New owners continue to fill a knead in town
For 35 years, Bagel Boys has been a place to meet and eat in No. Brunswick
BY JENNIFER AMATO Staff Writer
Bagel Boys has a "hole" lot of history behind it. The North Brunswick bagel shop, located on Route 130 in the Maple Meade Shopping Center, has been in town for 13 years, but was recently purchased by Michael Belzer, who decided his retirement would be spent with 150 pounds of flour every day. The former Newark postal inspector and information systems specialist was inspired to take over the business after a fellow employee, who was a neighbor of one of the previous owners, mentioned that the shop was up for sale. Because of Bagel Boys' reputation in town, and after a personal taste test, Belzer decided the venture was right for him.

PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff Michael Belzer, who took over ownership of Bagel Boys on Route 130 in North Brunswick in May, twirls egg bagels into shape, just a few of the 80 dozen that are prepared each weekday morning.

"I found that the [appeal] was the reputation. There are a lot of township workers, high school kids and a bunch of retirees who come here all the time. I call it the "Cheers" of the bagel business. People expect when they come in here, 'Hey, there's Joe, there's Alan,' " he said. "I saw the customers, I liked what I saw in that. I thought I could do the work. It's making bagels, you just have to get up early in the morning, make the sandwiches and make the coffee."

Since reopening in May, Belzer has had many customers share their experiences from over the years. Two of his favorites are George and Elverta Watkins, who order the same meal every Sunday; they recently celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary. He has a lot of customers who have relocated to Monroe from North Brunswick who still stop by. One woman comes by every Tuesday morning so she can bring bagels to the Elijah's Promise soup kitchen in New Brunswick.

He also caters to a lot of college students. There were two best friends who would call in for their sandwiches during high school, but now reside at different campuses at Rutgers University. One has her mother pick up bagels every Wednesday so they can spend the day together. The other was hospitalized because of an allergic reaction to medication and the first thing she did was ask her mom for a bagel when she came home.

Another customer had an all-night party before returning to college for the new school year. He came in at 5 a.m. for a pork roll and cheese sandwich on an everything bagel, and then returned at 2 p.m. again with his mother. The following day, with the car packed up with his school supplies, the whole family stopped in so he could bring a sandwich with him to Pennsylvania. For Parents Weekend, his father came in early to get him a sandwich so they could surprise him.

Another favorite story of Belzer's was a woman who knocked on the front door after hours while the store was

being cleaned. She begged for him to sell her an egg bagel because her daughter had given birth that morning and only wanted a Bagel Boys treat. Although Belzer ran out of egg bagels, he said he gave the new grandmother what he had.

He also shared the story about a man who lived in another state returning for the funeral of his father, wanting to stop into Bagel Boys because he and his dad used to eat there on a regular basis. A different customer came from Long Island to visit a cemetery, got a bagel, and returned 15 minutes later to purchase more.

Belzer said his bagels also travel across the country. He said people stop in and buy a dozen bagels to bring back

to Virginia, Arkansas and Tennessee.

"This is the small-town warmth of this particular type of business," said Michael's wife, Beth, who has their sons Brian, 16, and Ben, 13, help out at times too.

Bagel Boys is a typical bagel store and deli, featuring 18 different types of bagels including

chocolate chip,

jalapeno, super cinnamon, spinach and low-carb, along with an array of gourmet spreads. There are luncheon meats and a variety of eggs, pancakes, muffins and sandwich breads. The Belzers hope to include egg creams, knishes and hummus on their menu in the future, "the simple pleasures in life," as described by Beth.

The day begins at 3:30 a.m., when the self-heating oven begins its rise to 500 degrees. At 4:30 a.m., longtime employee Robert Talj starts the coffee, waiting to prepare the 100-pound batches of dough the mixer produces during each cycle. At 5:30 a.m. customers begin to arrive, sometimes waiting outside since 5 a.m.

"What's great about Robert is that he knows what our regular customers like and when he sees their car drive into the parking lot he will usually have their sandwiches ready when they walk in," Belzer said.

With five racks holding 48 bagels each, 250 bagels can cook for 15 minutes at a time, equaling about 80 dozen bagels during the week and twice that amount on weekends.

Belzer said he believes his own legacy will grow out of the fact that he is from Brooklyn, N.Y., where bagels are a way of life, and that he is focused on customer service relations. His previous experience was with a concession stand at Coney Island when he was a teenager, and serving as the coffee club organizer at the postal service.

"We want to continue what the prior owners did here," Belzer said.

"It's almost like we have a 'bed and breakfast' but you don't get to sleep here," his wife added.

Bagel Boys does deliver and cater, and may do the holiday season this year.

The hours of operation are Monday through Friday 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. The store is located at 1898 Route 130. Call (732) 422-8700 for more information.