Día de los Muertos falls on Sunday, Nov. 1 this year. Where does its pan de muerto come from in the first year since Highland Park lost a bakery that had been on North Figueroa Street since 1991?
Eater LA reported that Delicias Bakery and Some closed in June 2026 after 35 years. The family bakery at 5567 N. Figueroa St. was known for pan dulce, pastries, tortas, aguas frescas and a vegan pan dulce. Eater noted that the Sanchez family kept adding new items to the menu over the years.
The street itself still carries the season. Three counters selling pastry and coffee remain within about 270 address numbers of the old Delicias storefront. One is promoting a limited-edition pan de muerto for 2026. Sunday, Nov. 1 is also scheduled tightly enough that a household can pick up bread in the morning, spend the afternoon at the Heritage Square festival and still make an evening celebration a few miles south.
The Figueroa stretch, address by address
Start at the Delicias address and head north. The numbers tell the story.
- 5567 N. Figueroa St. The former Delicias Bakery and Some. No reporting has said who will take the space.
- 5601 N. Figueroa St., #120. Santa Canela, a Mexican bakery a few doors north, posts current hours and takes orders online.
- 5715 N. Figueroa St. Mokja, a Korean café-market. The Eastsider gave Aug. 7 as its opening date, and Eater LA's new-restaurant map, updated Oct. 1, lists it as open.
- 5835 N. Figueroa St. The Highland Park location of La Monarca Bakery.
Of the three counters still open, only Mokja is a recent arrival. Santa Canela and La Monarca were already on the street while Delicias was operating, so the closure took away the oldest counter on a stretch that already had others.
Who is baking for the ofrenda this year
La Monarca has made its plans clear. The bakery's homepage is running an October banner for its limited-edition pan de muerto, with an online ordering link next to it. For a household that wants the round, sugar-dusted loaf on the altar by Nov. 1, it is the one Figueroa counter publicly advertising pan de muerto for 2026.
Santa Canela is better known for its conchas. When Eater LA reviewed Santa Canela in November 2025, it said the concha flavors rotate and named pumpkin and orange blossom among past flavors. Those were last year's flavors, so the case may look different this week. Santa Canela's site lists current hours and an order link for anyone who wants to check before walking over.
Between the two sits the stretch's newest tenant, and it isn't a panadería. Mokja comes from chef Debbie Lee and Frank and Michelle La of Be Bright Coffee. The Eastsider described it as a Korean-inspired market and café with Korean-style drinks and pastries, grab-and-go meals, a build-your-own ramen bar, mayak-egg sandwiches, pantry goods and AAPI-owned products. Eater LA's new-restaurant map, updated Oct. 1, also lists Spam musubi, a pork-belly PBL&T, oxtail hand pies and a banana-matcha latte. It's a stop for coffee and a snack on the walk between bakeries, which matters on a morning with a full calendar ahead.
Why the bakery run has to happen early on Nov. 1
The bread errand comes first because Highland Park's main Día de los Muertos gathering takes the middle of the day. Avenue 50 Studio's 13th annual NELA Día de los Muertos Festival runs Sunday, Nov. 1, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Heritage Square Museum, 3800 Homer St. The studio lists altars, Aztec dancers, mariachis, face painting, and food and craft vendors. Heritage Square's own events page lists the festival as free, with face painting, live music and performers.
A five-hour festival that starts at 11 a.m. leaves the morning for Figueroa. Order from La Monarca ahead of time or walk the stretch early, and the loaf is home on the altar before the music starts at Heritage Square.
The rest of the day fits around that afternoon. Other events within a short drive start before the festival, overlap with it or begin after it ends, so they can be stacked instead of chosen between.
| Time on Sunday, Nov. 1 | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 10 a.m. onward | Community altar celebration hosted by Frogtown Arts and Forager Crafts | 2915 Knox Ave. #103, Elysian Valley |
| 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. | NELA Día de los Muertos Festival, Avenue 50 Studio | Heritage Square Museum, 3800 Homer St. |
| 2 to 4 p.m. | Día de los Muertos family printmaking class, from $45 | Center for the Arts Eagle Rock |
| 5 to 9:30 p.m. | Plaza de la Raza's annual festival | 3540 N. Mission Road, Lincoln Heights |
The Frogtown listing gives two different durations. Its event card shows Nov. 1 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., but the description says the celebration runs Nov. 1 and 2, so check the Frogtown Arts page before planning a Monday visit. Organizers list altar-building, vendors, Aztec dance and face painting. The Center for the Arts Eagle Rock printmaking class is listed on its site for 2 to 4 p.m., priced from $45, which overlaps the last stretch of the Heritage Square festival. The Los Angeles Times' 2026 Día de los Muertos guide lists Plaza de la Raza's evening festival with altars by local artists, art, music, dance and workshops. It starts an hour after Heritage Square closes.
Highland Park neighbors heading west for the Frogtown altar will find more on that area in our Elysian Valley guide. Our Eagle Rock page covers the neighborhood around the printmaking class.
The tribute that runs before and after the day itself
Bob Baker Marionette Theater has the longest Día de los Muertos window in Highland Park. Its Hallowe'en Spooktacular runs Sept. 5 through Nov. 8, 2026, and the show includes a Día de los Muertos sequence. The Eastsider's 2026 Halloween and Día de los Muertos guide describes it as a spooky cabaret with more than a hundred puppets on strings. The run continues for a week after Nov. 1. A household that spends Sunday at Heritage Square can still catch the marionette tribute the following weekend.
The theater is also hosting its 4th Annual Hallowe'en Costume Ball, which The Eastsider lists with the red carpet, a Spooktacular performance and a costume contest. The guide also lists Oktoberfest at Kiez in Highland Park on Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 31, with staff in traditional attire, live music and a stein-holding contest. Saturday, Oct. 31 is its last night, the evening before the Heritage Square festival.
What Figueroa's run of storefronts looks like now
From the Delicias storefront at 5567 to La Monarca at 5835, this part of Figueroa now has a newer mix. Santa Canela's rotating conchas sit a few doors from the closed bakery. Mokja's Korean pastries and ramen bar are about halfway up. La Monarca, at the north end, is the counter advertising this year's pan de muerto.
Figueroa food businesses have a way of becoming neighborhood landmarks while staying put. That was the story when Villa's Tacos went national without leaving Figueroa. It's also why the storefront at 5567 is worth watching. Whatever takes the space will be the newest business on a stretch that has had a pan dulce counter since 1991. For more on the corridors around it, see our Highland Park neighborhood guide.
The team at Mary Dix keeps an eye on what opens and closes along Figueroa. If you want to talk about the blocks around your own home and what's changing on them, schedule your concierge consultation and we'll start with the street you know best.
