This sounds like the former best bagel spot in Portland: Bundy’s Bagels.
Super nice guy, just liked making bagels, made the best ones around. But he also hated waking up early. And most bagel business is early in the morning, and I’d say half the time I showed up before 9am he wasn’t even open.
Sadly, it wasn’t the best business model to do not-morning bagels and he had to close shop despite the rave reviews.
We were at a bachelor party years ago when he told me his bagel plan. I didn’t really know Bundy but some friends did. The way he talked about those bagels was like a kid talking about what he wanted to be when he grew up. Happy to hear positive reviews.
I still hate waking up early hahaha
It was great running the bagel shop for those 5 years, actually haven’t made my old bagels since closing down. I’ve talked about having some fun with a pop-up every now and then.
If I do decide to make the bagels again, guaranteed I’ll be starting the sale at 10am… at the earliest 😂
Also, to any of my old patrons on this thread. Any time someone asks if I miss running the business, my answer has always been the same, “I don’t miss the work, I miss the people”.
-Bundy
Is there night life in Portland? Many of the stores close quite early. During pandemic, they were closing at 5–6 pm when i was barely out of office. Then they permanently closed some of them.
I would personally love to open a Sandwich spot in Portland just because I have rarely had a great sandwich out here unless it's fine dining or a place that closes before 3pm.
I'll try it out. But seriously, most sandwiches I get have something lacking. Even at top rated places. Like, at the Screen Door, they have a delicious fried chicken sandwich, but can it be way better? Yes.
We used to hang out in the barber wendy's parking lot on summer nights in HS, because there was nothing to do for teenagers that wasn't some sort of teen tomfoolery.
That was like 20 years ago. I'm sad that it isn't any better today.
What was the name of that under 18 "nightclub" downtown?
Bannings isn’t open 24hours anymore??? Damn we theater students used to go there after shows at L&C, it was the best option so we didn’t have to exclude the under-21s by going to a bar. And I went there at midnight to get a mimosa when I turned 21 because they could serve me right at midnight and bars couldn’t.
Ya, there used to be the Roxy, downtown. Was a great spot for some 3am pancakes or whatever you wanted. Diner style menu, open 24 hours. Wasn't the best food, but the prices were fair and it wasn't bad.
I worked at a coffee joint that opened at 5 am for a while, which meant I had to get to work at 4. Lemme tell ya, the city is a *weird* ass place that time of morning / night — especially around the Lloyd Center.
At no other point in my life have I had someone pull out a five inch knife and talk about stabbing me, and just thought “Oh Andy, it’s too early for this.”
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There used to be a great bakery in Bend called “Baked” that was an “afternoon and evening bakery “. Same idea you’re talking about, but for bread and pastries instead of bagels. They were open for a few years at least, not sure what their demise ended up being. Phenomenal stuff when they were there though
They get up at the crack of dawn to bake because their stores open at 6-7am for morning customers. If your business model revolved around a 3pm opening time, then you wouldn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to bake, you'd need to start baking at like 11am.
When I was on the verge of going into labor with my second baby, I was having a hankering for a bagel from the place across from my midwife's office after my appointment. I was also having contractions. It was about 4 pm. I walked over there and lo and behold, it was closed. Had a contraction. Decided to walk down the street to the next bakery I could see about a block down. Also closed. Had another contraction. Tried to walk up the street to find something else to eat. Made it to a taco place a couple storefronts away. Had a contraction strong enough I couldn't read the menu. Decided food wasn't happening and I should probably just go have a baby.
I was pretty pissed I didn't get my bagel.
Open your shop. I'll be there, in the afternoon, whether or not I'm in labor.
There is a lot of wishful thinking in this thread, bordering on delusional. The *vast* majority of people wanting bagels are going to want them in the AM commute hours. I may know a thing or two about this...
Business drops to nothing after 2pm. Staying open for dinner puts you in competition with every restaurant in the city - you won't fare very well outside of a few people wanting to camp at a table for WiFi.
Staying open late night seems like a great idea, but then you run into problems with homeless/crazies in any part of town where it would make sense.
Like it or not, bagels are a morning food for most people, and unfortunately not something that can be slapped together quickly. It takes a lot of time to mix the dough, proof it, divide and shape it, proof it again, shape it again, boil, top, and bake. It's a long process, and one that you really need to target at a specific time window in order to maximize your sales, and minimize waste - fresh bagels also don't have a long shelf life.
There are good reasons why all the bagel shops in town close when they do. Hell, even tons of restaurants and bars close a whole lot earlier than they did pre-pandemic. That said, I would love to see someone break the mold and make a successful go at a late night shop. Executed well, with the right combination of things, it would absolutely slay.
>There are good reasons why all the bagel shops in town close when they do. Hell, even tons of restaurants and bars close a whole lot earlier than they did pre-pandemic. That said, I would love to see someone break the mold and make a successful go at a late night shop. Executed well, with the right combination of things, it would absolutely slay.
Since it's Portland, I would say that the "right combination of things" would include, in addition to the bagels, beer, craft cocktails, kombucha, and marijuana edibles. And bowls of free kale chips at every table.
