Bang’N Bagel Co., a new New York‑style bagel shop, has opened on Beach Boulevard in Jacksonville’s Intracoastal West area, serving scratch‑made bagels and house‑made cream cheese spreads baked throughout the day.
Located at 13423 Beach Blvd., Unit 204, near Hodges Boulevard, Bang’N Bagel is on a mission to “spread the love” with its 15 bagel flavors featuring dough made on the premises, then hand-rolled, boiled and baked in small batches to create bagels that are soft on the inside and crispy on the outside.
Also offered every day are at least 14 homemade schmears displayed prominently like gelato inside a glass case, just waiting to be scooped and served with bagels.
The shop, which also has a drive-thru, is the newest concept from co-owners Mark DeBiase, his son, Augie DeBiase, and their partner Andrew Maider, all experienced Jacksonville-area restaurateurs and entrepreneurs.
They consulted with Goldberg Bagels — well-known in New York and New Jersey, with about 25 shops — to ensure that the Bang’N Bagel Co.’s bagels and schmears are authentic in flavor and preparation.
What’s on the menu at Bang’N Bagel Co.
“We are really going for that New York, New Jersey feel. Three or four times a week, we make dough, and then every day we make bagels,” Augie DeBiase told the Times-Union.
The goal, he said, is to bake a small number of each flavor throughout the day.
“We want to bake throughout the day so customers are consistently getting fresh hot bagels, not ones that have been sitting up there since 5 a.m.,” he said.
He said they have 11 mainstay bagels every day, while the remainder rotate depending on their imaginations and customer preferences.
“What’s become really popular is our Blueberry French Toast,” he said, noting other popular bagels are Jalapeno Cheddar, Asiago, and Everything.
The bagel prices range from $2.19 for a single, $10.98 for a half-dozen and $18.98 for a Baker’s Dozen, according to the menu.
Currently, their mainstays are plain, everything, salt, egg, sesame, poppy, blueberry, garlic, onion, Jalapeno Cheddar and French Toast.
“Our goal at some point in the near future is to have tie-dye bagels of different colors,” he said.
A plethora of cream cheese spreads includes recent specialty flavors such as Banana Pudding, Blackberry Cobbler and Apple Pie. At some point in the future, they’re going to make a Cherry Pie flavor. In addition, there are classics such as plain, scallion and honey walnut. They’re also open to customer suggestions, he said.
“The beauty of this being our own concept is the ability to intertwine and be creative with things,” he said. “We start off making small quantities, and if it doesn’t sell, we get rid of it. And if it sells quickly, we consider making it daily or on the weekends.”
Bang’N Bagel Co. also features made-to-order breakfast and lunch sandwiches. “We made Asiago one day, and it sold out immediately,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of requests for egg everything bagels, which is an egg bagel with everything seasoning on it.”
Among the signature breakfast and lunch sandwiches:
Sides include Crispy Toasted Hash Brown and Loaded Corkscrew Fries. Drinks include fresh-roasted coffee, as well as espresso and other coffee drinks and fresh-squeezed orange juice. In addition, desserts such as cookies, crumb cakes and brownies are offered.
A bright, photo‑friendly space
Bang’N Bagel Co. is three doors away from Jersey Mike’s Subs in the retail center. Mark DeBiase and Maider own the franchises for 22 Jersey Mike’s locations from Jacksonville to Cocoa Beach, including the one neighboring Bang’N Bagel Co. Augie DeBiase is a regional manager as well as franchisee for the sandwich shop chain.
Mark DeBiase, a New Jersey native, is also the manager for A D Development LLC of Jacksonville Beach, which Duval County records show owns the retail center property.
“My dad lived in New Jersey for about 30 years, came down here and felt like there were some spots that had good bagels, nothing necessarily special. He felt like the breakfast market was underserved and he sold myself and Mr. Drew [Maider] on the idea … that we should take on this new venture,” DeBiase said of the inspiration for the bagel shop.
The bagel shop concept “has been in talks for probably five to 10 years,” said the younger DeBiase, noting their research included visiting at least 50 bagel shops nationwide, most in New York and New Jersey.
“We wanted to have an exciting vibe to our place. We wanted there to be lots of vibrant and bright colors. We wanted to have walls that people take pictures of before they even tried our bagels because they were excited about how we looked,” he said of the decor featuring original artwork.
Now that the first one is open, he said they are looking to open more bagel shops.
Bang’N Bagel Co. has about 32 seats. It took over and renovated the roughly 1,921-square-foot space previously used by Kairos Jax, which relocated to 4815 Sweetgrass Place. Before Kairos, the space was used by Pita Pit.
Bang’N Bagel Co. hours
Bang’N Bagel Co. is open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. They might extend the weekend hours to 3 p.m. in the future, DeBiase said.
Teresa Stepzinski is the dining reporter for the Times-Union. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @TeresaStepz or reach her via email at tstepzinski@jacksonville.com.
If you’re a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest dining coverage.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: New York-style bagel shop Bang’N Bagel Co. opens in Jacksonville
Reporting by Teresa Stepzinski, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Teresa Stepzinski, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union | USA TODAY Network
