The Bellaire location has two separate entities: the year-old, classic bagel-focused bakery and the newer restaurant and deli, which opened next door in October. Originally known as Brooklyn Bagel, the business was started in Philadelphia by two brothers looking to fill a hole in the bagel market across the country.
The expansion was not just to capture a new market, but also to catch spillover from the older location, Chief Operating Officer Riana Sherman said.
“The location on Hillcroft [Street] is the little engine that could,” Sherman said. “You back up your seat, and you’re bumping into the next table.”
Seating nearly four times the number of diners, the Bellaire location also added a bar and lounge area.
The menu seeks to live up to the New York in the name, offering matzah ball soup, corn beef sandwiches and authentic New York-style bagels. Both locations have traditional bagel ovens to keep the craft alive, but authenticity comes with a cost; following a break in the original oven, finding replacement parts posed challenges.
“I flew to Chicago to get the part,” CEO Michael Saghian said, “I traveled with an empty suitcase and came back with the part. ... There was one guy in town that I’ve met that knows how to repair these.”
Keeping to tradition is not all there is to the eatery. A new dinner menu will be introduced in February.
“It’s an all-new menu, but you can still get your breakfast and lunch all day, at dinner,” Saghian said.
The restaurant is also partnering with Carnegie Deli, a chain that grew from a small Jewish delicatessen in New York. The partnership provides quintessential Carnegie Deli items, such as corned beef and pastrami.
“We’re still going to keep our identity and who we are, but we’re going to add some of their items to our menu,” Saghian said. “You’ll still be able to get our normal sandwich that you’ve always come in the last 45 years to get.”
New York Eatery
5422 Bellaire Blvd., Bellaire
713-692-2435
www.nybagelsandcoffee.com
Hours: 8 a.m.-4 p.m. daily
