Bagelheads receives final approval for Perdido Key restaurant

Perdido Key will soon have a staple for homemade bagels, handcrafted coffee and quick drive-thru dining options through a new Bagelheads shop.

The proposed third location of the popular bagel restaurant received final approval on Sept. 9 from the Escambia County Development Review Committee, when the committee granted a development order to move forward.

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The restaurant is slated to be 2,925 square feet, according to the approved site plan, at the corner of Sorrento and Bauer roads.

One of the trickiest parts of the planning process so far was for the proposed drive-through, which required conditional use approval through the Board of Adjustment, which Fishbein has since received.

Now, the path is clear to begin the permit application process, and hopefully soon break ground.

Ben Fishbein, the restaurant’s owner and orthodontist by trade, has been steadily growing the brand since purchasing the business and its recipes from founders Rob and Jan Mackey in 2022. The original café at 916 E. Gregory St. has been a Pensacola breakfast staple since 1998.

While making some renovations to the restaurant, Fishbein carried over many of the Bagelheads staples, such as the bagel recipes and coffee roasted by the founders, MacDaddy Coffee. He also added menu items, including more fresh fruit juices and cream cheese flavors, and created a smoother online ordering system.

Bagelheads has prided itself over the years for its from-scratch bagels made without any oils, fats or artificial flavorings, and is famous for its wide variety of bagel choices, which include everything from cheddar jalapeno to the snickerdoodle bagel.

He opened a second location near the University of West Florida, and has two more planned in the Perdido Key and Gulf Breeze communities.

The Perdido Key restaurant will serve up the same fresh made daily bagels as their counterparts.

Even with multiple locations, they’re not cookie-cutter and the décor styles vary by area.

The flagship Gregory Street store heavily focuses on easy-breezy beach themes, with surfboards and photographs of old Pensacola; the Argo Village store has more of a modern café feel, with leather couches, framed paintings and patterned tile floors.

Even with the growth, Fishbein said he’s continually looking for ways to improve the original store downtown. He hopes the renovations there will improve efficiency and speed while enhancing the feel of a community hub.

Bagelheads’ existing locations at East Gregory Street and North Davis Highway are open from 6:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. daily.

For real-time updates and information, follow Bagelheads on social media.

PNJ reporter Tom McLaughlin contributed to this report.

Brittany Misencik is a veteran dining reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. If you have a news tip, send it to BMisencik@pnj.com. Stay up to date on the latest restaurant news by subscribing to our free Pensacola Eats newsletter, delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign up for the newsletter at profile.pnj.com/newsletters/pensacola-eats/.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Bagelheads receives final approval for Perdido Key restaurant