Luly Le Donne

Luly Le Donne has never been one to wait for the perfect moment — she creates it. With a quiet determination and an instinct for figuring things out as she goes, she has spent more than two decades building Argentina Bakery from the ground up.

What began as a small shop with secondhand furniture and a handful of imported goods has grown into one of Irving’s most beloved bakeries. With a brand-new location opening at the end of May just down the road, her story is still unfolding.

Her journey began long before the bakery doors ever opened. “I immigrated from Argentina in 2001,” Luly says. “Like many immigrants, I came here searching for the American Dream.”

She took whatever work she could find, from drying glasses in a restaurant, to cleaning apartments and even driving an ice cream truck. “I truly started from nothing,” she says.

In 2003, she and her mother, a chef and her long-time mentor, opened a tiny storefront selling packaged goods from South America. At the time, Luly didn’t yet know how to bake, but she knew how to pay attention.

She added coffee, brought in bread to resell, and slowly created a space where people wanted to linger. “People started sitting
and staying,” she says. “Before noon, we were already sold out of pastries.”

As the demand grew, so did her resolve. “I realized if I wanted to grow, I needed to learn everything myself,” she says. ” I became a professional Baker under the guidance and passion of a mentor who taught me the craft from the ground up.”

Today, Argentina Bakery is a proud woman-owned, family-run business — one built not with shortcuts, but with perseverance and heart. Every step of its growth reflects Luly’s willingness to take risks and keep going, even when the path forward wasn’t clear.

“There were times I felt exhausted physically, emotionally, and financially,” she says. Still, she pressed on, driven not only by her business, but by her role as a mother. After her divorce, Luly raised her daughter on her own, choosing to be present through every stage of her childhood.

“I was a full-time mom, and that mattered to me,” she says. “I didn’t want to miss those moments.”

Now, as her daughter prepares to graduate, Luly is stepping into a new chapter — one that includes a larger, custom-designed space and a refreshed vision for the future. “It’s scary to take that next step,” she says, “but when it feels scary, I know it’s worth it.”

Ask her favorite item, and her answer comes easily. “The empanadas — they’re my mom’s recipe,” she says. “Continuing that tradition means everything to me.”

That same sense of care extends to her team and customers alike. “The most fulfilling part is seeing people happy,” she says. “That’s what keeps me going.”

More than 20 years in, Luly’s story is a testament that the American Dream is still alive, built one small step at a time.