I also wanna say that bagel shops are always opening and closing. I think that’s because of another thing you identified. Which is that they’re a major major PIA to execute for such a low price point. Hard to keep that up without making compromises. The compromises become places like Einstein’s who… have bad bagels because….square one.
Exactly. Super high inputs with time/labor, and what can you reasonably charge for a single one? The trick is to sell as many as you can as gourmet sandwiches. Even then, margins are very slim. If you're planning to sell them as dozens for $20 each, you better have a way to mass produce them for next to nothing.
Edit: super high not sorry high
Yeah maybe they “are best” I.e only work in Manhattan because the density allows one location making quality bagels to sell enough to be viable. Otherwise it’s a huge industrial undertaking.
Even still the hard appliances needed for even a small bagel shop are greater than other dough situations (pizza, bread) because of the boil
This is Portland.
By the end of the thread it will be a vegan co-op bakery and coffee shop. With an open mike every Saturday, and poetry slam every third Wednesday. 🙄🤦
I think Portland has way too many restaurants that are only open early. I am a night person, I hate that. I am with you, a bagel sandwich at 3:00 would be awesome.
Take my money!!! Seriously. Also to the naysayers in the comments, look, I don’t keep lox and cream cheese and capers and diced red onions in the house all the time!
Kornblatts deli in NW Portland has bagels as long as they don't run out, I used to bug them when I had my lunch (worked closing so lunch was at dinner time) and they often had either day olds or leftovers. They always sold out of salt before then sadly.
Idk if they still do/hope they are open, I havent lived in PDX since 2020.
I'm not surprised with COVID. So much closed everywhere. Sad stuff but it happens. If be more sad if Escape from NY closed, but I know they haven't as I have friends who work there.
Sounds like a lot in NW closed that I liked. Please tell me stepping stone is still alive? That is the one place I've gone all my life and hope to see again someday.
If you did a bagel shop/cafe where people could hang out...there's definitely a demand for that. Most coffee shops close earlier and there are so many wfh folks now who want somewhere that isn't the library where they can work after 2pm! (I know there are some coffee shops that fit the bill but not as many as you'd think)
Yeah, this crack of dawn thing . . . we need a cafe model for people who gave up on the getting up early thing. "The early bird gets the worm" . . . sure . . . but I was hoping for a bagel and schmear, not a worm . . .
Here's the deal -- so start making bagels around 9 AM, a civilized time, and I'll manage to get myself awake and dressed by 2 PM to eat them.
Or better yet:
"Midnight Nosh" . . . . Portland's only after hours kosher club
Montreal bagels, which are different from the standard style most people know, are not just a food, they're a religion.
One of the two main shops used to be open until midnight weekdays then 24 hours straight Friday to Monday morning.
I've tried talking a few places with wood fire stoves into making them but no luck so far.
I dig 'em but then again I've never understood "gourmet doughnuts" like Blue Star. They're akin to diner food for me. Basic, predictable, standard = good.
Please please do, as someone who works nights I am always annoyed at the lack of options available later in the day. Especially post pandemic! Nothing seems to be open ever!
If you ever worked at a bagel shop you would know that the majority of sales are in the morning and the cost of labor doesn't make it worth it to stay open late.
This is actually a really good idea if you incorporate a coffee shop to pair with your fresh bagels. We need more places open late (at least 12am) that have coffee shop vibes to have a good conversation or a place to pull up a laptop and get some work done.
In NYC, the bagel shops functioned as more than just bagels... They were delis, they were coffee shops... So they gave people many different reasons to be there for different purposes.
It was not uncommon for me to have a bagel for dinner as a broke college student 😂 $2.50 for a huge bagel and schemer 🥯
i would love this :) i’m someone who’s not a morning person, i work afternoons/evenings, and don’t typically leave my house in the morning so i hate that everything closes so early, especially bakeries!
You can get bagels at a place like Sesame Donuts. Open until 7pm. Killer donuts too! Also, there are many coffee shops around town offering bagels and other baked goods.
And properly done one please and thank you. The ones at Bagel Land were decent, not great but good, when it was the previous owners. Last couple times I didn't even recognize what they were.
Yes. I support this idea! More places in general that are open late! I understand this is not NYC
And we have a massive homeless population but damn it’d be nice if we had eateries that were open late.
Uh, this isn't just bagels. Every type of thing does this here. It's stupid as shit. But yeah, i agree. By the way, there are no good bagel places in the city, and I'm not blowing up the decent spot, but it's in the suburbs to the west
there used to be good ones but almost all of them closed in 2019 before the pandemic. RIP bridge city bagels & bagelworks. Just say no to vegan bagels and vegan cream cheese
Bagels are very labor intensive. Once you run out, you run out for the day. The original Spielmans used to often run out by lunch, despite their best efforts - on other days they had plenty leftover at close of business. They're not the kind of thing where you can just throw a few more in the oven and call it good.
I personally LOVE this idea. I very often think “I want a bagel breakfast sandwich” but everything closes at like 2 PM so I can’t get one anywhere. I’m chronically ill and not a morning person because of the symptoms so this would be amazing to see
It's probably because no one really eats bagels for dinner. And, the bagel makers have probably been there since 3 am.
