Bagels Boom in Philadelphia

You might not know it, but bagels are kind of a big deal. Certain areas of the country – New York City, most prominently – are known for the diversity and deliciousness of their rounded bread products, and those that love bagels tend to dismiss inferior iterations with a carb-y snobbishness. Unfortunately, until fairly recently, Philadelphia has been something of a bagel wasteland. We got our bagels from places like Dunkin’ Donuts, places where the quality of the bagels wasn’t a high priority. Now, a whole new group of artisanal bagel-makers are doing their best to turn Philadelphia into a bagel hot zone.

For too long bagels have been pushed aside as just another commodity in the Philly breakfast scene. Now they are getting their chance to shine.

In Fishtown, the aptly-named Philly Style Bagels is running as a pop-up shop out of Pizzeria Beddia’s building. As reported by Philly.com, one recent Sunday morning saw a line snake out the door and down the block, as hungry consumers waited to get a taste of one of Collin Shapiro and Jonathon Zilber’s gourmet offerings, which are boiled in water sweetened with Yards beer instead of the more traditional honey. At Philly Style Bagels, the everything bagel comes with all the normal toppings, plus mustard seed and red pepper flakes for extra oomph.

Then there’s Spread, run in Rittenhouse Square by Larry Rosenblum. Rosenblum, who formerly worked in NYC five days a week, used to bring his friends and family home delicacies on the weekend, and found that one of the most common requests was New York-style bagels. Now, his own eatery serves smaller Montreal-style bagels sweetened with honey water and baked in a wood-fired oven in small batches. Spread is so successful that he’s planning on opening a West Philly location in the spring.

The original Philly.com article contains reviews of ten local Philly bagel shops. There’s no time like the present to grab a delicious treat!