The humble yet beloved bagel is experiencing a renaissance with three shops slated to open in Bethesda in the coming months. Here are the mouthwatering details:
Popup Bagels
The hype is rising around Connecticut-based Popup Bagels’ upcoming location in downtown Bethesda. The roughly 1,200-square-foot spot on the ground floor of the Solaire apartment building will be the chain’s first in Maryland and follows one that opened to big crowds in April in Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown neighborhood.
Popup Bagels serves just a few flavors—plain, salt, sesame, everything and poppy seed—and all are intended to be ripped apart and dipped in tubs of schmear. Bagels are made on-site and are hand-rolled and kettle-boiled. “The dough is proofed, it’s boiled, it is seeded and baked and served hot right at the location,” says Brian Harrington, a franchiser of six Popup Bagels, including the Bethesda and D.C. locations.
Razzle-dazzle comes from a rotating weekly menu of schmears, with flavors and collabs dropping to a dedicated social media following (June offered a cream cheese made with Truff brand hot sauce, and a flavored butter made with Boston-born Grillo’s Pickles). In early June, Harrington said the shop was “getting close” to opening…