By Scott Etkin and Lisa Kava
Popup Bagels, the award-winning bagel shop, is opening at 338 Columbus Avenue on the corner of West 76th Street in March or April. Popup is unique in that it sells only freshly made whole bagels and schmear, not sandwiches or even drinks. “We bring back the old school bagel line where you get a hot bagel. We don’t do anything else. We don’t toast, we don’t slice,” said Adam Goldberg, in a call with West Side Rag. “We like to think that we’re bringing back a bagel from 70 or 80 years ago when they weren’t oversized, dense pieces of bread.”
Popup was started in Connecticut, and while many New Yorkers tend to be skeptical of bagels from outside the five boroughs, it has won top prizes at Brooklyn’s annual Bagelfest competition. Goldberg started baking as a hobby during the pandemic in 2020, when he had a very different career as a flood mitigation specialist. He has since opened six bagel shops, including three in Connecticut and one in New York City just south of Washington Square Park, which is known to have lines around the block. “We’ve had a lot of customers drive in the early morning from the Upper West Side to Greenwich to pick up bagels from us,” said Goldberg. The UWS location will likely have some tables outside, but no indoor seating. “We love the proximity to families in the neighborhood as well as to the Park,” he said. The space has been vacant in recent years, but used to be a Starbucks. (Thanks to Yael for the tip.)
Gelato Factory opened on December 22nd on Broadway between West 78th and 79th streets in the Apthorp building. The shop makes gelato fresh daily on the premises and is open from 9 a.m. to midnight. The UWS shop is the second for Gelato Factory — they also have one in New Jersey, a clerk told the Rag. Vegan and sugar-free gelato flavors are available and all sorbet flavors are dairy-free. Gelato Factory also serves fresh-made crepes, milkshakes, and soft drinks. Among the gelato and sorbet flavors are: Rum Raisin, Cherry Mania, Pecan Pie, Chocolate Wafer, Tiramisu, Birthday Cake, Mint Chocolate Chip, Lemon Mint Sorbet, and many more. The space takes over part of the old Apthorp Pharmacy location. (Thanks to Karin and Josh for the tips.)
City Coffee Bar, a café, opened last week at 914 Columbus Avenue between West 104th and 105th Streets. They serve breakfast, lunch, and pastries from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. “We have free Wi-Fi and are laptop friendly,” said the manager in a call with WSR. “We’re a spot for you to do your job or study and feel like home.” City Coffee Bar also plans to open a full bar at night once they receive their liquor license. (Thanks to Daniel for the tip.)
Eats on Columbus Marketplace is coming to 501 Columbus Avenue (84th Street), in the former spot of the New Parisian Deli, which closed in June after 40 years at that location. The space has been thoroughly renovated. Owner Anoer Alkandi told West Side Rag he hopes to open either Friday, January 5th or Monday, January 8th. Eats on Columbus will be a “bodega style” deli and will serve fresh sandwiches, salads, smoothies, and juice for take out, as well as a selection of organic fruit and vegetables. Catering services will be offered, which will feature crudité and fruit platters in addition to sandwiches. They do not plan to stock beer. Alkandi is one of seven brothers who own approximately 14 delis throughout New York City. He opened Simply Gourmet at 494 Amsterdam Avenue (84th Street) three years ago. He will offer a 10% discount to police officers. “We are here for the neighborhood,” Alkandi told WSR in a phone call.
Züri-Coffee is opening in the small corner space that was formerly Blank Street Coffee at West 79th Street and Broadway. We’ll provide an update when more information is available. (Thanks to Andrew and Jackie for the tips.)
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““We’ve had a lot of customers drive in the early morning from the Upper West Side to Greenwich to pick up bagels from us,” said Goldberg.”
This is a teeeeeeny bit silly, but it can’t hurt to have another good bagel place around.
Take a drive to Utopia Bagels in Whitestone Queens, as I did last week, sometimes hopping in a car to get amazing bagels can be worth it!
