Last November, a TikTok video made Marigold Bagels so popular that the business had to move up plans to expand from online sales and a booth at a farmers market to an actual storefront. On Saturday, Marigold Bagels finally opened at its new North Park home.
Although owner Mike Rabinowitz planned as best he could for the shop's opening, he was overwhelmed by the nearly 300 people who turned out on Saturday. He made 750 bagels, close to capacity for him at this time, and sold out before noon โ two hours before closing time.
While the vast majority of customers were good-natured about the lines, the hours-long wait and even arriving to find all the bagels gone, some customers were irate.
"When it comes to bagels, people don't like the notion that you ran out of food," Rabinowitz explained.
What people may not appreciate is that Rabinowitz's bagels take four days to make, so when he runs out, he cannot just go thaw out bags of bagels to replenish the supply. But it is that extended process that makes his bagels unique.
Rabinowitz views the past weekend as a learning process not just about how many bagels to make but also about how to manage customer expectations.
"So we do want to use this weekend as a benchmark for how much we'll sell on a normal weekend," Rabinowitz said. "There's been so much pent up excitement to get them because we haven't sold a bagel since the No King's event. But that wasn't real selling. We donated our bagels to that event. And then after that, our ghost-kitchen refrigerator died, and we just threw up our hands and got out of the ghost kitchen."
That meant none of his authentic New York-style bagels for his customers until now.
Welcoming Marigold Bagels to North Park on Saturday was Lips legend Tootie, who is also the executive director of the El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Association, and Mayor Todd Gloria.
So after the hectic, busy weekend, Rabinowitz is hoping for a more reasonable crowd on Wednesday.
"Because it's not a weekend and everyone's at work, it's going to be a more manageable day," Rabinowitz said. "I hope it'll be a very popular bagel shop instead of a FOMO Instagram thing. What I mean by that is I hope there's 20, 30 people show up for their morning sandwiches and their cup of coffee, maybe a bag of bagels to bring to the office meeting. That would be great. And then there'll be a lull. And then maybe a bigger crowd at lunchtime. And we'll process that all until 2 p.m., and we'll clean up. That would be a more normal day for me, and it would be very welcome."
Rabinowitz is an organic chemist by training. But he decided to retire to try his hand at making authentic New York bagels. He always planned to open a storefront but thought that step would be further down the road.
On Friday he held a soft opening for friends and family. As he contemplated the grand opening he noted, "It's terrifying. I've never done this before. This is a whole new industry to me," Rabinowitz said on Friday, the day before the grand opening. "But I actually surrounded myself with really good people โฆ so it's a little less terrifying."
He signed the lease for the El Cajon Boulevard location last December.
"I love North Park," Rabinowitz said. "It's a great location, surrounded by great stores, fun mom-and-pop places, just have a great vibe."
Having his own place rather than renting a ghost kitchen means less hassle and more bagels for customers โ plus the ability to make bagel sandwiches.
As Rabinowitz headed home on Sunday he said of the weekend, "In summary, my whole group was excited. I was very energized by it. The people who were lovely and kind and charming and just happy to be there far outweighed the disgruntled people. So that was just a pleasure."
The current hours for the shop will be Wednesday through Sunday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. (or until sold out), with the hope of being open seven days a week down the road.
