Overview 

Brandwein's Bagels, June 2020

Brandwein’s Bagels, named after owner Alex Brandwein, is a bagel shop located on Rosemary Street in Chapel Hill, near UNC-Chapel Hill’s campus. The shop offers a variety of customization and drink options. Brandwein’s Bagels has a variety of dining options, including catering, in-house, and takeout. Orders can be made both online and in-store.

Menu

Brandwein’s Bagels serves traditional, boiled and baked New York-style bagels using locally-sourced Lindley Mills Flour. Their bagels are made daily from scratch and come in eleven flavors. The business sells 11 flavored cream cheeses, including some vegan options, and customers can also put chicken, tuna, egg or whitefish salad on their bagels. Brandwein’s menu includes eight pre-designed sandwiches and a build-your-own option. The business also sells branded shirts and hats. 

History

Alex Brandwein standing inside Brandwein’s Bagels.

Brandwein’s Bagels was established in 2019. Alex Brandwein, a New York native, started the brand after being accepted in UNC’s Kenan-Flagler’s Adams Apprenticeship, a year-long program designed to provide support for selected student entrepreneurs. 

The brand originally sold bagels through pop-up events on UNC-Chapel Hill’s campus, but then it signed a lease to become a physical bagel shop in February 2020. Brandwein’s Bagels currently has one location in Chapel Hill, as the community there significantly helped build the brand. During Brandwein’s first pop-up event, he sold out of 625 bagels and, at a more recent pop-up, he sold out of 1,200.

Connection to UNC-CH 

Brandwein’s Bagels is owned by Alex Brandwein, a recent graduate of the UNC-CH Kenan-Flagler Business School’s Master of Business Administration program. He opened Brandwein’s Bagels after working in investment banking and private equity in New York for eight years. Although Brandwein was overwhelmed by the city’s lifestyle, he missed eating bagels daily. Surprised that the Chapel Hill/Carrboro community did not have an off-campus bagel shop, he decided it was important to bring such an establishment to a community he says he has fallen in love with.