The first thing that hits you when you walk into the Zaro’s Family Bakery facility in Elmsford is the smell–warm, intoxicating, unmistakably real. Butter, yeast, sugar, chocolate. The air hums with movement: massive mixers churning dough, conveyor belts gliding cakes from station to station, workers braiding challah with a speed and precision that feels almost choreographed. Hairnets are required, and I’m quickly handed one, instantly feeling a little like I’ve wandered onto the set of “I Love Lucy”.
Brian Zaro, one of three brothers now running the family business, offers to show me around. “Would you like a tour?” he asks, already smiling. He’s approachable and sincere–greeting workers by name, stopping to chat, checking in.
After the tour, Brian’s dad Stuart Zaro joins us, along with Brian’s brothers, Scott and Michael (“Mike”). They fill in details for each other and tease one another with an ease born of long familiarity. This is not just a bakery. It’s a family and a legacy that, despite operating on a national scale, remains closely connected to a Westchester town some of them still call home.
For residents of Armonk, the Zaro name is familiar. Stuart Zaro, the current family patriarch, has lived in Armonk for almost 50 years with his wife Keri. Their sons – Brian, Mike, Scott, and AJ, who is not in the business, – were raised there, growing up in Windmill, riding bikes through the neighborhood, and attending Byram Hills from kindergarten through graduation. Today, as the fourth generation to steward Zaro’s Family Bakery, they carry not only a family tradition but also the imprint of a community that helped shape them.
A Family Business
The Zaro story begins nearly a century ago, when Stuart’s grandfather–Joseph Zarobchik, known as Yosel–immigrated from Poland in the early 1920s. He arrived alone, leaving behind his wife and four children, working tirelessly for years to send money home before finally bringing his family to the United States in 1929. Life was not easy. The bakery he operated with a partner doubled as living quarters: one family worked while the other slept upstairs, then they switched.
“He was a good man,” Stuart recalls. “He worked really hard.” Stuart remembers the first bakery on Kingsbridge Road in the Bronx as a true family operation. All the baking happened in the back of the store, which they called “the factory.” He still pictures his grandfather – wounded in World War I and walking with a limp – carrying 100-pound bags of flour over his shoulder, work Stuart says he could never have done himself. His grandmother stayed at the cash register, following a simple rule: you keep family there, because that’s how a business survives.
That work ethic became the family’s currency. Stuart’s father, Phil, expanded the business throughout the Bronx, eventually owning as many as 17 bakeries. But it was Phil’s bold move in 1977–opening a bakery inside Grand Central Terminal–that transformed Zaro’s from a neighborhood staple into an institution. At the time, quality food in transit hubs was nearly nonexistent. Hot dogs ruled. Zaro’s offered hot bagels, fresh bread, and something approaching comfort in the rush of daily commuting. The store never plateaued. It just kept growing.
That willingness to innovate–while staying true to fundamentals–has been passed down through generations. Today, the brothers oversee a multifaceted operation that includes retail locations, supermarket distribution, licensed airport bakeries, and an expanding presence on college campuses.
The Tour: Craft at Scale
We stop at the challah station, where a group of women braid loaves with practiced ease. One pauses to show me how it’s done, patiently guiding me step by step as I attempt my own braid. Nearby, raw bagels rest in a refrigerator, developing flavor before being boiled and baked.
“Withstanding the heat in the room where the bagels are made is the toughest job in the company,” Brian explains, pointing to the hot bagel oven–400 degrees, rotating decks, burlap strips that help create the signature crust. “Everyone thinks it’s the water. That helps, sure. But it’s really about boiling the bagels. That’s what makes a New York bagel a New York bagel.”
“I grew up visiting the old Bronx bakery, watching workers at long wooden tables, each moving at their own pace,” Brian says. “Today’s bakery is far more efficient, with conveyor belts, packaging machines, and a controlled proofing room that creates the ideal conditions for the challah to rise.”
We pass chocolate cakes baking, rugelach and croissants moving through the pastry line, and black-and-white cookies being iced entirely by hand. Even as automation has increased efficiency, many processes remain intentionally human. “We make most of our products by hand,” Mike later says. “There will always be a hand touch at the end to make it special.”
The freezer–vast, warehouse-sized–holds the key to national distribution, allowing Zaro’s to ship products across the country. It’s meticulously organized, much like the storage area filled with flour, sugar, coffee, and packaging supplies. The care is evident everywhere.
Equally evident is the respect for people. Zaro’s partners with The ARC Westchester, employing neurodivergent individuals in roles that suit their strengths. Brian greets each worker warmly, clearly proud of the team. “We love all our people. We wouldn’t be sitting here today if it wasn’t for them,” he says.
Brothers, Roles, & Realignment
Running a family business with siblings is not for the faint of heart. The Zaro brothers are candid about that. “It wasn’t always easy,” Mike admits. There were periods of tension, uncertainty, and growing pains. What changed was clarity.
Scott, who oversees corporate retail, describes himself as “the point guard.” Brian focuses on business development and licensing, dealing with partners on college campuses and the airport space. Mike leads manufacturing and supermarket operations. He is their road warrior, traveling around the country and meeting with buyers. Once responsibilities were clearly delineated and the future direction aligned–supermarkets, campuses, licensed operations–the friction eased.
