If you’re looking for an authentic taste of New York City in Chamblee, you might try stopping by The Bronx Bagel Buggy.
Julie Dragich and Steven Novotny, owners of The Bronx Bagel Buggy, met in 2019, and like many during COVID-19, they reflected on something they could do to bring fresh, baked bagels to Chamblee. The kind Steven remembers.
“Coming from the Bronx, I have memories of my father going to the bagel shop every Sunday morning,” Steven says. “As soon as you walked in and the smell of those bagels being cooked and seeing them coming right out of the oven – there’s nothing better.”
Julie recalls being from Cleveland, Ohio where she says if you wanted baked goods, you always went to a Polish bakery. Or in her case, she had fresh baked goods at home. “My grandmother did a lot of baking, and my mother did a lot of baking,” she says. “So in our household, we always had fresh Polish breads.”
According to the two, it was Julie’s sister who came up with a basic bagel recipe, and from there Julie and Steven tweaked it until they got it just right. Julie says they started out making changes and testing the recipes. They did their research. They even went to New York City and visited many bagel shops and met with people who knew how to make good bagels. Some of the advice they took, and some they didn’t.
For instance, some were pushing them to use a preservative and dough improver that’s widely used in the baking industry. “We even bought a bag of it, and we were going to try testing it,” Julie says. “But then I looked at the ingredients and I said this is getting away from our core values. We use zero preservatives, and we don’t use bread dough improvers.” Julie adds that if you purchase a dozen bagels and you’re not eating them all tonight, then be sure to freeze any leftover.
Steven said they could also take shortcuts by buying bagels frozen and steaming them. “It’s a lot quicker,” he adds. But that’s not the goal for these bakers and entrepreneurs. Everything is made in-house. The Bronx Bagel Buggy is a “from scratch bakery” using the finest ingredients, like malt barley. While, perhaps, many bakeries use the ingredient malt barley in its syrup form, it’s cheaper and isn’t healthy, The Bronx Bagel Buggy chooses to pay more for the best ingredient to make a better bagel and better baked goods. And the bagels at The Bronx Bagel Buggy are hand rolled by a professional with 20 years of experience, something that’s unfortunately becoming a dying art.
After perfecting the recipe, they started out taking their bagels to a few of the local farmer’s markets. The first one Steven says they brought about 300 bagels and sold out in 30 minutes. “It was amazing,” he says.
Eventually a brick-and-mortar location seemed inevitable, and Chamblee had a perfect location, although it took them a while to buildout the space. They started opening their doors for guests by the end of December experiencing a few hiccups along the way. But they say it’s been the support of their customers that makes them grateful.
Julie recalls getting a few less than stellar remarks on social media when they first opened to the public. “People in the neighborhood kept sticking up for us,” she says. “…The Chamblee crowd really embraced us. We have so many regulars that walk to the store for their morning coffee every day, and it’s nice to have the community rally around us and really support us." Both Steven and Julie want to thank the community for that.
As for the future for The Bronx Bagel Buggy? Julie and Steven say their focus is on the bagel shop and expanding their business in different ways. They started online ordering back in June, and Julie says they’ve seen a boost in business from that. They’ve also started catering. And they're working with someone on their retail program and trying to support other small, local businesses in the community.
“We want our store to be a unique and different atmosphere,” Julie says. She describes the shop as a long and narrow space, like ones you would find in the Bronx and around New York City. “We want it to feel like a New York vibe,” she says. And she stresses that The Bronx Bagel Buggy isn’t a sit-down restaurant, but a grab-and-go shop with limited seating.
Year one has been about getting the store operations under control and hiring a solid staff. For year two, they're looking at a number of new possibilities.
For more information, hours of business, online ordering, and more, visit thebronxbagelbuggy.com.
"We want it to feel like a New York vibe." Julie Dragich, co-owner of The Bronx Bagel Buggy
"As soon as you walked in and the smell of those bagels being cooked and seeing them coming right out of the oven – there’s nothing better." Steven Novotny, co-owner of The Bronx Bagel Buggy