By Gus Saltonstall
The New Absolute Bagel is set to open in the former Absolute Bagels Upper West Side storefront on December 29, according to an employee and multiple West Side Rag tipsters who spoke to workers on Wednesday.
Nick, who did not want to share his last name, worked as the longtime manager of the original Absolute Bagels and confirmed to the Rag exclusively over text message on Wednesday that the new bagel shop at 2788 Broadway, between West 107th and 108th streets, plans to have its first day of business on December 29. Nick said that he will be working at the new shop.
He added that many of the former Absolute Bagels employees will also be staff members at the New Absolute Bagel, which is its official name as of Wednesday, according to the banner under the store awning.
“Hello, when passing Absolute today, one of the old employees was standing in the door and greeted me,” tipster Paul Martin wrote in an email to the Rag. “He said they are reopening on 12/29.”
A different email tipster who did not share their name added that they also were told on Wednesday the opening date would be December 29, and that “there will be two cash registers,” as opposed to the single register that the original Absolute Bagels had, which appeared to contribute to the store’s frequent long lines.
The New Absolute Bagel has no connection to the Thongkrieng family that ran the original bagel shop for three decades. The new owners are a group of partners who own a small number of bagel stores in New York and New Jersey, but are “not household names,” according to the broker of the property, Rafe Evans.
Absolute Bagels unexpectedly permanently shuttered in December of 2024. It is unclear how much of the old Absolute Bagels equipment will feature in the New Absolute Bagel store.
WSR will visit the storefront on Thursday to try to find out more.
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The dual cash registers are the real news scoop
This is good news. Let’s hope the bagels are as good! The lines will be back in force!
I hope that’s true. The original owner killed that place for no reason. He could have just sold it to the employees who would have kept it running.
Did they get the original Absolute’s recipes? That’s what made for the long lines.
Hope these people who worked there before have cleaner habits than before!