Rip and Dip These Viral Bagels
How Social Media Brought Buzz to These Bagels
by Amanda Healy
Social media is complex, to say the least. While it is a way to stay connected with friends, stay up to date with your favorite musicians, or laugh at funny videos, it is also a place full of toxicity and can cause harm.
However, there’s one aspect that physically changes lives: growing local and small businesses. Apps like TikTok have made it exponentially easier for businesses to appear on various consumer platforms and go viral quickly.
I'm sure we can all think of a brand that we knew nothing about one day and the next, they were building a physical storefront with a line out the door, and Boston is home to some of these not-so-hidden gems.
Two places that have specifically disrupted the Boston breakfast scene are Brick Street Bagels and PopUp Bagels.
Jordan Renouf, 29, was, like the rest of us, restless during the pandemic and decided to try out baking bagels using his father's recipe in his South End apartment. After posting about his new venture, he started delivering bagels on his bike, which became pop-ups in public parks. And alas, Brick Street Bagels was born. Once Instagram got a hold of Renouf's mouthwatering creation, the demand skyrocketed, and people were ready to wait no matter the harsh Boston weather conditions.
There is now a Brick Street Bagels location on Shawmut Ave in the South End, where you can try a freshly baked sesame, asiago, or even rosemary sea salt bagel. While you can walk up, I recommend pre-ordering your bagels; however, you should still be prepared to wait in line.
I was one of the many who had a TikTok For You page flooded with people ripping and dipping these bagels, and I knew I needed to try. I got there around 8:00 a.m. and only had to wait 10 minutes, but by the time I was finished, the line had been wrapped around the corner. It may feel like a lot of work for a bagel, but trust me, you won’t be disappointed.
PopUp Bagels, another pandemic venture that turned into must-be preordered pop-ups through restaurants in Manhattan, originally started in Connecticut. They made a big splash in the NYC bagel scene and now have multiple locations in different states.
I'm sure you have seen countless TikTok creators tear their bagels in half, steam-releasing, to dip into their surprising cream cheese or butter combination of the week. They have had collabs like their Cheez-It original schmear and Grillo's Pickles schmear.
The hype around this place has been like no other, and I knew I needed to go when the location in Seaport opened. However, I was skeptical.
Would my bagels come out piping hot like everyone else's, especially since I was going in the afternoon? And the answer was yes. I got to do the satisfying rip of the soft, warm dough in my hands, and it was delicious. They even gave me their buffalo wing butter from their Cheez-It collab because they had extra (and while I was skeptical, I thoroughly enjoyed it).
Both of these bagel spots are worth the hype. I, for one, am glad that social media helped them blow up because Boston needed a splash in the bagel scene.
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