Paleo Treats on Adams Avenue in Normal Heights, San Diego launched in 2009 as the first paleo bakery in the United States, founded by Nik Hawks and Lee Selman out of a home kitchen in the 92116 neighborhood before scaling into a retail storefront at 3275 Adams Ave. Hawks is a Navy veteran who served on the U.S. Navy Pentathlon team, and the business carries veteran-owned and women-owned designations. Every product ships gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, soy-free, and preservative-free, sweetened with maple syrup, coconut sugar, and dates rather than refined sugar, a clean-ingredient standard that parallels the fitness nutrition approach at The Yard Gym Normal Heights where post-workout traffic heads to Adams Avenue for high-protein recovery snacks. The signature Bandito almond butter bar layers dark chocolate over a dense nut-butter base, and the Thug Cake packs a full layered chocolate cake into a single-serving mason jar format that ships without structural collapse. Keto-specific items include protein-packed donuts running four to six net carbs per unit, keto cheesecake slices, and a Churro donut that has become the counter's highest-velocity item. FedEx named Paleo Treats one of the Top 10 Small Businesses in America, a recognition that accelerated the direct-to-consumer shipping program now fulfilling orders to addresses from Australia to Afghanistan. Vegan cake flavors rotate through tiramisu, mixed berry, and key lime, each built on a coconut-cream base that mirrors the richness of dairy without the allergen profile. The plant-based dessert lineup shares shelf logic with the tofu-forward menu at DAO Fu on El Cajon Blvd, where the vegan and allergy-conscious dining scene across University Heights intersects with the same clean-ingredient ethos. Espresso brownies use cold-brew concentrate folded directly into the batter before a low-temperature bake that preserves the caffeine content while setting a fudge-like interior texture.