Utopia is opening a shoppe in Manhattan, Murray Hill ( East 34th street I believe )- Coming soon !
Sounds like a lie to me LMAO
RIP Lenny’s, RIP Columbia bagel
RIP Lenny’s 😔😔😔
The problem is, they’re not that good. They’re great right out of the oven, in store (and what bagel isn’t!), but after about two hours, they’re hard as rocks. Still, if this location opening makes lines at Absolute and Bagel Talk shorter, I’m all for it…
Some people travel for food. I am one of those 🙂 I once took my car and drove to Philly when I learned that a chef whose cooking I loved moved there from NYC and opened a small restaurant. That is just one of many examples.
I do, too, but you can get an excellent version of what they’re selling right in the neighborhood. Still, to each their own.
Totally agree. Anyone who would drive from the UWS to Greenwich for bagels is nuts. Not like we don’t have decent bagels here.
They are basically a block over from Bagel Talk, which is a good bagel spot. I think there is plenty of room for both.
I giggled at that one too.
To drive from the Upper West Side to Greenwich, CT for bagels… I can’t stop laughing.
A teeny? More like a tony. Goldberg had no need for the added hyperbolic drama to sell bagels in Manhattan. We buy them off a two-wheeled cart if we have to.
“We have free Wi-Fi and are laptop friendly,” said the manager in a call with WSR. “We’re a spot for you to do your job or study and feel like home.”
Always puzzling that it is OK to sit with a laptop for hours – and no place to sit for people who’d like to eat?
Any news re: opening date of the new Morton Williams at Broadway and 69th or what’s taking the space at the old Rite Aid at Amsterdam between 70th and 71st?
OPENING FALL 2023 😆
Sign posted today. Opening January 26
It was reported by Patch in March 2023 that H Mart will be moving into the former Rite Aid.
I thought HMart was moving into the former Lowes.
Nope, check the Patch article
A bagel place that doesn’t toast or slice bagels, or sell coffee?
Hard pass. Too many other cafés every other block that will provide the basics.
Back in the day, asking for your bagel to be toasted was taken as an insult – it suggested the bagels were not fresh. It outed you as someone not from NY.
But no coffee?!
Unless they rented the whole corner, there is empty space next store. It might be enterprising for someone to open up there for the sole purpose of finishing off the bagels bought at Popup and serving beverages. They could even stock the bagels made next door and make it one-stop shopping.
Only freshly made whole bagels and schmear? You have to cut the bagels to schmear them. Schmear is the cream cheese on a bagel.
Someone got confused in the write-up.
I think the original H&H around 81 and Broadway was the same? Just a bag of.bagels (and whatever you wanted on the side, from the side fridge case).
H&H made its money by wholesaling. Selling retail from the storefront was its cash cow that likely went unreported given all the tax and legal problems that eventually sunk the company.
100% correct. It was great. Go in. Get your bagels. Get out. You can do the rest by yourself at home.
I hate going into a bagel place trying to get in and out quickly and someone is taking an hour dictating exactly how they want their bagel scooped out, how long it should be toasted, how much cream cheese they want, exactly how they want their coffee, etc. Do it on your own time. Or else they should have an express lane for the rest of us.
The original H&H was like this and they were amazing. Popup has a great reputation so they’re certainly worth a try.
Nothing in the 90s but smoke shops. What is going on up here??
Very impressed with the Gelato ice cream store on Broadway off West 79th. Took my Nephew who was staying with me for Xmas break and we ended up there every night. Fresh and yummy!
This store is not very mindful of its impact on the community environment when it keeps its doors wide open while running its HVAC system. There’s a law against doing this when the AC is running and the same should apply to heating systems.
I thought it opened December 22nd. They had A/C running?
HVAC means heating, ventilation and air conditioning….something was running. The temperature change that results from keeping their doors open also affects the energy needed to store their gelato indoors.
