WOODMERE, Ohio — PopUp Bagels, the Connecticut-born bagel brand built around a simple instruction — grip, rip and dip — opens its first Ohio shop today at 28879 Chagrin Boulevard in Woodmere’s Eton Chagrin Boulevard shopping district.
The Woodmere shop joins about 60 PopUp Bagels stores across a dozen states. Founder Adam Goldberg started the brand as a pandemic passion project in Westport, Connecticut, in 2020, and it has grown into one of the most talked-about bagel concepts in the country.
There is no slicing, toasting or building bagel sandwiches here. Bagels are sold whole, in packs of three, six, 12 or 30, in five flavors: plain, everything, poppy seed, salt and sesame. The bagels are smaller, softer and lighter than a classic New York bagel, and they are baked fresh throughout the day.
Instead of spreading, customers dip. A rotating lineup of schmears comes on the side, including scallion, salted butter and hot honey butter, with pumpkin butter joining the menu for the season. The shop is carryout only, so customers should plan to grab their bagels and go.
The opening adds another headline name to Eton Chagrin Boulevard, the east-side lifestyle center that has become one of Cuyahoga County’s busiest dining and shopping destinations, and it continues a busy stretch of food openings across greater Cleveland this fall.
For Northeast Ohio bagel lovers, the arrival means a new style to judge against the region’s longtime local shops: a bagel meant to be torn apart by hand while it is still warm, rather than sliced and stacked.
Woodmere’s opening follows a string of national food brands choosing Northeast Ohio for first-in-state locations this fall, a sign of how competitive the Eton and Pinecrest corridors have become for restaurants testing the Ohio market. Village officials have pointed to Eton as a draw that pulls shoppers from across the east side and beyond.
PopUp Bagels in Woodmere opens today, Friday, Oct. 23. First-time visitors going for the full experience, regulars say, should order a warm pack and at least two schmears — one classic scallion and one seasonal — for dipping.