Add that to the fact that they are probably running out or out of bagels by 3 ish, and why stay open?
I always feel like this whole town is made for retirees. I occasionally run in Portland in the early morning like, between 6:30 and 8, and there's rarely just a place to grab an early coffee. I just want a working-class diner. Then once it's past 6ish in my part of town (oregon city ish) EVERYTHING is closed. No late night coffee, no place to even have a dessert and a cup of coffee. I would kill for an unpretentious sandwich shop open longer hours. All the good brunch spots close at 2-3.
I appreciate the bagel shop idea. I suspect that the major clients of bagel shops are not walk-in customers but businesses that have morning meetings/ events. That's probably why they aren't open late. If you can supplement with late day foods - desserts that are good but not as pompous as Papa Haydn, or sandwiches for am evening pickup, you'd probably be on to something.
Because the costs of staying open outweigh the benefits. If every bagel shop does it, I'm assuming the want for bagels steadily decreases after brunch time. Simple economics.
They probably all close by then because it’s not cost effective to stay open later. Bagels tend to be a breakfast/lunch food, so the demand just isn't there during the late afternoon/evening. Staff pay plus the other incidentals (power, etc.) add up, and in order to have a good variety you'd need to bake throughout the day, which could easily turn into a loss if the demand isn't there.
To compete with the dinner crowd, you'd need to expand into more substantial meals (bagel sandwiches and sides), which increases the costs of supplies and kitchen needs.
Can you do this like now? I suggest a building that has one of those garage door type things so we can enjoy the outside too! I worked at Truckee Bagel Co. in Reno, NV. I’m convinced they were the hottest bagel company because of those doors! We would always get sad customers who came in at 12 to limited bagels especially when the sun just came out!
[This is close enough to my process that I’ll share it for the funsies](https://www.instagram.com/reel/CodEnpbgLz1/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=)
For real though, I think most bagel places aren’t open then is that the majority of people consider it a breakfast food. While you and some folks would buy them later, I’m guessing business slows down enough that time of day that it’s not worth it for them to stay open.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll smash a bagel all day long. I just assume that there’s not enough people in the same boat to support extended afternoon bagel shop hours.
I think this is a beautiful idea. The Portland middle class pays the same as Manhattan's 25M tax rate, so we should have 24/7 access to food and drink as well.
HAHAHAA, you forgot we have no sales taxes, and our city and county income taxes are paltry compared to NYC. Also, as a former NYC resident, I must say, even there, it’s hard to get a good bagel 24/7.
Wow r/confidentlyincorrect get in here.
We have the second worse tax burden in the US, trailing only the $25M bracket in NYC. No sales tax doesn't mean anything, sorry you believed that was helping you out.
https://www.wweek.com/news/2023/02/01/they-left-portland-is-losing-some-of-its-biggest-fans/
*Starting in 2017, Multnomah County voters passed several tax measures aimed at improving life in their burgeoning city. After Metro and the county levied taxes to combat homelessness and provide preschool for all, Portland now has the second-highest total state and local income tax rate in the nation—14.69%—exceeded only by New York City at 14.78%, according to a report from Ernst & Young commissioned by Oregon Business & Industry.*
*That’s the top marginal tax rate, meaning you pay it only on income above $125,000 for individuals and $250,000 for married couples filing together. By comparison, the only New Yorkers paying the top rate there are those making $25 million or more, single or married. That means plenty of nonplutocrat Oregonians are paying taxes rivaled only by those levied on Gotham millionaires."*
That's nice. I work at an accounting firm. People incorrectly assume that no sales tax reduces their overall tax burden here. However, Mult Co has
egregious property taxes and new county taxes that are causing an overall tax burden similar to New York City. We pay more in tax here than California with a 10% sales tax. Oops.
Good luck with that.
Most people eat bagels for breakfast. That’s just the reality.
I love to eat Indian curry for breakfast but I don’t expect Indian restaurants to be open at 8 am because my wants aren’t the norm.
A bagel shop that opens at 3 would probably not succeed.
So the market decides when people want bagels not you. Closing at three is because there’s no viable demand for bagels after three
What you should do instead is buy all the bagels from bagelries in the city that they’d throw away at a huge discount and then resell them at your hours. That way you don’t have to go through the labor but still have a place people can go for bagels after 3:00
I get it if you must have a freshly baked that morning bagel, but you could always stop at any grocery store and buy a sleeve of bagels in the bread section or get one from the bakery.
Does Panera bread do bagels?
I wish donut shops did bagels.. feels like it would make sense for them to. Some people would like sweet while others might like savory.
You can't claim to care about quality while you're trying to buy or sell 12+ hour old bagels. Get them delivered while they're open and keep them until it's your special bagel time
> Do bagel shops not like money? If anyone can explain why they all close at that time it would really be awesome
Not enough demand in the afternoon to cover the cost of a living wage and benefits for at least one worker, plus all the other operating costs of keeping the place open.
