Zelaya’s Bakery has been gaining attention for serving the Hattiesburg community with a variety of treats.
Zelaya’s is a bakery that serves Honduran and Mexican treats. When customers walk into the building, they are hit with the smell of pastries and sugary treats. Then, they are greeted by one of the workers behind the display cases.
In the cases are a variety of treats like cheesecakes, stuffed apples, viral fruit treats and more. They have gained popularity in the ‘Burg and beyond with their trendy eats.
The idea of starting the bakery began with a woman who wanted to make a cake for her husband’s birthday. The owner Anadelia Zelaya searched for an authentilly made Tres Leches cake, but couldn’t find it. Employee Isaac Canela said that she decided to learn how to make it on her own.
“She was looking around, but she couldn’t find one so she took it upon herself to make one, and I think that’s where she kinda found out her passion for baking,” said Canela.
Canela said Anna has had her bakery for three or four years now, and she was able to grow her passion.
“It’s crazy, because you know she started on 4th Street in Hattiesburg about two years ago, and it was a really small bakery and she put her love, her soul into baking every single thing in here,” said Canela.
They have now moved to the Hardy Street location, where they get a lot of attention from people all around.
“It’s become a huge thing, especially from our strawberry dubai cups, and our viral pastries that we’ve created, that’s all homemade. A lot of passion and a lot of work goes into that,” he said.
Issac said that he has grown to love the location because of the people he gets to meet and interact with.
“We’ve had people come five to six hours drive just to come and try our bakery out which is an amazing feeling,” said Canela.
One customer wrote, “Seen this bakery on TikTok. I decided to make to 1.5 hour drive to try out the viral desserts.”
He said he loves hearing their stories and hearing about why they choose to travel so far to experience the bakery. Although most times when people enter the bakery it is Canela’s face they see, he doesn’t actually bake any of the treats or dishes. He gives all the credit to the people in the back for their hard work making all the things they sell. He said he loves working at the bakery and his favorite part is getting to know the customers.
“My favorite part of being in the front is just getting to know our customers and you know getting to know what they’re like and making that bond with our customers,” he said.
Many customers become regulars at the bakery and whenever Zelaya’s releases something new they come to try it. One part of the bakery’s popularity is the customer reviews on social media. People come and try viral treats and Zelaya’s may repost the videos to their social media.
In the 2024 and the 2025 Pine Belt Best awards, Zelaya’s won first place. Canela said that they are working on more of the viral pastries that have become a huge thing in Hattiesburg. He said he loves working at the bakery and is looking forward to it continuing to grow.
“A lot of people usually ask me why I am always here, but that’s because I genuinely love working here, it’s a huge thing. I love seeing what goes on behind the scenes of making every single dessert. That’s what I love,” he said.
