Well, this sucks: Little Market on Portage Bay closes
Well, this sucks: Little Market on Portage Bay closes
Seattle just lost one of its best bagels.
Welcome to It’s A Shanda, one Northeastern Jew’s quest to find a decent bagel in Seattle (and beyond). Along with free bagel reviews every Sunday, we also offer bonus posts (like this one) each week. If you’re already subscribed, I hope you’ll consider upgrading to a paid subscription! Thank you for reading.
A couple of months ago, I saw a post on Reddit titled “Support Little Market!” alluding to rumors that Little Market on Portage Bay wasn’t doing well. I made a mental note to head down there and see what was going on, especially since I hadn’t stopped by in a while and it had been way too long since I’d eaten one of their crispy bagels.
Alas, I’ll never get the chance.
Reader Jim G. tipped me off on Tuesday that Little Market officially closed over Memorial Day Weekend. I needed to see it for myself so I headed down to Portage Bay and sure enough there was a sign in the window signaling the store’s closure.
“We are selling and the time has come to regretfully announce Little Market will be closing,” reads an announcement taped to the front of the store. “The decision has been difficult. But… Unfortunately, we are not able to provide the product/services required by our customers to remain open.
“A heartfelt thank you to Portage Bay and all of our customers for their support over the years.”
The announcement marked Sunday, May 26 as their final day of operation.
Little Market didn’t have much of an online presence and stopped posting on Instagram about a year ago, so it was hard to know how bad things got, but clearly, bad enough to shutter. It’s an incredible bummer for not just Seattle bagel fans but also fans of their pizzas, sandwiches, and pastries.
Originally a spin-off of Cafe Lago called Little Lago, it was sold in 2022 to Chaney Steinway and renamed Little Market on Portage Bay. While the focus appeared to be on their wood-fired pizzas, breads, and cakes, Little Market quickly garnered a reputation for having some of the best bagels in Seattle. Axios Seattle signed off on them and then I agreed with their assessment. From there, they got high praise in Seattle Met, Eater Seattle, and The Infatuation, amongst others.
After the Seattle bagel scene started to boom, I returned to make sure I wasn’t crazy and came away even further convinced this was still one of the best bagels in town.
Somehow, this Italian neighborhood market tucked away in a quiet corner of town was standing toe-to-toe with places that existed solely to make bagels. Incredibly crispy on the outside and extremely fluffy on the inside, they were unlike any other offering in town. I often think about the salt and pepper bagel and was looking forward to eating one again soon. Sigh.
(Some more thoughts below for paid subscribers)
I have absolutely no idea what happened, and I can only imagine how hard it is to maintain a niche business like that, but I’ve often wondered why Little Market didn’t capitalize on all of that attention more. At a time when people were more than happy to line up for an hour to get a trendy bagel, I always thought it was curious they didn’t do more to pivot into that hype.
Regardless, losing Little Market hurts on a few levels. One, it’s a bummer to see Portage Bay lose such a great local food option. Two, it’s a real shame to see Seattle lose a true neighborhood corner store at a time when there’s a push to see more residential-area retail options in the city. And three, I’m filled with regret for not visiting more often, trying out more of their food, and savoring their bagels.
No word yet on whether or not Little Market’s bagels might live on with a new business or in some other form. I’ll go ahead and begrudgingly remove them from the Seattle rankings. But I’m hopeful that Little Market’s crispy, crunchy bread circles will live on somehow, someway.
I can dream.
Thanks for actually reading this far. If you enjoyed my bagel review and want to read more of them, make sure you’re subscribed to It’s A Shanda. Know someone in the Greater Seattle Area (or beyond) who would appreciate way-too-detailed reviews of local bagels? Please forward the link their way.