“Ten places saying they make New York bagels actually make different bagels,” Adam Goldberg, owner of PopUp Bagels, told JNS.

(JNS)

At PopUp Bagels, which has 10 locations in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts, the Jewish staple is served “as it should be,” per the eatery’s website. But the restaurant’s approach to the doughnut-shaped roll, whose history is variously traced back to medieval or early modern central Europe, will strike fans of the Earl of Sandwich as bagel heresy.

In virtually every other bagel establishment, the sturdy, doughy roll is boiled, baked sliced and smeared, typically with cream cheese. At PopUp, bagels are reimagined and customers are advised to rip the rolls apart and tip them in cream cheese. 

It’s not just a novel way to eat a bagel but in fact a return to the essence of what a bagel shop used to be, according to Adam Goldberg, who founded the chain. (PopUp’s bagels are kosher, as are its pre-packaged cream cheese packets, but not its own schmears, according to Goldberg, who said that the chain aims to have certified kosher creams cheeses in the future.)

In decades past, the bagel was the star rather than the “stuffings,” and people would purchase whole bagels, which they would slice and accessorize at home, according to Goldberg.

“We’re back to our roots,” Goldberg said to JNS. “Seventy years ago, you’d walk into a bagel shop and say, ‘I want four plain, four sesame and four garlic.’ It wasn’t about, ‘I’ll have two eggs, scooped, with a side of whatever.’”Related Articles

Bagels are traditionally considered to be a Jewish creation, but Goldberg, who is Jewish, thinks that given the roll’s ubiquity, “we’ve come past the point of bagels being only a Jewish food.”

“They are popular all over the world at this point,” he said. “The big misconception, however, is that anyone in America who makes a bagel claims it’s a New York-style one but that has lost meaning over the years. Ten places saying they make New York bagels actually make different bagels.”

Golberg’s “rip and dip” approach is as much about form as function.

In the era of viral social media posts, many are drawn to the act of tearing a steaming, fresh bagel and dipping it into a whipped, flavored cream cheese in a performative act that translates well on Instagram.

The bagel offerings at PopUp are everything, sesame, salt, plain and poppy seed. Per the eatery’s website, hot honey butter and Guinness are the current schmear flavors, with plain and scallion cream cheeses always on the menu and Calabrian chili butter and sour cream and onion to come in the future.

PopUp has developed a cult following, including about 170,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok, and often has lines forming before shops open. It started during the pandemic, when Goldberg, who had no prior bakery experience, picked up a sourdough habit. He found it too hot to make sourdough in the summer, but on a whim, he and his cousin decided to try their hands at bagel making.

The cousins experimented for three days in Goldberg’s kitchen and backyard in Connecticut and found that they appreciated the yeasty flavor and unique texture of bagels in a new way.

A fun project to feed their friends gained traction on social media, and soon people were coming to Goldberg’s backyard during pickup windows to buy bagels. Pop-up locations (thus the name of the chain) ensued, as did brick-and-mortar shops backed by investors.

Goldberg opened PopUp’s first permanent location in Connecticut in 2023, before expanding to New York and beyond.

Randy Feltis, who owns Salty Blonde Bagel Bar in Barrie, in the Toronto area, told JNS that PopUp’s wares are a “great first bite” and look good on camera.

“Right now, it’s coming down to that one bite and Instagram and TikTok,” he told JNS. “There is something romantic about ripping the bread and dipping it.”

Goldberg told JNS that the quality of his product, rather than its social media appeal, is responsible for his return customers.

“We use very high-quality ingredients, whereas most bagels do not,” he said. “We have a unique proofing method that gives us that kind of crispy, chewy crust without too much lead in the belly.”

“There’s not that density to the dough where after you eat, you need to take a nap,” he added.

Beyond what bagel purists might think of a dip rather than a slice, Feltis told JNS that bagel styles vary widely. In Montreal, for example, they are sweet and dense, he said. 

“Typically, people from New York think their product is the best,” he said. “But you have to open your mind.”

“We’re not trying to make a New York bagel,” Goldberg told JNS. “We’re making PopUp bagels. We built around the community, and it’s been an amazing ride.”

That ride appears poised to pick up steam, with more than 150 PopUp locations planned over the next five years, including a West Coast debut scheduled for 2026, according to Goldberg.

“We didn’t start as a business,” he said. “But if I’m going to make bagels, then I’m going to make them the star of the show.”