Roving Sensation Mt Bagel Readies Its First Permanent Bakery In Ballard

After more than a year building up a huge following from a small, mobile Instagram-only operation, Mt Bagel is starting to put down some roots by building out its own bakery. Owner Roan Hartzog tells Eater Seattle the new kitchen will be in Ballard on 54th Street in the garage of the StudioWorks building, and he hopes to have things up and running by the end of September.

There will be no dine-in or retail — just deliveries and pickup orders. But this is still a step up from borrowing kitchen space from friends, as Hartzog did previously in making a selection of bagels that often sell out within minutes of orders going live.

The new space will allow him to bake about 480 bagels a day vs the previous 350, and then ramp up from there. He’s also planning to try out some new flavors. “I’ve wanted to do a pumpernickel since the beginning, but never found the time to test recipes,” says Hartzog. “I’m hoping that once things are running smoothly I’ll have some time to get that on the menu. We will definitely be doing some menu expanding before the year is out, stuff that lends itself well to the delivery model. So not likely sandwiches at this point.”

Hartzog will also try to get some more help, since he only has a couple of part-time employees at the moment. In the meantime, the usual bagel deliveries are on pause as the new space develops (fans can keep track of progress on the Mt Bagel Instagram page).

The Ballard move also marks yet another sign of growth in a more robust Seattle bagel scene, which will include a new cafe from the critically lauded Rubinstein Bagels this fall at Sixth Ave and Lenora. Rubinstein and Mt Bagel’s new outposts will join Dingfelder’s, Zylberschtein’s, Porkchop & Co, Eltana, and Westman’s, which all have gained traction for their bagel offerings.

• Mt Bagel [Official]
• Mt Bagel [Instagram]
• One Former Rock Star Bakes Some of Seattle’s Most Sought-After Bagels [ESEA]