Bagel Wars May Erupt as Tompkins Square Bagels Rolls Up to the UES
Set to open at 3rd Avenue and 68th Street this fall, the new location will be the fourth jewel in the company’s bagel consciousness-raising crown.
| 29 Jul 2024 | 04:16
A first look is always telling: Tompkins Square Bagels’ location on Second Avenue in the East Village. A very similar location is opening on the UES this October. (
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There is frequently a long line outside Tompkins Square Bagels flagship in the East Village which the owner hopes translates to the UES as he opens a new shop on Third Ave and 68th St. (
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Owner Christopher Pugliese, pictured by the grill area at the original store on Avenue A, started Tompkins Square Bagels thirteen years ago. His innovative approaches and tweaks to the usual bagel store have made this emporium a destination. (
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View of the Avenue A location’s front counter, to be replicated on the UES (
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An area to sit, a garden space and local artwork are present at the Avenue A location. This mix will be replicated at the new Third Avenue store. Outside the glass is original artwork, mire evident when customers are sitting outside when weather is temperate. (
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Upper East Siders beware! And brace yourself with bready hunger—for a new competitor in the Manhattan Bagel War will soon arrive.Yes, into the enclave that has launched and nurtured many bagel emporiums past and present, an outlander is boldly moving in.
Its name is Tompkins Square Bagels and the 13-year-old East Village-born company will be planting its latest flag at 1159 3rd Avenue at 68th Street, previously home to Jardino Italian Cafe and America’s Cafe & Grill.
Look for a mid-October opening for not just another bagelry and bakery (because—oh baby!— pastries are also part of their featured fare), but a veritable mini-community, with 1500 square feet of street-level retail, the same amount of square footage duplicated in the basement and 1,000 feet of garden space in the back.
The result: a remarkable setting and ample seating for savoring a cup of coffee or other beverage to compliment your baked in-house bagel or pastry, breakfast or lunch sandwich. Breakfast is served all day, with choices beyond reasonable expectations.
The open grill counter is filled with items being prepared. You can literally hear and see the sizzle—you can even record it on your smart phone and send it to family and friends to let them know you aren’t consuming—or bringing home— microwaved anything.With over 20 types of cream cheese (hint: chipotle avocado and chocolate chip cookie dough are the way to go for the bagel beat avant-garde), nine different types of butter, and 17 varieties of bagels, boredom with the “same old” just isn’t possible.
As for bagels, 500 pounds of flour a day insures that each location has an adequate amount of bagels for all comers. Each bagel is hand-rolled, placed in a kettle to boil then baked in an oven. No sugar here—it’s the more expensive barley malt that’s the key to the unique taste of TSB products. No pre-prepared sandwiches here, either they’re all made to order here, for you.
Our Town recently sat down with owner Christopher Pugliese for an hour-long conversation about his passion for food, business and the communities he serves.
He’s a product of NYC. “I grew up in Gravesend in Brooklyn. At that time, the neighborhood was half Italian and half Jewish. I went into delis and pizza parlors. As a second generation American, my grandparents and parents wanted me to be a teacher, to be a success, which was important to my grandparents who emigrated from Italy and worked hard all their lives.”
To that end, Pugliese graduated from Brooklyn College with a degree in English. Having worked in a local bagel shop while in college, Pugliese was not only bit by the bagel bug, he also began to absorb all facets of operation and developed a love for the restaurant business. Even so, he acknowledges it wasn’t easy for him in the beginning. Though he knew little about haute cuisine, Pugliese threw himself into learning about five-star dining with a passion and would always volunteer for overtime.
During good times and bad in the restaurant business, he would always learn. In 2010, Pugliese’s world changed when the high-end restaurant where he’d been both a partner and manager went under. For a time, he admits, things looked bleak. But he persevered, thought about what went wrong, and honed his management skills.
Going forward, he understood, you must pay your staff and vendors properly, and if you’re really good, you can usually get by without the cost of public relations. When he decided to start his own bagel business, he said he put the new ownership with some of his own money and three outside investors--and admits at least one expected him to fail.
“One was my landlord. I gave him [a] percentage in return for doing some of the work in the space. Funnily enough, years later he told me he thought I was going to fail but he did the work so he would have a nice built out restaurant for the next guy.He continued, “The second investor was Mark from my prior failed restaurant--the 2008 Great Recession crushed it. The third investor got a percentage for doing all the interior cosmetic work. He was a local EV guy--carpenter/contractor--very talented.”“I basically cobbled it together,” he says.
And so, with a few friends, Tompkins Square Bagels opened in 2011. It was a success, though not one Pugliese takes lightly.With each new store opening, Pugliese says he worries about the economics. So far, however, it’s worked out well, and his investors have trusted him with his majority ownership of each store. “This gives me the freedom to run them. Growing up, I didn’t ever want to get into debt,” noted Pugliese.
At present, Pugliese has 70 employees at the three stores, some of whom have been there since the beginning, with a good number more set to join the new Upper East Side outpost. Weekends at the original 165 Avenue A location are busy with block-long lines especially that are especially long on weekends. An augmented staff on these days takes orders from the long line of customers, which includes hungry locals, NYU and other students, tourists and a veritable bagel kettle of others.
Says Pugliese of the all the bagel-inspired hubub, “it’s The Bear, it’s living art.”Tompkins Square bagel two other extant locations are at 23 E. 17th Street in the Flatiron District and 184 2nd Avenue, also in the East Village.
