“My grandfather was a baker, and so we were inspired by my grandfather,”Haruni said. “Growing up, we always had bagels. My uncles owned bagel shops and pizzerias. So dough has always been our specialty.”
After owning several bagel and pizza businesses in New York, Arizona and Texas, the family opened Classic NY Bagels in Magnolia last May to share their family bagel recipe.
A family affair
Originally from Albania in Southeastern Europe, Lala moved to the U.S. at the age of 17 where he lived above the pizzeria he worked at.
Forty-six years later, Lala opened several bagel shops and pizzerias, including Brothers Pizza and passed along his perfected dough recipe and businesses to his family. Destined to be in the bagel business, the family has several members with bagel shops across the country.
On the menu
Classic NY Bagels prides itself on its freshly baked bagels made daily from scratch with no preservatives. The bagel shop bakes 500-600 bagels daily with special ingredients imported from New Jersey. Any leftovers are donated to local nonprofits.
“We take each bagel from the dough in the tray and just plop it in to boil for a few seconds, then we throw them on our bagel boards to bake, and that's what makes them so crisp on the top but soft in the middle, which a true New York bagel always has,” Haruni said.
To support its community, the local bagel shop offers first responder, student and teacher discounts, and holds community events throughout the year.
- 6503 FM 1488, Ste. 407, Magnolia
- http://classicnybagels.kwickmenu.com