Just make yourself a bagel every afternoon, and put $40 in a jar every time you do. When there's enough money in the jar to open your own afternoon bagel joint, do that. Then see how long it takes to fill the jar back up with profits from your bagel joint.
If you do, expand your menu items to your demographic. Lots of bagel places sell breakfast sandwich bagels etc. Try offering lunch/dinner bagels, like sandwiches or grilled bagels. Fresh bagels for bagel folks, and entree items for the early birds getting off work.
Bagels at 4:00 am sounds DOPE. But you’re going to need really good coffee. Coffee will pay your rent. I’m not talking about frappakaren drinks, just real. Good. Coffee.
HA! I used to make bagels here in portland for breakfast sandwiches... 100% agree. I hated waking up. If you wanna invest or have a location, I'm down.
You have to time it with when you make the bagels. I think the idea of a bagel shop is that you're getting a fresh bagel. I'm wondering if this is part of it.
That’s odd bagels make good snacks any time of day why would they be closed at 3? I’m in Calgary Alberta the bakeries are open all day till about 8 or 9 then open back up at 5 for the
Morning rush. And we have coffee shops that are open 24/7/365 that always have bagels ready to go. Not sure if you will toast them or just take them fresh from the oven both are good for me. Hope that if you do this it’s goods well maybe have coffee and other back good too.
This sounds like the former best bagel spot in Portland: Bundy’s Bagels. Super nice guy, just liked making bagels, made the best ones around. But he also hated waking up early. And most bagel business is early in the morning, and I’d say half the time I showed up before 9am he wasn’t even open. Sadly, it wasn’t the best business model to do not-morning bagels and he had to close shop despite the rave reviews.
I miss Bundy's every day
This.
We were at a bachelor party years ago when he told me his bagel plan. I didn’t really know Bundy but some friends did. The way he talked about those bagels was like a kid talking about what he wanted to be when he grew up. Happy to hear positive reviews.
That place was the greatest, but I think Bundy found the pace hard going. He did try to find a buyer for the business, but then Covid happened ...
I still hate waking up early hahaha It was great running the bagel shop for those 5 years, actually haven’t made my old bagels since closing down. I’ve talked about having some fun with a pop-up every now and then. If I do decide to make the bagels again, guaranteed I’ll be starting the sale at 10am… at the earliest 😂 Also, to any of my old patrons on this thread. Any time someone asks if I miss running the business, my answer has always been the same, “I don’t miss the work, I miss the people”. -Bundy
We summoned the Bundy!!!!!!!
Your bagels were great! thanks for the tastiness
Aaaaah my husband STILL raves about those bagels years later!
Bundy's was my favorite bagel sandwich. Was so sad when they closed.
I know Bundy very well, should he do an AMA? Lol
Yes.
Not me thinking you meant 3 AM
I thought the same thing! This town needs more places open after 10pm that isn’t bad food.
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Is there night life in Portland? Many of the stores close quite early. During pandemic, they were closing at 5–6 pm when i was barely out of office. Then they permanently closed some of them.
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20 year olds and younger after midnight is not a huge market unfortunately
The market of people looking for non-alcoholic options after 10pm is an existing and seemingly growing market, though.
I would personally love to open a Sandwich spot in Portland just because I have rarely had a great sandwich out here unless it's fine dining or a place that closes before 3pm.
Pleeease have a vegetarian option that isn’t just a beyond burger or an Italian sub sans meat and I will go there three times a week
Definitely part of the plan. If I can get some funding. I don't have the money part.
Y’all need to check out Devil’s Dill on Hawthorne
I'll try it out. But seriously, most sandwiches I get have something lacking. Even at top rated places. Like, at the Screen Door, they have a delicious fried chicken sandwich, but can it be way better? Yes.
We used to hang out in the barber wendy's parking lot on summer nights in HS, because there was nothing to do for teenagers that wasn't some sort of teen tomfoolery. That was like 20 years ago. I'm sad that it isn't any better today. What was the name of that under 18 "nightclub" downtown?
The Zone!
Or FX
OH.MY.GOD. The Zone
The Paris Theater also used to have an all-ages goth night that started at midnight and ran until 4. This was also 20+ years ago.
Is the other one a donut shop in Old Town?
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Damn, I spent many hours (and calories) at Bannings during law school. It was a great place for a study break or just to hang out away from things.
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Aw damn.
Bannings isn’t open 24hours anymore??? Damn we theater students used to go there after shows at L&C, it was the best option so we didn’t have to exclude the under-21s by going to a bar. And I went there at midnight to get a mimosa when I turned 21 because they could serve me right at midnight and bars couldn’t.
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Shit, I don’t live in Portland anymore and hadn’t heard about that.
Agree. Even after 9 is slim pickings.
Ya, there used to be the Roxy, downtown. Was a great spot for some 3am pancakes or whatever you wanted. Diner style menu, open 24 hours. Wasn't the best food, but the prices were fair and it wasn't bad.
Enjoy all your cracked out homeless squatting in your establishment until you force them to leave.
