PopUp Bagels Coming to the Beltline

BiteLines
Oct 10
2 min read

Updated: Oct 11

It's not easy to find good bagels in Atlanta. I don't mean the dry cardboard discs from the big box chains, but the New York kind - chewy, soft and breaks open in your fingers like fresh bread. You probably didn't even know that's how bagels are supposed to be, did you?

But you will soon, when PopUp Bagels brings their lovely rounds and overflowing tubs of crazy-flavored dipping cream cheese to the Atlanta Beltline's sizzling Krog District. Think schmear made from hot honey marinara or lemon caper dill butter. Whaaat? Are these flavors even real?

In the age of AI, you might not trust any of this. But it's true. The Instagram says it's true.

We know what your next question is: WHEN?

Not soon enough, we answer.

Technically, PopUp Bagels started in Westport, CT, but it's a bedroom community of NYC - so close enough. And while these bagels are New York style at their core, they go a step further.

It starts with the actual bagel. Boiled, then baked, to get the right amount of chewy. Served hot out of the oven, unsliced, so it doesn't get stale. You never toast it. Because you never need to. Like any NY bagel.

But then it gets crazy. The bagel goes in the schmear, not the other way around. They call it the Grip, Rip and Dip™ method. That's trademarked, y'all.

And the schmear knows no limits.

Scallion? Of course.

Truffle butter? Yup.

Kraft Mac & Cheese? Hold up, hold up.

You can find bagels in Atlanta. You can even find New York bagels in Atlanta. But you can't find this. And it's about time. New Yorkers are discovering we're not the backwards rednecks they thought we were. Our restaurants routinely make "best" lists in NY newspapers - yeah, even the big one that covers foreign news. We rack up Michelins. We bring home James Beards.

We've figured it out, at least more than anyone expected us to.

And when people come here and sip on a margarita patioside in February, or stroll the Beltline on a busy weekend, and see what a friendly, vibrant city this is - they tend to stay. So what they get is even more than what they bring.

I say bring it, New Yorkers. I'll trade you 5 lemon pepper wings right now for one tub of that mac & cream cheese. Not sure who comes out ahead.

Hey, we're not promising these bagels will change your life. They are just bagels, after all.

Oh wait, they're more than that.

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