Bagelstein’s moves to primo new location in Dallas

by Teresa Gubbins

DALLAS — Bagelstein's -- the deli noted for its water-boiled bagels, family ownership, and its raccoon-shaped toothpick holder -- moved out of its old location in the "Spanish Village" center on Coit near Arapaho two weeks ago to a choice new spot: on the northeast corner of Preston and Royal, taking over the site vacated by Jason's Deli last August.

Bob Davidson in action at Bagelstein's previous location at Spanish Village.

"We had been itching to move out of that other center for another year," says owner Bob Davidson. "It was going downhill. The Border’s had moved out. The center is almost completely empty. People may come out of their way to eat at Bagelstein's, but you still need drive-by traffic. Here at Preston and Royal, people are everywhere. We've been slammed since we opened the door."

The uptick in business has been so significant, it persuaded Davidson to extend the hours until 9 p.m. and begin offering dinner, for which they are busy crafting a dinner menu to be introduced shortly.

This isn't the first time Bagelstein's has up and moved. For decades it sat at Spring Valley Road at Coit, until Davidson and his wife Melinda bought the place in 2003. They moved it to Plano near 121 and the Tollway, then moved again to the Coit spot in 2004. In late 2006, it was the scene of a horrific crime when an unidentified woman stole "Rocky," the restaurant's beloved raccoon-shaped toothpick-holder. After a story in early January 2007 on Pegasus News -- and, OK, on Channel 11, too -- the missing toothpick holder magically reappeared on the stoop a few days later.

But the bigger Bagelstein's news is not local: One year ago, the Davidsons opened a second branch of Bagelstein's in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (5975 North Federal Highway, 954-771-6154) which Melinda is supervising.

"I’ve been going to Florida since I was a kid," says Bob. "Driving around to different delis and sampling what they do, we said, "Golly, we can do better than this.' Since we opened, it's mobbed all the time. It is hard to sustain business in two states, but we’re working on that."