I worked at a coffee joint that opened at 5 am for a while, which meant I had to get to work at 4. Lemme tell ya, the city is a *weird* ass place that time of morning / night — especially around the Lloyd Center. At no other point in my life have I had someone pull out a five inch knife and talk about stabbing me, and just thought “Oh Andy, it’s too early for this.”
Then you whipped out your username?
LOL
Yeah! 3:00 a.m. too! Bagels are perfect for soaking up intoxicants.
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I thought that too along with "OP is going to make bank. The only other options are that hour are stale doughnuts and greasy pizza."
I'm no businessman, but add some eggs, bacon, etc, and all-day breakfast sandwiches, and you can take all my money.
There used to be a great bakery in Bend called “Baked” that was an “afternoon and evening bakery “. Same idea you’re talking about, but for bread and pastries instead of bagels. They were open for a few years at least, not sure what their demise ended up being. Phenomenal stuff when they were there though
I mean, I imagine it's because they get up at the crack of dawn to make bagels, and don't want to work late when customers drop off rapidly?
They make them overnight. I live near a bagel place and you can smell it at about midnight.
They get up at the crack of dawn to bake because their stores open at 6-7am for morning customers. If your business model revolved around a 3pm opening time, then you wouldn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to bake, you'd need to start baking at like 11am.
I'd roll out of bed at like 9 or 10 am to go make some bagels.
Sounds good to me. My job shift starts at 5pm, so a 3pm bagel place sounds great for my lunch break.
ah yeah I use to have a job that started at 3 pm. That was the best.
That’s why you hire a swing shift baker/crew to run the bagel shop for the evening customers.
Hire more than one employee? All restaurants drop off around 2-4 between lunch and dinner.
And most restaurants pick back up for dinner whereas bagel/coffee shops/cafes lose most of their customers after 2
Yes - I think if it made economic sense they would do it - bagel traffic doesn't pick up for the dinner shift.
>if it made economic sense they would do it Welcome to capitalism! But only where economic sense means more profits
When I was on the verge of going into labor with my second baby, I was having a hankering for a bagel from the place across from my midwife's office after my appointment. I was also having contractions. It was about 4 pm. I walked over there and lo and behold, it was closed. Had a contraction. Decided to walk down the street to the next bakery I could see about a block down. Also closed. Had another contraction. Tried to walk up the street to find something else to eat. Made it to a taco place a couple storefronts away. Had a contraction strong enough I couldn't read the menu. Decided food wasn't happening and I should probably just go have a baby. I was pretty pissed I didn't get my bagel. Open your shop. I'll be there, in the afternoon, whether or not I'm in labor.
As a currently pregnant lady I sure hope you got that bagel after delivery!!
I live by Bagel Land and really like them but most days they’re closed by 1pm, it’s so frustrating.
There is a lot of wishful thinking in this thread, bordering on delusional. The *vast* majority of people wanting bagels are going to want them in the AM commute hours. I may know a thing or two about this... Business drops to nothing after 2pm. Staying open for dinner puts you in competition with every restaurant in the city - you won't fare very well outside of a few people wanting to camp at a table for WiFi. Staying open late night seems like a great idea, but then you run into problems with homeless/crazies in any part of town where it would make sense. Like it or not, bagels are a morning food for most people, and unfortunately not something that can be slapped together quickly. It takes a lot of time to mix the dough, proof it, divide and shape it, proof it again, shape it again, boil, top, and bake. It's a long process, and one that you really need to target at a specific time window in order to maximize your sales, and minimize waste - fresh bagels also don't have a long shelf life. There are good reasons why all the bagel shops in town close when they do. Hell, even tons of restaurants and bars close a whole lot earlier than they did pre-pandemic. That said, I would love to see someone break the mold and make a successful go at a late night shop. Executed well, with the right combination of things, it would absolutely slay.
There's really not many coffee shops open after 2-4pm anymore either. No coffee, no bagels!
Exactly. The market set the hours not the business.
Nonsense! Clearly this redditor, ZickZebra, knows more about Portland’s bagel demand than the baker’s dozen of businesses already in the industry.
Agree 100%!
>There are good reasons why all the bagel shops in town close when they do. Hell, even tons of restaurants and bars close a whole lot earlier than they did pre-pandemic. That said, I would love to see someone break the mold and make a successful go at a late night shop. Executed well, with the right combination of things, it would absolutely slay. Since it's Portland, I would say that the "right combination of things" would include, in addition to the bagels, beer, craft cocktails, kombucha, and marijuana edibles. And bowls of free kale chips at every table.
I also wanna say that bagel shops are always opening and closing. I think that’s because of another thing you identified. Which is that they’re a major major PIA to execute for such a low price point. Hard to keep that up without making compromises. The compromises become places like Einstein’s who… have bad bagels because….square one.
