Two years to the day since its closure at Toco Hills shopping center, Bagel Palace is finally making progress towards its long awaited comeback. The popular bagel restaurant closed its longstanding outpost May 20, 2018, and could reopen just a few miles away. The prospective new location could be in the Publix-anchored Shamrock Plaza shopping center at the corner of Lawrenceville Highway and North Druid Hills Roads near Decatur. Bagel Palace 2.0 - 3934 North Druid Hills Road - would be about two and half miles from its original home.
ToNeTo Atlanta has heard for well over a year that the owners of Bagel Palace had their eye on space in Shamrock Plaza. We discovered this past February that the owners of the shopping center filed permits with DeKalb County to alter an existing space from retail to restaurant use. The project listed on the permit was "Shamrock Plaza Bagel Palace."
Delighted at the prospect of a beloved neighborhood establishment making a return, we contacted Manny Klein, a co-owner of the original restaurant, for comment on the plans. According to Klein, he and his partners had for several months been in talks with the owners of Shamrock Plaza to open in the roughly 3,500 square foot corner space formerly part of Blockbuster Video. Last year's relocation of America's Best Contacts & Eyeglasses from North DeKalb Mall to the other portion of the former video rental store left a slightly imperfect space from which to operate a restaurant, but provided the possibility of a patio and plenty of visibility from Lawrenceville Highway and perhaps even more importantly, plenty of nearby parking.
Now, more than two months since we originally spoke to Klein, readers have begun to see progress at the space and a permit visible in the window naming Bagel Palace as the new tenant.
We contacted Klein again to confirm the status of the project. When reached early Wednesday, Klein confirmed that he and his partners are indeed still in talks to open at Shamrock Plaza, but that no lease has been signed yet. Klein further elaborated that the COVID-19 pandemic made he and his partners question the sense of committing to a new restaurant space when there are likely to (unfortunately) be several second generation restaurant spaces that will hit the market in the weeks and months to come.
Klein indicated that the work being done at the space is "preliminary" and that it could suit their needs but could also suit the needs of other restaurants in the future. Owners of the center, a local family, not a large Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), are likely taking the opportunity to "white box the space" and prepare it for what they hope will be a new restaurant tenant, whether it ends up being Bagel Palace or another concept. The permit indicates that the owners are spending at least $168,000 converting the former retail space to restaurant.
For his part, Klein is hopeful to have a space in the Toco Hills vicinity finalized in the near future but also is in no rush to commit to a space too soon, given today's economic uncertainty.
Are you excited at the prospect of seeing a return of Bagel Palace? What is your favorite bagel eatery in Atlanta? Do you think the former Blockbuster space is the best space in the area for Bagel Palace to lease?
Please share your thoughts below.
32 comments:
PLEASE LET THIS BE TRUE!!! BAGEL PALACE WE MISS YOU!!
Absolutely cannot wait to see this happen!
Haven't had a good bagel since they closed!
Oh how I have missed it!
Yeah! Closer to me now.
Really hope this happens. Have missed Bagel
Palace soooo much!!!
Absolutely makes sense to grab a second gen space. Bldg new kitchens from scratch will add at least $1MM to the millions of other costs all else equal.
We would LOVE to have The Bagel Palace back. We miss them so much!
Never tried them. How did they compare to Goldberg's in Dunwoody?
We have missed it, I want some good white fish salad.
We love BP! Went there every Wednesday for 15 yrs miss the place tremendously, hope Manny and Joe can pull this off!
Bagel Palace symbolizes a piece of Atlanta’s heart. Their doors closing was hard for so many faithful customers as they have become family to so many locals.
Please guys, do not be afraid to reopen... Atlanta support is there. Besides, so many places will not be around, you will not feel pressure!
That would be wonderful. I wish they could do a pop-up bagel place there at least. Or somewhere.
That's awesome. I hadn't realized they closed because I don't spend to much time out. That's great. I shop at Publix and their pharmacy, so it's more convenient
Nice to see there is some good restaurant news to report during this crazy time!!
So much better.
They should just wait for CiCi's to fold...
Unknown said on May 22, 2020 at 8:14 PM I don’t want you to think about Cici’s Pizza in general, because once Covid 19 is over with, I may want to eat there again down in Panama City Beach Florida since all the damn Metro Atlanta locations closed years ago prior to me moving to Florida sadly! 😞
Really miss their bagels. As a former resident of NYC I can say they were the only place to come close. Please come back!
been waiting for this for a long time, since I will not patronize any other bagel restaurant in or around Toco Hills. Watching the space and watching for the comeback!
Oy veh this guy at bp was always so meshugana! So over rated. expensive and disorganized. I like to go to bagelicous in East Cobb. A stones throw from sandy springs and worth the drive. bagelicous is the real deal.
Wonderful news! Can't wait until they open!!!
Please let this be true!! We miss our Bagel Palace!
I hope this is true but if it is they've got to keep up their health inspection scores. the previous location received several really bad scores. I love a good bagel but not at the possibility of getting food poisoning.
it is true. I remember it well. it's been awhile but inspections in the 70s are not good:
https://patch.com/georgia/northdruidhills/inspections-bagel-palace-sprig
https://patch.com/georgia/northdruidhills/top-spice-gets-a-top-score-on-health-inspection
Well, there's a Goldberg also in Toco Hills. Bagel Palace had better Whitefish! And a much more varied menu. But I think the I Coffee and bagels are better at Goldberg's. Just my humble opinion.
We loved Bagel Palace for many years, but towards the end the quality of the food and the service had really deteriorated. I would hope that if they open up again in a new spot that they can go back to the days of good food and good service.
AWESOME NEWS! We loved Bagel Palace, and very much look forward to their opening in Shamrock Plaza!!! Many, many current (and future) neighbors in the area, including myself, eagerly await their opening … Welcome to the neighborhood!!!
I believe that they were from my old neighborhood in NY and it felt and tasted like home
Hope they opt for kosher supervision.
That was the only place to get real bagels. I anxiously await its return!!!
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