Help Save San Antonio Bakery & Restaurant — A Valley Stream Staple

For decades, San Antonio Bakery & Restaurant has been a cornerstone of Valley Stream — a place where neighbors gather, birthdays are celebrated, and generations have been fed with care and pride.

Now, it’s at risk of disappearing.

Elizabeth and Reuben are immigrants from Chile who came to the United States in the early 1980s with nothing but determination and a belief in hard work. They met here, built a life together, and after years of sacrifice, opened San Antonio Bakery in Valley Stream. With the help of family, they later purchased the building, expanded the business, and added the restaurant — investing everything they had back into the community that supported them.

They raised two children here. One now helps run the family business. The other went on to graduate from Yale — a testament to the values of perseverance, education, and community that Elizabeth and Reuben worked so hard to instill.

After a recent slow season, the family fell approximately three months behind on their commercial loan. What should have been a temporary setback quickly turned into a crisis.

They repeatedly reached out to their lender, Velocity Commercial Capital, simply trying to find out how much they needed to pay to catch up and work out a schedule. Instead of clear answers, they were told to contact the lender’s attorney. No reinstatement letter was provided until an attorney got involved and no amount of fees, interest or penalties was given. When a reinstatement letter was finally issued, it included default interest on top of interest, late fees, attorney’s fees and pending legal fees, and additional charges that more than doubled the amount allegedly owed.

The amount continues to grow at an alarming rate — so fast that the family could never realistically catch up, no matter how hard they work. The equity and business they spent decades building is being consumed, and foreclosure now threatens to take everything they have built.

This family is not asking for their debt to be forgiven.

They are asking for transparency, fairness, and a realistic opportunity to pay the missed payment with with reasonable late fees. The lawsuit filed against them was not necessary – other than for the lender to capitalize on a few slow months to get the building at a significant discount by racking up fees and outrageous interest.

We have attempted to negotiate and asked that the default rate be reduced or removed, much less the attorney’s fees be removed and the late fees be kept reasonable so the balance can stop ballooning. The request was denied.

If nothing changes, Valley Stream will lose San Antonio Bakery & Restaurant — a long-standing Main Street business — and a hardworking family will lose their livelihood and the American dream they worked so hard to make a reality.

How Your Support Helps

Funds raised will go toward:

• Paying down the reinstatement amount to stop the loan from escalating

• Legal and professional fees to ensure the family is treated fairly

• Keeping San Antonio Bakery & Restaurant open while this crisis is resolved

This is a powerful community story — a multigenerational immigrant family, a neighborhood institution, and a town fighting to save something that matters. The family has documentation and is willing to speak publicly and on camera.

If you’ve ever believed in supporting small businesses, immigrant families, or the heart of a community — this is that moment.

Please donate if you can. If you can’t, sharing this fundraiser means just as much.

Thank you for helping save San Antonio Bakery & Restaurant and the American dream behind it. ❤️