Dos Hermanos Guatemalan Bakery & Cafe Opens in Bridgeport

Churrasco chapin - grilled steak, charred scallions, refried beans, rice, codito salad, chirmol (a tomato based salsa), and tortillas. This classic Guatemalan dish has been arguably Dos Hermanos’ most popular.

If you notice a bunch of people in Bridgeport’s Black Rock neighborhood entering a tiny storefront on Brewster Street, follow them, and the smell of fresh baked bread, inside.

Welcome to Dos Hermanos Bakery & Cafe, owned by two brothers (hence the name), Giovanni and Nelson Castellon, who had a goal of opening a place of their own for a while to show the community an accurate representation of Guatemalan food.

Early on, Dos Hermanos’ bread case has been selling out two different times, once in the morning and again in the evening. It’s a small kitchen, but they’re still able to crank out a good amount of loaves.

“We sell some bread to food trucks and other restaurants,” Giovanni says. “I remember wanting one oven because it’s a tiny kitchen, but my brother suggested we get two ovens. Thankfully, I listened to him!”

Tacos, on homemade corn tortillas, are available in steak or pork, and are topped with cilantro and onion, and a squeeze of lime.

Dos empanadas stuffed with chicken and potatoes, plus a cabbage slaw, salsa, and queso fresco.

“We wanted to do something to represent our culture and our food in this community and show who we are because a lot of people don’t know our food,” Giovanni says. “We have a lot of good food but it’s not always represented the right way.”

Even if the brothers say that the dream of Dos Hermanos started 6-7 years prior, it actually began when they were kids.

Giovanni tells us that they each came to the United States when they were 15 years old, first Giovanni in 2000, then a few years later, Nelson would follow when he turned 15, and broke into the industry in the humblest way as a dishwasher.

“I started in the industry washing dishes for seven years at the Delamar (Southport),” Giovanni says. “I learned how to bake and how to cook there, but when I was a kid, in my neighborhood, I would go to a bakery there and clean the trays for them. They gave me bread as payment. And I learned baking at home from my mother.”

Chicken salad with tomatoes and ketchup on Dos Hermanos’ handmade, fresh baked bread.

Desayuno Ranchero - fried eggs, chirmol, roasted jalapeno, refried beans, crema, queso fresco, plantains, and your choice of tortillas or pirujos (a roll)

After his time at the Delamar, Giovanni had a few kitchen stints around Westport, then he’d eventually become the chef at Fairfield’s Old Post Tavern, and even in the present, and with a business of his own, he still holds down a position at the Scarsdale Golf Club as their chef de cuisine.

When Giovanni worked at Old Post Tavern, he said he would come to Black Rock frequently to get a bite to eat and he told Nelson, “I think a bakery with Guatemalan food would be nice in this neighborhood.”

Six-plus years later, it’s a reality, and so far, just three weeks as of press time, Dos Hermanos has been busy thanks to an organic social media boom courtesy of a few accounts that had a boomerang effect of news of their opening spreading to Guatemala and back to the Connecticut – New York area. 

And what the people are coming for aren’t only the breads. They’re coming for breakfast sandwiches, traditional Guatemalan breakfast entrées, tacos (on homemade corn tortillas), chicken and potato empanadas (the dough here is also homemade, then filled and fried to order), and popular Guatemalan dishes like churrasco chapin—grilled steak with charred scallions, refried beans, potatoes, codito salad (macaroni salad), chirmol, and tortillas.

Steak burrito with mozzarella, black beans, rice, pico de gallo, guac

Shuco, aka, Guatemala’s version of a street hot dog.

Then there’s something called a shuco, a chopped up hot dog on pressed Dos Hermanos bread with mayo, ketchup, mustard, guacamole, chimichurri, cabbage, scallions, and you can choose to add steak or pork or both to it.

“It’s a common street food (the shuco) and Guatemalans love it,” Giovanni says.

And a lot of what you see and eat are their mom’s recipes.

“We have experience in French and American food, but aside from being Guatemalan, we learned to cook here, so every time we need help, we have to call our mom,” Giovanni says. “Almost everything is her recipe. She’s a good cook and a good baker. Those pictures on the wall (of Guatemala and Guatemalan culture), some are mine, some my niece sent, that one of the breads, that’s our mom’s bread.”

As for that bread…as soon as you step foot into Dos Hermanos, you’ll see large self-serve case with an array of sandwich loaves, sweet-salty breads, cookies, and more, but with a slight twist.

“A lot of people use vegetable oil for the bread, but we’re changing that by using butter instead,” Giovanni shares. “At the beginning, it was hard to find the right flour. But when you eat our bread, it has like a cheesy taste, and people have asked if we put cheese in the bread, but no, it’s the butter. A lot of people have this stuff with coffee or to make a sandwich.”

Even though it’s early, Dos Hermanos is already thinking about the future. Giovanni suggests that after this initial opening phase, they’d like to expand their hours until 9 p.m. They’d also like to offer whole cakes and pies or larger portions of desserts like tiramisu instead of just single servings. And what’s that about expansion? They hinted at adding a food truck for special events and catering.

607 Brewster Street, Bridgeport
203.212.3386, Instagram @doshermanosbakerycafe