines at the door of the Manzano family pastry shop and especially Tres Cantos since it is said that it was in this where people began to buy the Manolitos taking them by kilos, to the point of currently selling some 7,000 kilos a month or 500 kilos a day.
In 2021, Sister Remedios registered the name “Manolitos” and in this way Madrid already had another artisan pasta or sweet to identify with, but how did the Manzano family pastry shop make the leap to Manolito Bakes?
How did Manolo Bakes come about?
To find the origin of Manolo Bakes we have to mention Pablo Nuño that despite studying economics and having worked in the banking world, he thought it would be a good idea to create a franchise for Manolo Manzano’s pastry shop . He told the Manzano family this way, but they refused , so he decided to open his own business and launch his own version of the Manolitos, which he called Crosantino , a name also chosen for his store. But this new “version” was short-lived. Nuño and Manzano ended up allying themselves (along with others such as the footballer Álvaro Morata who in fact helped open Crosantino), and decided to found De Boca En Boca , the company to which the brand belongs, which is now the name of the business in which We found the Manolitos, Manolo Bakes, operational since 2018.
Thus, from a family business that is still maintained, given that Pastelerías Manolo is still open with its traditional stores, it ended up creating a small empire that is already present with more than 20 stores in several cities of our country where the Manolitos are undoubtedly its great attraction. A croissant that we can not only buy in its original recipe, but we also have chocolate (black and white), crocanti, coffee and even cheescake, thus expanding its “legend” and becoming a pleasure for the palate at the that no one can resist.