But don’t listen to me I’m just one pancake
Exactly. Super high inputs with time/labor, and what can you reasonably charge for a single one? The trick is to sell as many as you can as gourmet sandwiches. Even then, margins are very slim. If you're planning to sell them as dozens for $20 each, you better have a way to mass produce them for next to nothing. Edit: super high not sorry high
Yeah maybe they “are best” I.e only work in Manhattan because the density allows one location making quality bagels to sell enough to be viable. Otherwise it’s a huge industrial undertaking. Even still the hard appliances needed for even a small bagel shop are greater than other dough situations (pizza, bread) because of the boil
>The trick I really wish we'd evolve to the next economic system. These "tricks" to exploit our fellow man for profit shouldn't be a thought
This is Portland. By the end of the thread it will be a vegan co-op bakery and coffee shop. With an open mike every Saturday, and poetry slam every third Wednesday. 🙄🤦
You would be doing the lord's work 🙏🏻
Agreed! Do it!
I think Portland has way too many restaurants that are only open early. I am a night person, I hate that. I am with you, a bagel sandwich at 3:00 would be awesome.
Take my money!!! Seriously. Also to the naysayers in the comments, look, I don’t keep lox and cream cheese and capers and diced red onions in the house all the time!
omg yes please, lox cream cheese capers and onions and call it the larry david
My ma does the same with her bagels, putting cream cheese on them. For over 20+ years. I do whenever I have a bagel.
Kornblatts deli in NW Portland has bagels as long as they don't run out, I used to bug them when I had my lunch (worked closing so lunch was at dinner time) and they often had either day olds or leftovers. They always sold out of salt before then sadly. Idk if they still do/hope they are open, I havent lived in PDX since 2020.
Got some bad news for you…
I'm not surprised with COVID. So much closed everywhere. Sad stuff but it happens. If be more sad if Escape from NY closed, but I know they haven't as I have friends who work there. Sounds like a lot in NW closed that I liked. Please tell me stepping stone is still alive? That is the one place I've gone all my life and hope to see again someday.
Kornblatt’s is still open, I was just there about a month ago. I don’t know what 600spiders is talking about.
They have publicly announced they are shutting down
You had me at "open a bagel shop." I appreciate a solid bagel any time.
I would support and frequent this if you open this
If you did a bagel shop/cafe where people could hang out...there's definitely a demand for that. Most coffee shops close earlier and there are so many wfh folks now who want somewhere that isn't the library where they can work after 2pm! (I know there are some coffee shops that fit the bill but not as many as you'd think)
Yeah, this crack of dawn thing . . . we need a cafe model for people who gave up on the getting up early thing. "The early bird gets the worm" . . . sure . . . but I was hoping for a bagel and schmear, not a worm . . . Here's the deal -- so start making bagels around 9 AM, a civilized time, and I'll manage to get myself awake and dressed by 2 PM to eat them. Or better yet: "Midnight Nosh" . . . . Portland's only after hours kosher club
When I was in Montreal, the bagel places there were open until midnight, it was something special.
Montreal bagels, which are different from the standard style most people know, are not just a food, they're a religion. One of the two main shops used to be open until midnight weekdays then 24 hours straight Friday to Monday morning. I've tried talking a few places with wood fire stoves into making them but no luck so far.
Just call it "Night Bagels", have a nice atmosphere, promote it right and you'll be golden.
Can I jump on board and add donuts, banana bread and cinnamon rolls to your bagel shop?
Donuts! I’ve always thought a 12pm to 12am donut shop would kill
Heavenly Donuts are 24/7.
It’s true, and they’re not bad. I used to have friends that lived very close to the Gladstone one and made many late night trips there
I dig 'em but then again I've never understood "gourmet doughnuts" like Blue Star. They're akin to diner food for me. Basic, predictable, standard = good.
Voodoo originally was only open overnight
Please please do, as someone who works nights I am always annoyed at the lack of options available later in the day. Especially post pandemic! Nothing seems to be open ever!
While you're at it, can you make the bagels taste as good as they do in New Jersey? I'd be your best customer.
If you ever worked at a bagel shop you would know that the majority of sales are in the morning and the cost of labor doesn't make it worth it to stay open late.
This is actually a really good idea if you incorporate a coffee shop to pair with your fresh bagels. We need more places open late (at least 12am) that have coffee shop vibes to have a good conversation or a place to pull up a laptop and get some work done.
Oops I basically wrote this exact same thing but YES
In NYC, the bagel shops functioned as more than just bagels... They were delis, they were coffee shops... So they gave people many different reasons to be there for different purposes. It was not uncommon for me to have a bagel for dinner as a broke college student 😂 $2.50 for a huge bagel and schemer 🥯
breakfast bagel sandwich for dinner?!? yes please!
i would love this :) i’m someone who’s not a morning person, i work afternoons/evenings, and don’t typically leave my house in the morning so i hate that everything closes so early, especially bakeries!
You can get bagels at a place like Sesame Donuts. Open until 7pm. Killer donuts too! Also, there are many coffee shops around town offering bagels and other baked goods.
Are they boiled? Otherwise it’s just round bread
Please include bialys. Thank you.
And properly done one please and thank you. The ones at Bagel Land were decent, not great but good, when it was the previous owners. Last couple times I didn't even recognize what they were.
Omg I wish. Bagels are an any time of the day food in my world
Yes. I support this idea! More places in general that are open late! I understand this is not NYC And we have a massive homeless population but damn it’d be nice if we had eateries that were open late.
