Seattle is getting even more Toasted. than initially thought
"We've been sitting on our hands for a long time. We're hungry. Why not?"
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You can mark the history of Seattle in many ways. Many specific moments in time denote a “before” and “after” for those who were there to experience it.
Perhaps one day, historians will look back on the Emerald City and say there was a time before Toasted. Bagels & Coffee and a time after its arrival.
It was just this past July when co-owners Jaafar Altameemi and Murat Akyüz finally opened their first Toasted. location in the University District. After finding immediate and sustained success, they announced a second location coming soon to Bellevue, which was quickly followed up with the news of a third location in South Lake Union.
On Tuesday, I got a scoop that a Toasted. banner was on the front window of a storefront at 1st and Yesler. Sure enough, Altameemi confirmed that a fourth location was coming soon to Pioneer Square.
“It's finding really good deals in spots around the city that we really believe are going to boom in the next two to five years. Pioneer Square is just one of those,” Altameemi told It’s a Shanda. “It's a great area. We're taking a bet on it. We got a good deal and we really thought, why not?”
I had two obvious questions for the Toasted. team. One, how they were able to expand so much already? And two, would I be writing about location No. 5 or even No. 6 in a few weeks?
“Well, I mean, we went to the Foster School of Business, all right? We have plans in place for everything. Expansion is definitely the first one,” Altameemi said. “And we're not coming up with this money all ourselves. There's a lot of partners, a lot of investors, and so we're juggling a lot here.
“We've been sitting on our hands for a long time. We're hungry. Why not?”
Altameemi noted that the storefronts at 101 Yesler Way and in Bellevue will be to-go setups, while the South Lake Union spot will be a full-service shop similar to the U District one. All four locations will feature the same menu. Their current timeline calls for Bellevue and SLU to open towards the beginning of 2025 and Pioneer Square to open by the spring.
While he didn’t discount the possibility of further expansion, Altameemi says that once these four shops are officially open, the focus is going to be on optimization, efficiency, and maintaining quality.
“We really hope that our quality stays as consistent as it has been so far,” he said. “We're really not looking to be the big-name chain trying to cut corners in every single way possible. That's one of the things that we have hung up in our offices, ‘Quality stays the same.’ If we open up two locations or 10 locations, that still must be maintained and true. We have to figure out ways of getting really creative of cutting costs, but it will never reach quality.”
While you’re here, make sure you head to
for a great piece about Seattle's Great Bagel Awakening.“Seattle's bagel scene has expanded faster than proofing dough this year. Each month brings new openings, pop-ups graduating to brick-and-mortar locations, and established spots adding outposts across the city,” writes
. “This is a story about how a city develops its food traditions—and how sometimes, the best cultural shifts announce themselves through papered windows and hand-drawn mascots.”
Absolutely horrible news out of New York City as Absolute Bagel has apparently closed for good.
According to West Side Rag, multiple employees have said the bagel place, considered by many as one of the best in New York City, has closed permanently. The store was shuttered Thursday with two “We Are Closed” signs out front.
Various potential reasons for the closure were thrown out, including the owner’s age, rent costs, and health department-related issues, but the owner has yet to publicly comment or confirm any details.
It’ll be a sad day indeed if Absolute is done. After my first visit was blocked due to a massive line, I finally got in there earlier this year. The bagels were indeed very, very good and my interaction with owner Sam Thongkrieng was everything I could hope for.
An older, surly man (possibly Thongkrieng?) approached me and said “Hello.” I wasn’t sure if it was meant as a greeting or a command. I gave him my order and he silently picked out the bagels and walked away. A woman was in front of me at the cash register so I stayed put. A few minutes later, the surly man reemerged at the register. He looked at me and once again said “Hello.” This time, I understood that was a command.
It was “annoyed efficiency” at its finest. I loved it.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a “best bagels in NYC” list that doesn’t include Absolute, potentially making this a crushing loss for the bagel community at large.
“If this is really true and Absolute Bagels is gone forever,” said Bagel Ambassador Sam Silverman, “we can all mourn the loss of not just one of the best bagel shops in the city, but in the entire world.”
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