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What to Expect: Beygl, 291 Fifth Avenue
Wednesday, October 3, 2012 at 2:46PM 
A new bagel place is in the works in the space last occupied by Peruvian restaurant El Pollo, on Fifth Avenue between First and Second Streets, and earlier this afternoon I had the chance to drop by and speak with owners Robert and Joey Massa, two Brooklyn-born brothers who are eager to start serving up some hot, fresh bagels.
"All our bagels will be baked on-premises, in the authentic, honest way of doing it," said Robert, who lives in Staten Island but grew up about 20 blocks away. "When I say that, I mean hand-rolled, kettle-boiled instead of steamed, and slow-baked in small batches. Most places churn them out by the hundreds; we'll be baking only 4-6 dozen at a time."
The commitment to the hand-crafted, artisan technique will also carry over to the other food offered. "All our meats will be roasted in-house, instead of just using Boar's Head," he added. "We'll be making fresh roast turkey, ham, and roast beef here every day, sliced fresh to order." All pastries and muffins will be made in-house as well, and all other bread will be from Baked in Brooklyn, located further down Fifth. Jams and jellies will come from Anarchy in a Jar, usually found only in specialty stores.
According to Steve, the jovial baker, fresh batches of bagels will be coming out of the oven every hour, so there'll always be something hot. "They'll be crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside," he said. "Just the way I like it. Not doughy, soft."
"It's more labor intensive to do it the old-style way, to take our time with it and do it right," said Robert. "But when you try it you'll be able to tell the difference, and to tell that we take pride in it."
If all goes to plan, Beygl will be open by the end of the month.
Owners Robert (l.) and Joey Massa
Coming Soon, Under Construction, What to Expect in Food, Scoops, Storefronts
Reader Comments (13)
Another bagel place? Well, we all have our favorite, but I guess there's room for an "artisanal" one. As long as they use NYC tap water, which has been proven to impart authentic flavor to bagels, they'll be okay.
Now, let me guess which is the "jovial" one.
Love the idea of house made meat and bagels. The only good bagel around is Bagel Hole and they are pretty far from here. Wish them success! The one on the left is really handsome.
@Em
How does that make the one on the right feel?
"All pastries and muffins will be made in-house as well"
That sounds promising. It's too far from me to go for a bagel (I'm by Bagel Hole anyway) but I'm sure it'll be good for folks in that area.
Well I bet the other one is really sweet. :)
And has some nice body art.
Would be great to carry premium smoked fish. It's a hike to get over to Smith Street.
Looking forward to this place opening, hate the "bagels" at Bagel World
PSP, i like the quotes for bagels at Bagel World. those ARE NOT bagels. they are big, puffy, round pieces of bread. awful, just awful!
I feel that Park Slope oddly has very few good bagels actually so I think this is great news.
Bagel World and Le Bagel Delight are god awful.
Bagel hole is as good as you can get in the city (they supply their bagels to Russ & Daughters) but having something on 5th would be terrific.
Bergen Bagels are edible, but really Bagel Hole is it right now.
I am excited but I have a feeling they are going to be way expensive. If so, I'll stick to Scott at Bagel World because he treats us very well.
I'm very excited for this place. I hope they have good coffee too.
Konditori's bagels are awesome
Their everything rocks!!
WOW will be a great hit for the neighborhood & the quality sounds awesome. In house cooking & nothing store bought-sounds like
grandma's kitchen. CAN'T WAIT
Brooklyn Born