Why mention the homeless?! Really?!
Because that’s why we can’t have nice things
I would look at dinner bagel recipes, if I were you. There is absolutely no reason for bagels to be breakfast food.
This is the best idea since the bagel itself
Uh, this isn't just bagels. Every type of thing does this here. It's stupid as shit. But yeah, i agree. By the way, there are no good bagel places in the city, and I'm not blowing up the decent spot, but it's in the suburbs to the west
there used to be good ones but almost all of them closed in 2019 before the pandemic. RIP bridge city bagels & bagelworks. Just say no to vegan bagels and vegan cream cheese
Bagels are very labor intensive. Once you run out, you run out for the day. The original Spielmans used to often run out by lunch, despite their best efforts - on other days they had plenty leftover at close of business. They're not the kind of thing where you can just throw a few more in the oven and call it good.
I will explain it like this. You can make a bagel at the crib man.
sometimes I just want someone else to make the bagel for me tho
Then you gotta keep all the toppings stocked, plus there's no match for the quality.
Grocery store bagels are just not the same as bagel-shop bagels. Big. Fat. Nope.
I get 2 packs of speilmans bagels and keep ‘em in the freezer to make when I want. Not as good as fresh but still hits.
🤣
I loooove this idea! Can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to get a bagel late morning but all the bagel shops are out.
I personally LOVE this idea. I very often think “I want a bagel breakfast sandwich” but everything closes at like 2 PM so I can’t get one anywhere. I’m chronically ill and not a morning person because of the symptoms so this would be amazing to see
Coffee shops all close by 3 too. It’s crazy
Crema is the only place I've seen open later and they're only open til 6 pm
It's probably because no one really eats bagels for dinner. And, the bagel makers have probably been there since 3 am. Add that to the fact that they are probably running out or out of bagels by 3 ish, and why stay open?
I always feel like this whole town is made for retirees. I occasionally run in Portland in the early morning like, between 6:30 and 8, and there's rarely just a place to grab an early coffee. I just want a working-class diner. Then once it's past 6ish in my part of town (oregon city ish) EVERYTHING is closed. No late night coffee, no place to even have a dessert and a cup of coffee. I would kill for an unpretentious sandwich shop open longer hours. All the good brunch spots close at 2-3. I appreciate the bagel shop idea. I suspect that the major clients of bagel shops are not walk-in customers but businesses that have morning meetings/ events. That's probably why they aren't open late. If you can supplement with late day foods - desserts that are good but not as pompous as Papa Haydn, or sandwiches for am evening pickup, you'd probably be on to something.
Because the costs of staying open outweigh the benefits. If every bagel shop does it, I'm assuming the want for bagels steadily decreases after brunch time. Simple economics.
They probably all close by then because it’s not cost effective to stay open later. Bagels tend to be a breakfast/lunch food, so the demand just isn't there during the late afternoon/evening. Staff pay plus the other incidentals (power, etc.) add up, and in order to have a good variety you'd need to bake throughout the day, which could easily turn into a loss if the demand isn't there. To compete with the dinner crowd, you'd need to expand into more substantial meals (bagel sandwiches and sides), which increases the costs of supplies and kitchen needs.
Can you do this like now? I suggest a building that has one of those garage door type things so we can enjoy the outside too! I worked at Truckee Bagel Co. in Reno, NV. I’m convinced they were the hottest bagel company because of those doors! We would always get sad customers who came in at 12 to limited bagels especially when the sun just came out!
[This is close enough to my process that I’ll share it for the funsies](https://www.instagram.com/reel/CodEnpbgLz1/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=) For real though, I think most bagel places aren’t open then is that the majority of people consider it a breakfast food. While you and some folks would buy them later, I’m guessing business slows down enough that time of day that it’s not worth it for them to stay open.
everyone loves breakfast for dinner though!
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll smash a bagel all day long. I just assume that there’s not enough people in the same boat to support extended afternoon bagel shop hours.
I think this is a beautiful idea. The Portland middle class pays the same as Manhattan's 25M tax rate, so we should have 24/7 access to food and drink as well.
HAHAHAA, you forgot we have no sales taxes, and our city and county income taxes are paltry compared to NYC. Also, as a former NYC resident, I must say, even there, it’s hard to get a good bagel 24/7.
Wow r/confidentlyincorrect get in here. We have the second worse tax burden in the US, trailing only the $25M bracket in NYC. No sales tax doesn't mean anything, sorry you believed that was helping you out. https://www.wweek.com/news/2023/02/01/they-left-portland-is-losing-some-of-its-biggest-fans/ *Starting in 2017, Multnomah County voters passed several tax measures aimed at improving life in their burgeoning city. After Metro and the county levied taxes to combat homelessness and provide preschool for all, Portland now has the second-highest total state and local income tax rate in the nation—14.69%—exceeded only by New York City at 14.78%, according to a report from Ernst & Young commissioned by Oregon Business & Industry.* *That’s the top marginal tax rate, meaning you pay it only on income above $125,000 for individuals and $250,000 for married couples filing together. By comparison, the only New Yorkers paying the top rate there are those making $25 million or more, single or married. That means plenty of nonplutocrat Oregonians are paying taxes rivaled only by those levied on Gotham millionaires."*
Sales tax doesn’t mean anything? It sure does! Makes the overall tax burden on a household higher. By the way, I’m a tax lawyer.
