After more than 75 years, Preston’s Candy in Burlingame was on the verge of closing; an immigrant chocolatier knew he had to save it
Who can take a sunrise, sprinkle it with dew, cover it in chocolate and a miracle or two?
The candy man can.
At Preston’s Candy in Burlingame, chocolatier Javier Santiago has used chocolate to inspire a few miracles over the years, including his most recent one: saving Preston’s from going out of business after more than 75 years in operation. He purchased the store from longtime owner Irene Preston (no relation to the original owner, Art Preston) to keep the business alive last year.
Now the store is buzzing again, his peanut brittle is in high demand and his chocolate-covered honeycomb is so good, it got its own ice cream flavor.
But Santiago’s journey from boyhood on a Mexican farm to becoming your friendly Bay Area candy maker was anything but ordinary. Naturally, we had questions.
Q. What was your childhood like growing up in Mexico?
A. We lived on a farm, so we always had food, but I was one of seven kids, and we were always short on money. I’m the oldest of the boys. I had to do something. When I was 14, I moved to the United States with my uncle.
Q. That must’ve been scary.
A. Very scary. My first job was working at a car wash in San Mateo, and I went to school during the day. And then got a job at the chocolate factory that made Shaw’s Candy. I wasn’t spending much money, so I would send some back to my family.
Q. What did you do at the factory?
A. One morning, a guy taught me how to make marshmallow. Then I started making marshmallow and did it every day for six months. I was 15. I still went to school — after school, I went straight to the chocolate factory until 10:30 p.m., then went to sleep at 12:30 a.m., up at 6:30 a.m. for school.
Q. You must have been exhausted.
A. It’s hard, but when you’re doing something to contribute to others, you feel good.
Q. How long did you work at the chocolate factory?
A. I worked there for 12 years. Then they closed, and I worked at two other places before I decided to start my own business during the pandemic. I found a kitchen in Napa and made chocolate there for a year. In the meantime, I always came to Preston’s Candy in Burlingame — I lived very close. I always talked to the owner, because she didn’t have a candy maker. But she couldn’t afford to pay me. So I started volunteering there maybe once a week, helping out, making whatever candy I could make in three or four hours.
Q. Why did you feel compelled to help?
A. Because when I came to Preston’s, I saw how much people loved this place. I brought my kids to get ice cream and would bring candy for her. I did that for three years. She found out I was driving to Napa to make my candy and she said, ‘Why don’t you make your candy here?’ That’s when I started making my products here. I rented the place from her to help with (her) rent. Then one day, she said she was going to sell the business. If I didn’t buy the business, the business would have disappeared. And I said, “Well, I have to take over, because I can’t let it go.”
Q. Did you struggle at first?
A. It’s a lot of work. The first year was very hard.
Q. What does your customer base look like?
A. We get mostly regulars, not a lot of tourist traffic like in other towns. Here, they come for the same ice cream, same flavor, at the same time. It’s a neighborhood store. My wholesales are helping to keep the doors open. We sell to Loard’s ice cream, Sigona’s, and other shops in Pacifica, in Half Moon Bay. Small Town Sweets in Half Moon Bay is my big client. Every week, she orders a lot of candy. Sometimes I’m jealous because she sells more candy than me!
Q. What kinds of candy are you making a lot of lately?
A. Glazed coconut-pomegranate chocolate. Dark chocolate-covered apricots. We make a lot of honeycomb. We send it to Loard’s, and they make us an ice cream with the honeycomb in it. We send them our chocolate chips to make the mint chocolate chip ice cream, too.
Q. What do you enjoy eating the most?
A. Right now, the truffles. The raspberry truffle. And the peanut brittle. When I make it in the morning, I always say, “Today, I will not eat any peanut brittle.” But when it’s warm, I always eat the small pieces. This is a problem. I’ll be eating it all day.
Q. Have you always loved chocolate?
A. I always loved chocolate, because my grandpa in Mexico makes some chocolate candies. He taught me how to make it.
Q. Are you still close with your family in Mexico?
A. My mom and my dad are always back and forth, and I send them chocolate. They stay six months here, six months there. All my friends, I send them chocolate, and then they tell me, “Send more.”
Q. What do you love most about your job?
A. Getting to know the customers. We have people who really care about Preston’s, and they keep coming back. It means a lot to them. Sometimes, we don’t make money because everything is very expensive, but at least I feel like I’m doing something people appreciate in the community.
Details: Preston’s Candy opens at 11 a.m. Monday-Saturday and noon on Sundays at 170 Broadway in Burlingame. Santiago also sells his candy online at prestonscandyshop.com.