PHOTO BY CATHY PINSKY
“I get to go to work every day with my two brothers,” Scott says. “What’s better than that?”
It was never a foregone conclusion that the brothers would work in the bakery. Mike worked for twelve years on television commercials and at an ad agency before joining the family enterprise. Brian recalls telling his college friends that he was “definitely not” joining the business. Scott worked in finance for a couple of years before coming aboard. Their father wasn’t always enthusiastic about them joining the business. “It’s a hard business,” Stuart says plainly. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. There were years when a missing delivery driver or a broken door meant a 2 a.m. phone call and a mad dash to fix it. The pandemic brought those challenges to an entirely new level.
Weathering the Storm
COVID-19 nearly brought the business to its knees. With commuter traffic vanishing overnight, Grand Central–long the company’s strongest retail location–was suddenly quiet. “If there were 500,000 people a day coming through, now there were 50 people,” Stuart recalls. “It was really scary.”
What saved them was diversification–and stubborn resolve. Landlords worked with them. Retail stores kept things afloat. And the family made the decision to push forward rather than fold. Airport locations, though logistically challenging, proved successful. College campuses offered a new avenue for growth, introducing Zaro’s to students looking for something authentic, not corporate. “We fit this need,” Scott says. “Family. Handmade. New York.” They currently deliver fresh bakery product to five college campuses and are set to open their biggest Zaro’s yet this fall at Montclair State, with additional Zaro’s planned in other campuses in the years ahead.
“It’s all about innovating the brand,” says Mike. “Grandpa Phil’s innovation was opening in the terminals. We did college campuses, airports, expanding supermarket and getting into big box – we just rolled out nationwide in Target, which is so exciting.”
Armonk Roots, Byram Hills Bonds
For all the national expansion, the brothers’ stories repeatedly circle back to Armonk. Growing up in Windmill meant freedom–bike rides, afternoons at the Windmill Club, punch cards for chicken fingers. It was a pre-phone, pre-tablet childhood, anchored by community. “My best friends are still my Byram Hills friends,” Scott says. Brian agrees. “I truly loved growing up in Armonk. I loved my high school experience.”
Teachers left lasting impressions: Mr. Montgomery’s no-nonsense English class, Joy Varley’s demanding but transformative chorus program, coaches who taught discipline and teamwork. Favorite teachers and coaches that left an indelible mark were Matt Allen and Ted Repa. Lacrosse, basketball, soccer–sports were a shared language, another thread tying them to their peers and Armonk. The brothers lovingly banter with one another and their dad while they go down memory lane reminiscing about their teachers and past escapades. I feel as if I have been invited into a warm family dinner.
As Stuart looks on with pride, soaking in the love and camaraderie between his sons, he says “I knew all their friends when they were five. Now I see them as adults with children of their own.” Today, even though Brian lives in Chappaqua, Mike in Bedford, and Scott in New York City, Armonk remains a touchstone. They’re back often–for family, for friends, for Fortina, Koku, and local bakeries they genuinely admire. The town is part of their identity.
Staying True
One of the clearest throughlines in the Zaro story is an insistence on quality. Real butter. Real chocolate. Cream cheese, not substitutes. Non-GMO certified bread. In an industry increasingly dominated by additives and shortcuts, Zaro’s has held the line–even as ingredient costs have skyrocketed.
“People aren’t afraid of sugar or butter,” Mike says. “They just want to know they are eating the real stuff.” That commitment resonates with buyers across the country, many of whom are surprised by the difference. “There’s so much mediocre product out there,” he adds. “When people taste something made the right way, it floors them.”
A Father’s Pride
As the interview winds down, the question turns to Stuart. How does it feel, watching his three sons run the business together? “You have no idea,” he says. He admits he worried about conflict. Seeing them find their footing, especially through the darkest days of the pandemic, has been deeply meaningful.
Brian credits his dad. “Most people would have folded. He didn’t want to see this business die.”
Indulgence and Discipline
Everyone has a favorite Zaro’s treat. Brian reaches for an everything bagel toasted with scallion cream cheese, loves the pretzel, and admits a soft spot for a rainbow sprinkle cookie. Scott also favors the pretzel – which he calls the best in New York – along with the chocolate chip scone. Mike’s go-to is the fudge brownie, while Stuart prefers the classic black-and-white cookie.
All four stay active enough to occasionally indulge. Mike is preparing for his fourth Ironman triathlon. Brian is an avid cyclist, Scott focuses on weightlifting and running, and Stuart spent years cycling before recovering from a series of injuries.
More Than a Bakery
Zaro’s is approaching its 100th year–four generations, countless early mornings, millions of baked goods. It’s a story of immigration and grit, of innovation and adaptation, of big family decisions and family loyalty. “Family is what we are all about – it’s what our business has been all about,” says Stuart.
For Armonk, the Zaro brothers represent something quietly powerful: proof that a small-town upbringing and a dedication to family can lead to extraordinary reach. Their success is not separate from their roots–it’s built on them.
As Brian puts it, when asked how he hopes customers feel walking into a Zaro’s: “That we make their day just a little bit better.” It’s a modest goal. And perhaps that’s why it’s worked for nearly a century.
