There is something worth saying about a business that has been open for 85 years.

Not 85 years of surviving. 85 years of showing up. Through the oil booms and the slowdowns. Through Harvey. Through a pandemic. Through every school year this city has ever had, Rao's Bakery has been on the corner doing what it does.

The story starts at a refinery. Before there was a storefront, there was Johnny Rao, making pastries in the cafeteria at the Magnolia Refinery — now ExxonMobil — where his baked goods became so popular among the workers that he decided to open his own place. In 1941, he opened the first Rao's Bakery at the corner of 10th Street and Calder Avenue. He never left Beaumont. Beaumont never left him.

Last week Rao's marked 85 years. To commemorate the anniversary the bakery offered cookies, cupcakes, muffins and coffee for 85 cents each. The line was long. The people in it were every age.

"The customers have been so loyal to us for so long," said Josh Tortorice, current partner. "For Rao's Bakery to have lasted 85 years, that's quite a testament to the loyalty of Southeast Texas."

In a business climate where five years feels like an achievement and ten feels like a legacy, 85 is something different entirely. It is multi-generational. It is grandparents who brought their children who brought their children. It is Beaumont's story told one loaf, one pastry, one cup of coffee at a time across five locations.

The families dropping their children off at school this morning — some of them stopped at Rao's on the way back. Some of them have been doing that their whole lives. That is what 85 years builds. Not just a customer base. A community habit. A place that is simply part of what Beaumont does.

And 85 years in, they are still finding ways to surprise you. The same place that has been making Beaumont's birthday cakes and wedding pastries for generations is also running a Matcha menu, Dubai Chocolate Matcha drinks, macarons in five flavors, kids cookie classes, and a full gelato bar. The legacy and the innovation are both right there at the counter every single day.

Speaking of gelato: if you have not taken advantage of Happy Hour yet, you are running out of time. Every Monday through Friday from 3 to 5 p.m. through August 31, iced drinks and gelato are half price. That is a deal worth building your afternoon around before summer officially ends.

The Tortorice family also released a short video this week thanking the Beaumont community for 85 years of loyalty and love. It is worth one minute and sixteen seconds of your time. Watch it here: Rao's Thank You Facebook Reel

Congratulations to Rao's Bakery on 85 years of being exactly what this city needed them to be.