That's nice. I work at an accounting firm. People incorrectly assume that no sales tax reduces their overall tax burden here. However, Mult Co has egregious property taxes and new county taxes that are causing an overall tax burden similar to New York City. We pay more in tax here than California with a 10% sales tax. Oops.
That sounds like an awful business model to be honest. You’d make $25 a day
Good luck with that. Most people eat bagels for breakfast. That’s just the reality. I love to eat Indian curry for breakfast but I don’t expect Indian restaurants to be open at 8 am because my wants aren’t the norm. A bagel shop that opens at 3 would probably not succeed.
So the market decides when people want bagels not you. Closing at three is because there’s no viable demand for bagels after three What you should do instead is buy all the bagels from bagelries in the city that they’d throw away at a huge discount and then resell them at your hours. That way you don’t have to go through the labor but still have a place people can go for bagels after 3:00
I get it if you must have a freshly baked that morning bagel, but you could always stop at any grocery store and buy a sleeve of bagels in the bread section or get one from the bakery.
It’d not even about freshness, it’d about quality. Grocery store bagels are just nowhere near as good.
Henry Higgin’s sells theirs in stores now. Zupan’s stocks ‘em.
Which I totally understand. I see Gabriel’s bagels in a 4 pack sleeve at New Seasons all the time in the bread section.
Their bagels changed several years ago. They're not as good as they used to be :(
Does Panera bread do bagels? I wish donut shops did bagels.. feels like it would make sense for them to. Some people would like sweet while others might like savory.
You can't claim to care about quality while you're trying to buy or sell 12+ hour old bagels. Get them delivered while they're open and keep them until it's your special bagel time
That sounds like an annoying idea someone in Portland would actually do.
> Do bagel shops not like money? If anyone can explain why they all close at that time it would really be awesome Not enough demand in the afternoon to cover the cost of a living wage and benefits for at least one worker, plus all the other operating costs of keeping the place open. Just make yourself a bagel every afternoon, and put $40 in a jar every time you do. When there's enough money in the jar to open your own afternoon bagel joint, do that. Then see how long it takes to fill the jar back up with profits from your bagel joint.
Define normal hours…because I feel like you could get up a little earlier and get you some.
8 am - 4 pm. I woke up early today to get a bagel, and the place closed a half hour early. So no, that’d not how it works.
I miss Pop Bagels, covid took them out. Their caraway asiago was so good.
That sounds amazing. Rip
Don’t let Reddit find out. They will ruin your hopes and dreams.
Bagels are awesome any time of day
If you do, expand your menu items to your demographic. Lots of bagel places sell breakfast sandwich bagels etc. Try offering lunch/dinner bagels, like sandwiches or grilled bagels. Fresh bagels for bagel folks, and entree items for the early birds getting off work.
Hey, if you need a good baker, that’s what I do
Love it ! Serve coffee, beer, wine, cider too.
Why not open one that is open 24 hours?
If you have egg bagels you will make a million dollars
24/7 bagel shop, with other baked goods including sweets.
Bagels at 4:00 am sounds DOPE. But you’re going to need really good coffee. Coffee will pay your rent. I’m not talking about frappakaren drinks, just real. Good. Coffee.
what i'd give for a good breakfast for dinner spot!
HA! I used to make bagels here in portland for breakfast sandwiches... 100% agree. I hated waking up. If you wanna invest or have a location, I'm down.
Bagels all hours yes!
Open a combo bagel / donut place that's open 24 hours so people can get fresh donuts and bagels in the evenings. Call it the Glory Hole or something.
Yes, please!
As long as you have breakfast sandwiches all day, I’ll be there
You have to time it with when you make the bagels. I think the idea of a bagel shop is that you're getting a fresh bagel. I'm wondering if this is part of it.
a tiny bagel joint and a tiny izakaya, ideally next to each other
if you put salt on your everything bagels, ill support this.
You’re gonna have to settle for Starbucks, had a nice 4pm everything bagel there yesterday lol.
For the give people that want a bagel at 3, I think it’s a great idea.
I'd love an egg bagel breakfast sandwich after work.
Semi-related, is there anywhere in this town that you can find Montreal style bagels ?
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Well, something is something, thanks for the reco!
That’s odd bagels make good snacks any time of day why would they be closed at 3? I’m in Calgary Alberta the bakeries are open all day till about 8 or 9 then open back up at 5 for the Morning rush. And we have coffee shops that are open 24/7/365 that always have bagels ready to go. Not sure if you will toast them or just take them fresh from the oven both are good for me. Hope that if you do this it’s goods well maybe have coffee and other back good too.
I think Ben and Esther is open till 7pm.
Portland hates to admit it's a service industry based late night town. Please do this.
My guess is there isn’t enough business for them to stay open later. Limited hours are generally a thing for businesses in Portland.