Sweet bread challenge results are in. See which SouthCoast bakery took top prize

FALL RIVER — You visited, you tasted, and now the SouthCoast has spoken.

When it comes to sweet bread, competition regarding who makes the best in Greater Fall River and New Bedford is fierce and so are loyalties to our favorite bakeries.

This past February, a friendly food fight spearheaded by Viva Fall River and New Bedford Food Tours put those loyalties to the test, with some interesting, and tasty, results.

Nearly two dozen bakeries took part in the month-long SouthCoast Snackdown, but only two took top honors — and they were both from Fall River.

Snagging 274 votes, or 34.7% out of the total 825 votes that came in, Lou's Bakery was crowned first-place winner for best sweet bread bake.

"We feel really lucky ... we're just happy and thrilled that people like our product," said owner Louise Fournier, who operates the family business with her brother John Arruda. "We love our job and we're here to make people happy."

They were followed by city staple Tony's Bakery at 196 Columbia St., which garnered 119 votes (15.1%), earning them second place.

First and second place winners receive bragging rights and a trophy for their sweet bread supremacy.

Runners-up included Cornerstone Bakery in Swansea (104 votes), Europa Pastries and Coffee Shop in Fall River (103), and Duke's Bakery in Fall River (49).

Unlike last year's Pasteis De Nata Throwdown, which asked folks to judge the maker of the best Portuguese custard tart, this competition did not pit SouthCoast cities Fall River and New Bedford against each other, but rather looked at the popular vote region-wide.

New Bedford bakeries didn't land in the top two this time around. The top vote getter in New Bedford was Holiday Bakery, coming in sixth place with 44 votes.

Challenge accepted: Which bakery makes the best sweet bread in all the SouthCoast?

"It was really neat to see lots of people trying out lots of new bakeries," said Pam Shwartz, founder of New Bedford Food Tours, who teamed up with Patti Rego, executive director of Viva Fall River, to organize this challenge.

Votes were spread across a wide field of participants serving up a variety of different sweet breads, which extended beyond Portuguese massa that is most common in this area. The contest also featured Puerto Rican and Lebanese versions of sweet bread, as well as Guatemalan pan dulce.

"It definitely got a lot of people out of their comfort zone," said Shwartz, noting that was among their main goals with the Snackdown.

Meet Snackdown champion: Lou's Bakery

Lou's Bakery has been a sweet spot for massa in Fall River for over 40 years.

Not much has changed at the tiny, family-run 379 E. Main St. shop since it opened in 1981. Lou's off-the-beaten path location and its signature item — their massa — remain the same after four decades, but tradition is a part of their recipe for success.

Just ask Lou's loyal customers from across Fall River and beyond who often line up at the door ahead of opening to get their hands on a fresh loaf. The demand is even greater around holidays like Easter, Fournier said.

"Every Easter, we have people outside the door sometimes at 4 in the morning just waiting for the doors to open up at 6," said Fournier.

Secret to success

So what's the secret to their bread’s flavor? The simplicity of its ingredients — milk, butter, sugar, flour, yeast, salt, eggs — and the extra love that goes into making it.

"We use all fresh, natural ingredients. It's all made by hand," Fournier said.

"A lot of TLC goes into it," she added. "We've been doing this for 43 years, it's a family-run business. We've never changed the recipe. ...we don't cut corners, we use all good stuff. That makes a difference."

Fournier and her brother John Arruda have been part of the business since its inception, but took the reins as owners of Lou's Bakery when their parents John and Lucia Arruda retired.

Lou's has a small but mighty staff, consisting mostly of Louise and John, and they are only open four days a week for limited hours.

They don't ship and they don't wholesale, so East Main Street is the only place you'll find their sweet bread, with the exception of a couple of local stores who purchase some for their shelves.

"We don't advertise anything. We're very low-key. It's just all word of mouth," she said.

So the fact that folks come not only from Greater Fall River but "all over," including New Bedford, Wareham and Taunton is a testament to how beloved they've become. Just last week, Fournier said some customers even made the trek from as far as Connecticut and New Jersey to stock up on their sweet bread.

According to Fournier, the star of the show at Lou's is sweet bread, but Lou's also offers "odds and ends" items such as their popular chourico rolls and malassadas (the latter of which is only available Friday, Saturday and Sunday), biscuits, cupcakes, brownies, buffalo and chourico puffs, cream rolls, cinnamon and raspberry twists.

Who makes the best pastel de nata? Fall River or New Bedford? Here's who won.

Try Lou's for yourself

Lou's is open Thursday through Sunday. Hours Thursday and Friday are 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Saturday from 6 a.m. to noon; and Sunday from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. However, if they sell out of sweet bread, Fournier notes, they'll close a little earlier.

Fournier recommends people call in ahead to order their sweet bread so they are guaranteed to get what they want. There is no online ordering available.

The only time out of the year the bakery doesn't accept pre-orders is Easter week, when it's every massa lover for themselves.

Snackdown's over, what's next?

As far as the SouthCoast Snackdown went, Shwartz considers it mission accomplished.

"We know it, you know it, everyone around here knows that New Bedford and Fall River are such culinary destinations but not everyone else knows about it, so I think it brought more notoriety," Shwartz said. "It was about getting that message out there that this is a really cool place to come down and check out our culinary scene."

With the food fight behind them, the two tourism groups look ahead to their next collaboration - the return of their summer-long Taste of Portugal Tours in Fall River in June.

An educational, cultural and culinary experience, the immersive tour takes participants to various food stops along Columbia Street. According to Shwartz, tickets are available on their website now.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Check out your pick for best sweet bread in Fall River, New Bedford