Keeping the Legacy Sweet at 27th Street Bakery
When you walk through the doors of 27th Street Bakery, you’re not just stepping into a shop. You’re stepping into nearly a century of family, flavor, and a legacy that started with two dreamers who came to Los Angeles with little more than recipes in a tin can.
“27th Street Bakery started somewhere around the 1940s, when my grandparents migrated from the South to Los Angeles,” Jeanette Pickens told us. Her grandfather, Harry Patterson, was an entrepreneur with a vision. He and his wife Sadie wanted to bring the flavors and comfort of the South to Central Avenue, opening a restaurant where pies quickly stole the show. “It started off as a restaurant, but the main staple in the restaurant on the menu were pies and cakes. What kind of pies? Sweet potato pies.”
From that point on, sweet potato pie became the heartbeat of the family business.
Jeanette’s memories of her grandfather are filled with warmth, discipline, and plenty of sugar. “He was a stickler on quality of the product, and he had an enormous sweet tooth. I would go and taste the product and I was like, wow, this is really sweet! And [he] said, yes, it's always supposed to be sweet.”
Quality wasn’t optional. It was the rule. That commitment shaped every generation that followed. Jeanette laughed remembering sneaking into the mixing room. “Sometimes I went in there without him knowing it and I’d get my hand popped.”
As the years went on, Jeanette’s mother, Alberta, and brother, Gregory, carried the legacy forward. They moved back to Los Angeles, purchased the bakery, and expanded its reach through wholesale and delivery.
The bakery was always a family affair. As Jeanette put it, “At 27th Street Bakery, [it] is in your blood.” Whether you were one of the kids, cousins, nieces, nephews, or grandkids, at some point you worked there, delivered pies, or learned directly from the legacy that built the business. “If I wanted to use my mother’s car to go to track practice, I had to deliver pies.”
Jeanette didn’t always see herself running the bakery. “Did I think I would be the one running the bakery right now? Probably not. I was kind of doing that whole other thing, that track and field thing.”
That “track and field thing” was a history-making athletic career. Against all odds, Jeanette transformed a childhood defined by asthma and a clubfoot into an Olympic dream. “My mother really instilled in me that you can do anything you want to. There's no limits.”
From running track in Compton to training at UCLA under legendary coach Bob Kersee, she pushed forward until she qualified for the 1984 Olympic Games right here in Los Angeles. Her story is one of perseverance, grit, heartbreak, and triumph. After missing a medal in the 100m by a lean, she rebounded with strength and clarity. “‘[My father] said, you're the fourth fastest in the world, right? You need to get off this phone and get ready for your next medal.”
She went on to win her Olympic medal in the relay with a team of powerhouse women she deeply admired.
Today, Jeanette applies that same discipline to the holiday rush at 27th Street Bakery. “My track and field career and coaching at UCLA prepares me for the holiday. Because November and December are crazy times for us. It is organized chaos, but it is so fun.”
Her ability to lead under pressure, stay calm in chaos, and keep the team moving is a direct reflection of her Olympic mindset. “I'm the one who knows where all the moving parts are.”
One of the most important lessons passed down through the Patterson lineage is simple but profound. “There's no substitute for hard work.” Jeanette carries that forward, making sure every pie honors the recipe and craftsmanship her grandfather demanded.
The team adjusts batches constantly because every yam behaves differently throughout the year. “You have to always taste. You have to always adjust what you're doing.”
And for customers, the bakery is more than a place to pick up dessert. It’s a place where community gathers. Jeanette shared a memory of her mother after a stroke:
“She had the longest line. They just would talk and talk and talk and all of this community feeling was over a pie.”
That sense of belonging is woven into every slice.
Jeanette is now one of the third-generation owners alongside her husband Al and her sister. Together, they’re growing the bakery into new nationwide markets, expanding e-commerce, and bringing sweet potato pie into grocery stores across Los Angeles.
Their hope is simple. “My goal is to have a 27th Street Bakery sweet potato pie on everyone's table across the country.”
And when people take that first bite, she hopes they feel something deeper. “I want them to feel like home. I want them to smell and taste everything that they remember.”
For Jeanette, tradition and legacy are inseparable. “I think those two are together for me. That legacy that you can pass on for generation and generation.”
When we asked Jeanette how 27th Street Bakery makes waves, her answer was perfect.
“We make waves by slowing everything down and working on that tradition. Sitting at the table. Everybody can eat a meal and not have your phone.”
In a world that pushes us to rush, hustle, and careen from one thing to the next, Jeanette reminds us that tradition asks us to pause. To gather. To enjoy something made with care. To connect.
And really, what better way to do that than with a slice of sweet potato pie?
This story was created by Making Waves Project as part of Traditions: Stories We Keep, our series exploring the customs, rituals, and personal histories that connect us to our past and to each other. These stories remind us that tradition is alive and always evolving, shaped by the people who carry it forward.
By sharing these moments, we hope to honor the ways culture is passed down, reimagined, and kept alive, and to celebrate the roots that shape who we are today.
If you or someone you know has a tradition that deserves to be part of Making Waves Project, we would love to hear from you. And if you are a brand interested in partnering with us to help tell more stories like this, reach out at hello@makingwavesproject.com.
Follow along with Traditions: Stories We Keep on our Instagram and YouTube, and explore new stories at makingwavesproject.com/stories.
Photography by Robiee Ziegler
Produced by Katie Caro
Post Production by Kelly Budish
