Portage Bakery was established in 1934, and is the longest family run bakery in the Niagara Region.
image courtesy of google maps
It all began in a small garage on Portage Road, located across the street from the Greater Niagara General Hospital in Niagara Falls. In 1942, the owner at the time, Pete Mottola, decided to move the bakery from the small garage to its current location on Gladstone Ave. Portage Bakery continued to bake its popular Italian bread and serve its valued customers. The business slowly grew and over time, required more people to help make it run.
In 1968, Rosario Barone immigrated to Canada from Italy when he was 26 years old. With only two suitcases in tow, he left his homeland in search of a better life; for new opportunities for himself and his future family. He attended night school to learn English, and worked during the day at a local winery. Soon after, Rosario began working at the bakery. He would wake in the early hours of the morning to start baking bread, during the day delivering fresh bread house to house for the customers and still continued going to night school to learn English.
Mr. Mottola had sold the bakery to his daughter, Diane, and her husband, Rocco Menna. In 1970, Rocco passed away and the following year Diane had sold the bakery to their valued employee Rosario. 1971 was an important year for Rosario as he became the new owner of Portage Bakery, and that same year he would also meet his future wife, Jolantha. After a year dating, they got married in 1972, and through hard work, dedication and perseverance, they worked together to bake bread and serve Portage Bakery’s loyal customers, all while starting a family. Over the years their family grew and their four children began working in the bakery serving customers. As their own children grew up, they got married and had children of their own. Now Rosario and Jolantha’s grandchildren lend a helping hand.
Over the years, many changes took place. The bakery expanded; more products were introduced, new machinery was brought in to make production more efficient, delivery expanded to restaurants and hotels in Niagara Falls and the US, more people were hired. Even with all these changes, we still use the original recipe from 1934 for our Italian bread, and it is even baked in the original ovens!
Over the years, Portage Bakery expanded to include Barone Deli and Café Inside of Portage Bakery The well known Italian bread fresh out of the oven. The well known Italian Bread The selection of desserts expanded over time Barone Deli introduced their Homestyle Pasta Sauce in 2010 Meat and Cheese platters
One thing that has remained the same throughout all these years is our love and dedication serving our loyal customers. In 2021, Rosario celebrates 50 years of owning Portage Bakery. We want to take this opportunity to express our sincerest gratitude for allowing us to “break bread“ with all of you. We would like to thank our loyal customers, new and returning, for supporting our locally family owned business. We have been a part of generations of families in Niagara, from watching your children being born, grow up, get married, and having children of their own!
We look forward to continuing celebrating with all of you for generations to come!
