Rosenberg’s founder Joshua Pollack at his Boulder bagel shop. (BusinessDen file)
Two of the mainstays of local Jewish food are together again.
As Denver bagel shop Rosenberg’s looks to rebuild its wholesale business, it’s again being carried in Zaidy’s Deli & Bakery.
“Before we stopped wholesaling, we were doing close to $750K a year on just bagels and bread,” said Rosenberg’s founder Joshua Pollack. “We’re hoping to get that to $1.5 million.”
Pollack said he’s wholesaling to Marczyk’s Fine Foods and targeting other grocers such as Tony’s and Leevers Locavore. He already sells to Israeli restaurant Safta.
Rosenberg’s is baking all the products out of the Rosenberg’s kosher location at 942 S Monaco Parkway. That location is open only for retail three days a week.
Zaidy’s had been baking its own bagels.
“We made good bagels, but not great bagels,” said Joel Appel, who has owned Zaidy’s for about three years.
“Bagels are hard work. Making them good is really, really hard work,” Appel said, adding that he also likes to carry other local Jewish food purveyors.
Other innovations at the deli have been challah roll sandwiches and Palisade Peach hamantaschen (a fruit-filled pastry). Appel said he sells 100 a day.
The bagel business has gotten more competitive in Denver since Rosenberg’s opened in Five Points in 2015.
Rosenberg’s initially opened in Five Points in 2015. (BusinessDen file)
There’s Leroy’s Bagels in Sloan’s Lake, which has another location pending on Platte Street, and Odell’s Bagels opening in Highland Square this month. Boulder-based Moe’s Broadway Bagel is adding a second Denver location, and Rich Spirit Bagels is another recent entrant.
Just a few blocks from Zaidy’s on Holly Street is D.C. chain Call your Mother, which has three locations locally and another opening soon in Platt Park.
“We saw some impact in the bagel business (from Call your Mother),” Appel said. “But we’re finding people are finding their way back. They like the vibe, but don’t like the product.”
After opening its first stand-alone restaurant in Five Points in 2015, Rosenberg’s added a location in the Stanley Marketplace in Aurora in 2017.
Not all expansion has worked out. Pollack shuttered a Boulder store in 2022. He said he’s now pushing wholesale as a way to expand the business – with smoked fish coming later — in lieu of adding any more spots in Denver.
“Getting through plan review, permitting and construction and licensing in Denver is arduous, expensive and frustrating. And it has been for a long time,” he said.
“That’s a promise from Mayor Mike Johnston to make it easier and more efficient that hasn’t been fulfilled.”
Rosenberg’s founder Joshua Pollack at his Boulder bagel shop. (BusinessDen file)
Two of the mainstays of local Jewish food are together again.
As Denver bagel shop Rosenberg’s looks to rebuild its wholesale business, it’s again being carried in Zaidy’s Deli & Bakery.
“Before we stopped wholesaling, we were doing close to $750K a year on just bagels and bread,” said Rosenberg’s founder Joshua Pollack. “We’re hoping to get that to $1.5 million.”
Pollack said he’s wholesaling to Marczyk’s Fine Foods and targeting other grocers such as Tony’s and Leevers Locavore. He already sells to Israeli restaurant Safta.
Rosenberg’s is baking all the products out of the Rosenberg’s kosher location at 942 S Monaco Parkway. That location is open only for retail three days a week.
Zaidy’s had been baking its own bagels.
“We made good bagels, but not great bagels,” said Joel Appel, who has owned Zaidy’s for about three years.
“Bagels are hard work. Making them good is really, really hard work,” Appel said, adding that he also likes to carry other local Jewish food purveyors.
Other innovations at the deli have been challah roll sandwiches and Palisade Peach hamantaschen (a fruit-filled pastry). Appel said he sells 100 a day.
The bagel business has gotten more competitive in Denver since Rosenberg’s opened in Five Points in 2015.
Rosenberg’s initially opened in Five Points in 2015. (BusinessDen file)
There’s Leroy’s Bagels in Sloan’s Lake, which has another location pending on Platte Street, and Odell’s Bagels opening in Highland Square this month. Boulder-based Moe’s Broadway Bagel is adding a second Denver location, and Rich Spirit Bagels is another recent entrant.
Just a few blocks from Zaidy’s on Holly Street is D.C. chain Call your Mother, which has three locations locally and another opening soon in Platt Park.
“We saw some impact in the bagel business (from Call your Mother),” Appel said. “But we’re finding people are finding their way back. They like the vibe, but don’t like the product.”
After opening its first stand-alone restaurant in Five Points in 2015, Rosenberg’s added a location in the Stanley Marketplace in Aurora in 2017.
Not all expansion has worked out. Pollack shuttered a Boulder store in 2022. He said he’s now pushing wholesale as a way to expand the business – with smoked fish coming later — in lieu of adding any more spots in Denver.
“Getting through plan review, permitting and construction and licensing in Denver is arduous, expensive and frustrating. And it has been for a long time,” he said.
“That’s a promise from Mayor Mike Johnston to make it easier and more efficient that hasn’t been fulfilled.”
