c/o Popup Bagels
A bagel brand that’s drawn massive attention on social media – not to mention investment from celebrities and ringing endorsements from famous chefs – has expanded to the Upper East Side.
Advertisement
Popup Bagels had its grand opening this weekend at 1457 Third Avenue (at 82nd Street), documenting their first customers (both human and canine) on their Instagram feed.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
Founded by Adam Goldberg, the brand has grown from selling bagels out of Goldberg’s Connecticut home to nine locations in Connecticut, New York City, and Palm Beach in only about four years. They also recently opened an Upper West Side location at 338 Columbus Ave. (and W. 76th St.).
With a background in flood mitigation systems, Goldberg’s pathway to success in the bagel business was an unusual one. He began making sourdough bread with his cousin during the pandemic and soon tried his hand at bagels, according to a 2022 New York Times writeup. Within two years, Goldberg’s bagels went from free gifts for friends and family to winning the People’s Choice award at Brooklyn Bagel Fest in October 2021.
Prior to opening Popup Bagel’s first NYC location on Thompson Street in Greenwich Village, Goldberg co-hosted a popup at Danny Meyer’s Daily Provisions.
“I am not one to say anything is the best version of it I’ve had in my life,” Meyer told The New York Times. “But [Popup] is definitely top three.”
Popup’s bagels are served piping hot and are slightly smaller than your traditional New York bagel. Here’s what All Recipes had to say in a review:
“The bagels are served extremely fresh—I’m talking burn your hand on the hot steam escaping-fresh. But eating them hot is so worth it. They’re perfectly crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside.”
View this post on Instagram
Advertisement
Popup’s key offering is a dozen bagels with two schmears. The bagels are served uncut and are meant to be dipped in schmears like Utz Cheese Ball Cream Cheese, Miso Butter, Scallion Cream Cheese, Butter Chimichurri, or Pink Peppercorn, to name a few. Schmear flavors vary week to week.
Coverage from The New York Times and endorsements like Meyer’s helped launch Popup Bagels into the stratosphere. In late 2023, the bagel shop closed an $8M funding round backed by Michael Strahan, Paul Rudd and J.J. Watt. The funding round will help fuel more than one-hundred new locations around the U.S., according to a CT Insider report.
But not affiliated with Goldberg’s Famous Bagels. There’s got to be a rough ceiling on bagel consumption, so this is a zero-sum competition in NYC.