La Estrella Bakery celebrates 4 decades of serving Tucson with traditional Mexican pastries

Since 1986, La Estrella has been a go-to for traditional Mexican pastries in the city.

“Our goal has always been to be a part of the community,” said Isabel Montaño, who runs the daily operations at all four La Estrella locations. “We want to maintain and preserve the original recipes that came from our family.”

Montaño said her family, which started the business 40 years ago, wants to keep it going for generations to come.

“We have to make sure that we don’t lose the culture and traditions,” she said. “If we can get the youth interested in this line of work, the youth need to be educated and have the passion and love for baking.”

Over the course of 40 years, La Estrella has been dedicated to maintaining culture, values and heritage through baking signature items like Hebillas, a sweet donut-like pastry covered in white, pink, brown, blue and green frosting.

Founded by Antonio and Marta Franco, Montaño’s parents, the business started out of a desire to bring traditional Mexican bakeries back to Arizona border towns, she said.

Today, Montaño and her siblings, Erica and Jorge, carry on the family tradition.

The business will celebrate its 40th anniversary in October.

Always fresh

La Estrella bakes everything fresh on a daily basis and doesn’t use any pre-made ingredients. That kind of dedication is what Sebastian Montaño, Isabel’s son and a third generation baker, is most proud of.

“What makes it stand out to me is the family aspect of it,” he said.

He has worked for his family since he was 6 years old.

“It’s been a great opportunity for not only for the family, but also for my personal development,” he said.

Lori Aranas, manager of La Estrella’s North Grande Avenue location, said at La Estrella “they make us feel like family.”

That family feeling has helped the business grow year by year, she said, and the bakers work together as a team to ensure that customers come back time and again, too.

Even with economic ups and downs over the past 40 years, Aranas said people continue to come to the bakery because “everyone needs their breads and their tortillas.”

“It’s a big cultural thing,” she said.

One of those loyal customers is Peggie Allen, who has been shopping at the bakery for 16 years.

“They have such a variety that you don’t find in the grocery store, and I love all the unique things that they have,” she said.

Allen believes La Estrella s has been successful for so long because the products are both freshly made and unique.

“You can come in and get fresh tortillas that were made today and pastries that were made fresh this morning,” she said.

That’s part of why Sebastian Montaño believes that La Estrella has a bright future.

“What really holds us together is the community,” he said. “We owe a great amount of our success to the community and we owe to our customers.”