Bagel News
New Bagel Bar shop in The Colony is flying in bagels from New York
Generic bagels, not bagels from The Bagel Bar.
Dallas-Fort Worth can't get enough bagels these days, and now there’s a new shop in town, selling the real thing: The Bagel Bar just opened in The Colony, at 4622 Windhaven Pkwy. where it's serving bagels they import from New York.
The shop is from Salima Ali, a former Subway franchisee from Chicago, who moved to Dallas three years ago with her husband Amir, who owns a gym.
Bagel Bar represents a departure from most of the shops around DFW that have recently opened such as Starship Bagels — wherein the operators make the bagels themselves on-site, with the idea that baked goods benefit from freshness.
But some bagel fans cling to the idea that a "real" bagel must be made using New York water, and that is the audience for Bagel Bar. Ali gets her product from a wholesaler in the New York area; there's an entire industry of companies in the Northeast who make bagels and ship them to restaurants and hotels, either frozen, baked, or par-baked, so that they can be finished with a baking on-site.
The Bagel Bar offers 10 flavors such as Plain, Cinnamon Raisin, Onion, and Everything, plus a half-dozen cream cheese spreads devised by Amir, such as walnut-raisin and jalapeno-cheddar.
There is also a confusing trio of so-called "vegan" spreads including Almond Butter, all well and good; "Butter" — one hopes it is not regular butter? that would not be vegan; and a third: Honey, Hummus, and Jelly. But honey is definitely not regarded by most vegans as vegan, since it's an animal product.
They do coffee and espresso drinks, plus six bagel sandwiches with options such as lox, cream cheese, cucumber, avocado and sriracha mayo; and one with turkey, avocado, and American cheese.
“We wanted to offer a to-go breakfast, less than $10, keep it competitive, budget-friendly, with very good coffee," Ali says.
The space has a flexible setup with a small lounge area featuring a couch and a couple of chairs, plus a U-shaped bar with high stools where people can work from. There's a coffee-themed mural and a bookshelf that acts as a little “take one, leave one” library, plus a rack with coffee beans for sale from Theo's Roast, a roaster based in Lewisville whose beans they use for their coffee drinks.
There's even an amusing stab at the "wall of greenery" trend: A picture-frame rectangle made out of plastic greenery enclosing a mirrored section, with not much room for actual photo-taking but a nod to the buzzy Instagram trend.
Bagel Bar has bagel competition very nearby: Their location is a mile and a half from Bagel Fresh Deli, also in The Colony but on the other (north) side of SH-121.
Bagel Bar is also near Hebron High School, Lewisville Fire House, plus businesses and homes that are springing up in a growing part of The Colony.
"The response from the community has been amazing," Ali says.
