Diana Cooper 
Neptune Bakery, a fixture in Jersey City since the 1980s, is still using the same recipes in its famous custard cups and baked goods since the now-owner’s grandfather first opened the business. Located at 1612 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Neptune has become the go-to shop for breakfast sandwiches and even custom cakes in Jersey City’s Greenville neighborhood. The bakery has even gained national attention after being a filming location for a movie that came out last year. Read on to learn more about Neptune Bakery and Deli in Jersey City, New Jersey.
A Jersey City Staple
Neptune Bakery and Deli is owned and operated by Kevin Santos and his wife, Janel, who took over in 2018. The Montclair area resident became a third-generation owner after his father, Juarez Santos, passed away. Kevin’s grandfather, Isaias Laurenco, originally opened the Jersey City corner shop in 1982. Isaias, a former baker, immigrated from Portugal in the 1960s. After that, Juarez ran the business for many years, and Kevin, at the time, helped out as a little boy.
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Neptune’s famous custard cups are made with the same recipe that Isaias brought over from Portugal. “We have people from all over the country. When they come to the area, they come right here and buy our custards. We just have a unique formula,” Kevin told The Hoboken Girl. “There are other bakeries that sell Portuguese custard cups, but our customers tell us nothing is like ours.”
“I guess you could say since the mid-80s we’ve had a cult following,” he added.
The custard cups are available in different flavors, including plain, coconut custard, and macaron custard. Kevin said that they make “thousands a week” due to the high demand. In addition, the bakery is filled with other sweets, such as sugar cookies, jelly sandwich cookies, loaf cakes, eclairs, cream puffs, cannoli, doughnuts, croissants, and even custom cakes. Although not available daily, Neptune has sold vegan cakes and vegan muffins.
All desserts are reasonably priced with the cookies costing $12 per pound and for example, the cake loafs costing $7. The Portuguese turnovers, available in a variety of flavors such as pineapple, guava, apple, and cherry, cost $1.75.
The shop’s original baker, Manuel Texeira, is still working at Neptune, as well as a new baker named Luana Dominguez, who has been helping out with the custom cakes for nearly two years. Both bakers are described as “new age mixed with old school.” Kevin told HG that the shop revamped its cake menu in 2021 “to offer a wider range of cakes, different flavors, different styles of cakes, such as black forest, red velvet, fruitcakes.”
Photo Credit: @neptunebakery
He also noted that since taking over as the owner, he helped introduce newer items such as more pastries, and helped revamp the sandwich menu. He’s also installed new equipment and upgraded the original display cases for the baked goods.
Neptune’s Deli
Half of Neptune is the bakery and the other half is the deli. The deli selection is just as popular, Kevin shared. Locals flock to order a breakfast sandwich from Neptune — the breakfast items are available all day — as well as a hoagie for lunch or dinner. “Usually on Thursdays we start producing most of our product when it’s fresh to sell. We’re always on top of quality,” he told HG. “One of the things that people do like about us is that we always try to have the best quality products.”
Janel, who works as the store’s manager, said that some of the popular items are the breakfast sandwiches (choice of bacon, sausage, or Taylor ham with egg and cheese), turkey and Swiss sandwich, and the hot pastrami and Swiss sandwich. Other sandwiches include homemade roast beef mozzarella, classic Italian, prosciutto, and mozzarella, the All American and Genoa Salami, and provolone, among others.
Quality cold cuts are available for sale per pound, including premium ham, roasted turkey, homemade roast beef, and a variety of cheeses (Muenster, pepper jack, provolone, etc).
She also said that customers love the coffee since the shop now serves up a variety of coffee such as espresso, cappuccino, Americano, macchiato, and iced coffee.
Making An Impact
Both Kevin and Janel operate Neptune Bakery while both being parents to two children and having other jobs. Kevin works for the Hudson County Sheriff’s Department and Janel works as a nurse. “My motto is never, never ever give up. Never quit, keep going,” Kevin shared. “Everyone’s working hard. We can’t do it without our great employees that we have. Without having good workers, we wouldn’t be as successful.”
Neptune Bakery gained national recognition when movie stars Samuel L. Jackson and Uma Thurman were seen filming at the shop in 2022. The movie, The Kill Room, came out in theaters in September 2023 and was directed by Nicole Paone, a friend of Janel’s who invited the family to the premiere.
Photo Credit: Neptune Bakery + Deli’s Facebook
Kevin said that all their hard work “makes a big difference” when it comes to other bakeries in the area — many of which have closed down over the years. When asked if he plans on expanding or revamping more of the bakery, he said, “We probably have to do some renovations on the outside because we renovated the inside.”
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Down the road, the Santos’ kids might even take over. “Well, my youngest should be graduating college hopefully in eight years. My youngest, she’s in high school. I tell people, ‘I guarantee 15, 20 years from now, we’ll still be kicking and going. If I want to retire and they want to take over, if they want to be fourth-generation owners, then that’s basically their decision,” he explained.
Neptune Bakery is open seven days a week from 5AM until 8:30PM. The shop also has delivery via apps such as UberEats and GrubHub. For the latest news, follow Neptune on Instagram until the website is up and running.
