ON THE MENU — Milan Bakery & Coffee offers plenty of great tastes in Port Arthur
Published 12:38 am Tuesday, January 24, 2023
Xiomara Portillo displays the quesadilla at Milan Bakery & Coffee. (Clayton Eaves/Special to The News)
Milan Bakery & Coffee features a sleek, modern design, along with plenty of sunlight and greenery. (Clayton Eaves/Special to The News)
Xiomara Portillo works behind the counter at Milan Bakery & Coffee. (Clayton Eaves/Special to The News)
Milan Bakery & Coffee is located at 7217 9th Avenue in Port Arthur. (Clayton Eaves/Special to The News)
Milan Bakery & Coffee can be reached at 409-344-9043. (Clayton Eaves/Special to The News)
The bakery includes baked items and features coffee, teas and milkshakes, among other items. (Clayton Eaves/Special to The News)
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With a friendly smile and a floured apron, Xiomara Portillo stands proudly in her new bakery.
“It is very pretty, you think so?” she asked, as she called her husband from the kitchen to join her at her side.
Portillo and her husband Jose, recently opened Milan Bakery & Coffee at the old Grandma’s Country Cooking location on 9th Avenue in Port Arthur.
Named after their young son, the restaurant features a sleek, modern design, along with plenty of sunlight and greenery.
From the golden-edged table tops to the stained wooden backdrop behind the counter, the bakery is gorgeous. Tall glass cabinets filled with freshly baked bread line the right-hand wall of the entryway.
To the left, glass-windowed walls and round tables with green velvet chairs await friendly customers to sit and dine.
“I picked everything out myself,” Portillo said of the décor.
She enjoys seeing the look on customers’ faces when they walk in, and wants everyone to feel like they’re in a beautiful environment.
Jose is the head baker, and his Honduran family recipes inspired the couple to open the location.
“We specialize in bread,” he said. “This is a place to come by and get your bread for the week, or to bring your family in, sit down, and enjoy a coffee.”
Specialize is the right word, considering the couple’s star of the show on the menu — the quesadilla.
This is our famous dish. You have to take my picture with it,” Xiomara Portillo insisted.
Now, this isn’t the traditional Mexican-style “quesadilla” that Southeast Texans are familiar with. Instead, this family recipe is a moist, Parmesan cheese-infused cake topped with sesame seeds that blow the taste buds right off the tongues of customers. This treat sits among several sweet delights on the menu, including conchitas, cinnamon rolls, Philadelphia bread, Nuez pancakes, churro toast, crepes and more.
The restaurant also features coffee, teas and milkshakes.
The Portillos hope to expand in the future with more locations to bring a twist of Honduran cuisine to Southeast Texas, but said they’re quite pleased right where they are and feel very confident in the success of their first location.
Milan Bakery & Coffee can be reached at 409-344-9043 and milanbakery2022@gmail.com.
Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays to Saturdays.
– By Clayton Eaves
