Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
For months, the BeltLine’s faithful have passed by a sign announcing that PopUp Bagels, New York’s famous bagel shop, is coming soon. On Friday morning, that wait finally came to an end. PopUp Bagels celebrated the grand opening of its first shop in Georgia, nestled next to Emerald City Bagels at 661 Auburn Ave NE, with giveaways, limited-edition cream cheese schmears, and fresh, hot bagels.
A long line— which began three hours before the shop opened at 8 a.m. — snaked along the BeltLine’s Eastside Trail as locals waited in anticipation to try the social media sensation that has become a unique take on a popular breakfast item. After launching in Westport, Connecticut, in 2020 during the pandemic, the company quickly grew from a pop-up window to storefront success. With over 16 locations, the shop has become “Not Famous but Known” for its unsliced, crispy, and airy bagels, encouraging its customers to “Grip, Rip, and Dip” their bagel into a tub of cream cheese of their choice.
Unlike traditional bagel shops, they don’t slice bagels or make sandwiches, and the order minimum is three bagels.
“Atlanta is a vibrant, fast-growing city with a great food scene and a deep appreciation for hospitality, which is exactly what we look for at this stage of our growth,” said PopUp Bagels CEO Tory Bartlett. “As an Atlanta resident, I’ve seen firsthand how the community here gathers around food, and the high-energy PopUp Bagels experience is a perfect addition to the area’s impressive dining repertoire. Our first location on the Beltline also gives us strong visibility and foot traffic, allowing us to establish a meaningful presence in the heart of the city.”
The menu features plain, salt, sesame, everything, and poppy bagels with classic cream cheese flavors such as scallion, plain, and salted butter. Bi-weekly, Popup Bagels rotates its schmears with limited-edition gourmet flavors. For Atlanta’s grand opening, the restaurant is featuring limited-edition flavors that pay homage to the city, such as smoked peach cream cheese and lemon pepper cream cheese, in collaboration with Wing Stop.
“We’re thrilled that Atlanta is just as excited to meet us as we are to meet them. The excitement and support from the community have been incredibly energizing,” said Janvi Patel, franchise partner at Power Brands Hospitality Group.
Atlanta’s opening is the next step in the company’s expansion plan, with 300 new franchise locations mapped out for the future. Four more outposts are planned for Georgia, including locations in Dunwoody and Buckhead.
“The hope is that PopUp Bagels brings a new wave of fun and excitement to the Atlanta food scene. Our bi-weekly rotating schmears mean that there’s always something new for our customers to come in and try,” Patel said. “We hope to add a sense of community, a little bit of excitement to mornings, and of course, delicious, hot bagels that keep people coming back for more.”