In an aside, I don’t see people really walking the walk when it comes to what they say is important about conserving energy to save the planet. The same people that push the green agenda don’t know how to use a light switch.
A new full-serve deli has just opened at 104th and Broadway in Suba Pharmacy’s old spot. Bright and clean inside.
What’s the name of this joint?
I believe there’s a bagel place already on Columbus Ave, close by…..Another example of unnecessary doubling of stores on the same avenue selling the same thing, while Broadway in the 60’s-low 70’s languishes for food shops. Looking forward to Rossner’s although it seems a cool day in hell when it will open on 72nd and WEA.
do you mean Kossars ?
FYI, Just Salad around 70th has reopened after remodeling. They now have a few tables and chairs for the first time.
They used to have a counter and chairs pre-Covid and then that shut down.
Sad to see that once *again* the fruit/veg stand on Broadway between 77&78th is gone.
They’d opened back up top of December but I walked by a few days before Christmas and they’re gone again. They were the best guys and I stopped there often. I’m so curious what’s going on.
They overstepped their boundaries and operated as if laws didn’t apply to them. Also, their heap of a supply truck was always parked there depriving others of using the parking spaces. There should be no justification or tolerance for those who can’t play on a level playing field. Brick and mortar stores get hurt in the end.
I read that they were shut down in November because they were encroaching too much on the sidewalk/going beyond their allotted space. But when they reopened in December their footprint was dramatically smaller/downsized. Do you have more information to back up what you’re saying or is this just your opinion?
these Turkish guys were so kind and always cheerfully happy to help us. Please, does anyone know where they have gone? Today. I see vendor on NW corner 70th/Bway gone. What is going on?
West Side Rag forgot to mention the 1,276 illegal weed shops that have opened on the UWS last month. Just because they are illegal and bring nothing good to the neighborhood, doesn’t mean we should ignore them like the police do. Maybe Deputy Inspector Candida Sullivan running the show over at the 20th precinct can actually enforce the law. Wouldn’t that be odd? Enforce laws. NYC can shutter any restaurant at any moment for being dirty, but are unable to shutter an illegal business. Why turn a blind eye Deputy Inspector Candida Sullivan?
I walk by these stores all the time and there’s no disturbance or commotion. They’re not causing trouble. And there are still no legal stores more than three years after legalization.
How bout that charming looking “Exotic Snack” just opened on Broadway and 92nd? Why do they all have to look like absolute trash? The cannabis stores in LA look like med spas.
Not that I disagree with you about the proliferation of sketchy weed shops, but for heaven’s sake give the new DI Sullivan a chance to get her bearings! She’s got a tough job and I wish her all the best as she gets to know the neighborhood and its issues.
I just saw a cannabis store on Columbus near the AMNH that had a sticker on the door saying it had been shut down for unlicensed pot sales, so it seems that at least some enforcement is getting started. It’s no secret that the NYS legal cannabis rollout has been a mess, but hopefully they’ll get there eventually.
They get shut down but reopen days later still proudly displaying the notice. It’s like this all over the city. They close for a day or two and then restock and reopen.
As a regular reader I can assure they didn’t forget to mention these gray market hazards. This is a column dedicated to openings and closing announced in the past week. Agree re the shops but make sure you know the site before criticizing the editors.
I am excited about Eats on Columbus! From my peaks in they have done a nice job in there. Now can someone tell me what’s going on the south corner of 84 by the karate studio?? A few months ago someone reported it as a jewelry store but no new news or progress since
The new store on the corner of 104 and Broadway is NOT a smoke shop after all. It’s a deli. Just opened, so please WSR, feature it next week!
It is actually 1/2 smoke shop, the northern half of Mr Suba’s former store. The deli is only the corner portion of what used to be the pharmacy
We need a bagel spot in Lincoln square. Plenty of open space along Broadway. Next to the new Amorino maybe.
Please open something north of 96th Street.
Tal Bagels are the best in NYC