Today we’d like to introduce you to Suzie Elaridi.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Suzie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
We moved to the USA in the 80s with the dream of better opportunities for our children. We left behind our businesses, our home, our relatives and friends, but brought with us the expertise of Nabih and his family pastry recipes, spanning generations of delicious Baklava and Mediterranean pastries. Each unaltered recipe, handmade from the heart, carries with its legacy and culture, steeped in tradition as old as the Cedars of Mount Lebanon which we will never forget.
We have had to make countless sacrifices to have the privilege of living in America but are so grateful for everything. With each of our bakeries, we are so proud of our heritage and history and have had the pleasure to share our authentic foods and baked goods with our customers, who we consider an extension of our family and feel so blessed to have such a loyal following!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road to success didn’t come without its challenges. First, as immigrants from a foreign land, we worked hard to learn the language and culture of our new homeland. Our love for this land drove the dedication and commitment required to fully assimilate while still preserving the pride in our heritage and traditions….but that’s not all.
Finding the right part of this great and vast country to grow roots for our three children was another important decision for us. The people of Texas were easy to identify with because of our shared passion for family, faith, education, and entrepreneurship. As people who left behind friends, family, and mentorship to come here, we found a wide circle of support here in the great city of Houston!
However, the challenge remained- how do we introduce this non-traditional, exotic set of pastries to our new community? Many customers at first didn’t have a familiarity with Middle Eastern baked goods, but word of our quality pastries and dedicated service spread fast. There is still work to be done- our goal is to make “BAKLAVA” and “KENAFA” a household name.
Please tell us about Suzie’s Pastry Shoppe.
At Suzie’s Pastry Shoppe, we specialize in authentic Mediterranean and European baked goods. This includes Baklava, Cookies/Mamool, Kenafa, European cakes, special occasion and Wedding Cakes, and Middle Eastern pastries.
Every one of our chefs has decades of experience in perfecting every dessert and have a passion for what they do, ensuring a consistent and high-quality selection made daily on site! Our pastries are created from scratch from unaltered traditional recipes passed down for generations using only fresh, quality ingredients. We genuinely feel like we just opened up our own kitchen to the public…with the same quality and cleanliness that we have fed our own family at home.
Our famous Baklava__the flaky, ambrosia-sweet, with our light homemade syrup, nut-filled pastry (pistachios, cashews, pecans and walnuts are a great source of nutrients) is an innocent way to liven up the sweet buds. We are proud that our quality, consistency, and honesty has resulted in a loyal following resulting in a strong word of mouth presence.
All of this and more make each one of our sweets a delicious and tasteful treat. Once reserved for the wealthy class of the ancient world, these desserts are now available for you to enjoy and gift and share!
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
We have BIG plans for the future! Our vision is to make our Mediterranean Pastries more mainstream. We envision our baklava being an alternative to the traditional box of chocolates or cupcakes for gifting or dessert catering.
As baklava becomes a more common alternative to traditional pastries, we want Suzie’s Pastries to be a household brand. We aim do this through a stronger online presence, ordering capabilities with local and national reach, and seasonal specialty products. We may have been slow to keep up with the technology in many folks eyes, however we see it as maintaining authenticity and ensuring the quality is consistent and honest. After all, we are dealing with food, something so special that unites us all!
Contact Info:
- Address: 8619 Richmond Ave, Houston TX, 77063
- Website: https://www.suziespastry.com
- Phone: 832-831-0516
- Email: contact@suziespastry.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suziespastry/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/suziespastry/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/suzies-pastry-shoppe-houston
- Other: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g56003-d11547949-Reviews-Suzie_s_Pastry_Shoppe-Houston_Texas.html
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