BO's Bagels was started by Andrew Martinez and Ashley Dikos after many years of living in Harlem and not being able to find a decent bagel. Andrew, a native New Yorker, decided to start making bagels in their home kitchen in order to not have to travel outside the neighborhood on weekends just to get some fresh, delicious gluten into his system. Ashley, a transplant from Michigan who had sworn off of carbs, was skeptical.
When he was a child growing up in Queens he couldn't wait for his mother to get home on Saturday mornings with a steaming hot bag of bagels. The smell, the unique flavor, the crispy outside and gooey inside... mmmm...
Drooling yet?
So as a longtime "restaurant guy", Andrew decided that in order for this to be worthwhile he needed to learn the techniques of the Old School. If he didn't, he might as well go to the bodega ("Gourmet Market") on the corner and get a roll with a hole that they were calling bagels nowadays. He began making bagel boards and buying large kettles to boil barley malt in. It was at this point that Ashley started to really take notice. She began bringing bagels to her office to test out on her co-workers, she began pawning day old bagels off on her family, and finally, she began eating bagels herself!
Things snowballed from there. After having the family over for a weekend brunch, Andrew's mother couldn't help but say that our bagels were so good that she would pay for them. So the next week she ordered two dozen to bring to her office. This quickly turned into people ordering dozens regularly to the point where we could no longer operate out of our home kitchen. So we rented a commercial kitchen, built a stand, and decided to see if our bagels would be as popular with others in our neighborhood as they were with family and friends. We could not believe the response. Every week we would sell out regardless of how many bagels we made!
Therefore, we searched until we found a perfect location in Harlem. Renovation began in November 2016, and we opened our flagship location at 235 West 116th Street on March 13, 2017! Named after Andrew's kids, Brody and Olivia, and our dog Bowser, the shop has become a huge success. In December 2023, we opened our second location at 3750 Broadway. Thank you to our family, friends, and all of you Harlemites for all the support. This truly wouldn't have been possible without you.
Enjoy.
Ashley and Andrew
BO's Bagels
When he was a child growing up in Queens he couldn't wait for his mother to get home on Saturday mornings with a steaming hot bag of bagels. The smell, the unique flavor, the crispy outside and gooey inside... mmmm...
Drooling yet?
So as a longtime "restaurant guy", Andrew decided that in order for this to be worthwhile he needed to learn the techniques of the Old School. If he didn't, he might as well go to the bodega ("Gourmet Market") on the corner and get a roll with a hole that they were calling bagels nowadays. He began making bagel boards and buying large kettles to boil barley malt in. It was at this point that Ashley started to really take notice. She began bringing bagels to her office to test out on her co-workers, she began pawning day old bagels off on her family, and finally, she began eating bagels herself!
Things snowballed from there. After having the family over for a weekend brunch, Andrew's mother couldn't help but say that our bagels were so good that she would pay for them. So the next week she ordered two dozen to bring to her office. This quickly turned into people ordering dozens regularly to the point where we could no longer operate out of our home kitchen. So we rented a commercial kitchen, built a stand, and decided to see if our bagels would be as popular with others in our neighborhood as they were with family and friends. We could not believe the response. Every week we would sell out regardless of how many bagels we made!
Therefore, we searched until we found a perfect location in Harlem. Renovation began in November 2016, and we opened our flagship location at 235 West 116th Street on March 13, 2017! Named after Andrew's kids, Brody and Olivia, and our dog Bowser, the shop has become a huge success. In December 2023, we opened our second location at 3750 Broadway. Thank you to our family, friends, and all of you Harlemites for all the support. This truly wouldn't have been possible without you.
Enjoy.
Ashley and Andrew
BO's Bagels