First Look: 3 big-city guys just brought Brooklyn bagels to Syracuse

(In First Look, we visit a new restaurant or bar in Central New York to give readers an idea of what to expect. If you know of a new place, email me at cmiller@syracuse.com or call/text me at 315-382-1984. If I take your suggestion, I just might buy you a meal.)

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Syracuse, N.Y. — You’ll have to be patient, folks. Four of the 12 employees scheduled to work the first-ever shift at Schoolyard Bagels didn’t show up for work this morning. And the bread guy won’t be delivering the sandwich loaves until after 9 a.m. Oh, and they don’t have lox yet.

But that’s OK, Peter Lombardo said at 6:32 a.m. today, two minutes after Syracuse’s newest bagel shop unlocked its doors to a bunch of hungry students waiting to get breakfast. An hour after opening, the shop was full. At 11 a.m., the line stretched out the door and down the sidewalk.

“Growing pains,” said Lombardo, one of the three owners of Schoolyard. “We’re going to get through these minor setbacks. When you bite into one of these bagels, you’ll forget all about the problems.”

The New York City guys behind Schoolyard Bagels spent the past five years planning this venture, made 60-plus trips to Syracuse and ate hundreds, if not thousands, of bagels. It finally opened today in the space that formerly was a Starbucks at 726 University Ave., across the street from the SU campus. This came after 18 months of a full renovation to fix any structural problems, going through what Lombardo said was four walls and four floors.

The idea to open a bagelry was born at a barbecue at Carmine Curra’s house in 2018. He, Lombardo and Nick Castronuovo all had friends and family who attended Syracuse University.

“SU is in the middle of a bagel desert,” Lombardo said. “You have good food here, but you need bagels right here for all of these people who grew up on real bagels.”

That was music to Luke Maddren’s breadbasket. The SU senior from Philadelphia spent a semester living above a bagel shop in Midtown Manhattan. He was Schoolyard’s first customer this morning. He ordered a plain bagel with veggie cream cheese and lox with a large cup of black Peet’s coffee.

He ended up with just cream cheese when news came down that the smoked salmon hadn’t yet arrived.

“I thought it would be fun to wake up early and be the first person here. Now I’m not so sure,” he said. “It’s a very good bagel though.”

The bagels here are all made inhouse. They hand-roll the dough for each bagel and boil them in a kettle before they hit the gas oven. When the kitchen gets fully up and running, it’ll make 10 varieties: plain, everything, sesame, egg, egg everything, onion, garlic, poppy, cinnamon raisin and salt.

Bagels are $2 each and $23.75 for a baker’s dozen (13 bagels).

Schoolyard also offers deli sandwiches, salads and soups. They Boar’s Head cold cuts and cheeses.

Schoolyard’s target customer base is the campus and the nearby hospitals. That’s why it’ll open as early as 6:30 a.m. and close at 3 a.m. The nearest bagel shops are 1½ miles away downtown and Bruegger’s 2.3 miles east of campus. Both of those close after lunchtime.

“When you cut open our bagels, you can smell the difference, and then you taste the difference,” Lombardo said in his thick Bensonhurst accent. “You get that New York crunch, and they’re soft inside. They’re different. That’s all I’m going to say. I’m not going to tell you anymore. It could be the water here. I’m not going to say.”

Details

The venue: Schoolyard Bagels, 726 University Ave., Syracuse (732) 890-1965

Hours: Monday-Wednesday 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday-Friday 6:30 a.m. to 3 a.m.; Saturday 7 a.m. to 3 a.m.; Sunday 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Parking: On-street parking is free in the evening.

Credit cards: Yes

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Charlie Miller finds the best in food, drink and fun across Central New York. Contact him at (315) 382-1984, or by email at cmiller@syracuse.com. (AND he pays for what he and his guests eat and drink, just so you know.) You can also find him under @HoosierCuse on Twitter and on Instagram. Sign up for his free weekly Where Syracuse Eats newsletter here.