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A week-long holiday trip back to Texas made our inner Mexican-American homesick for all the things we don't have when living in a state that doesn't share a border with Mexico: a tortilleria on every corner, piñatas hanging above grocery-store aisles, avocados at three for $1 when in season, and superb beef tongue tacos when you're jonesing for them. What we don't have to do without in Baltimore is pan dulce, Mexican/Latin American "sweet bread" pastries, thanks to the Ramos Panaderia and Pasteleria in Fells Point. The unmistakable waft of sugar-baked goods hits you when you enter, and the unabashedly fattening breads are stacked on baking sheets to the right. Just grab a tray and a pair of tongs and start loading up with whatever looks good--the chocolate sugar crusted discs, the croissants, and the cookie/cake-looking things with fruit in the middle. We favor the turnoverlike options, like empanadas but sweet instead of savory. A lemon-filled one offered flaky pastry crust encasing a fresh-fruit filling that was neither too gooey nor too messy, and made our blood sugar spike to a nice morning rush when paired with coffee (these all go great with coffee). They run about $1 each--a bag of nine large items ran $8.

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