About DC Restaurant Openings
A guide to the newest places to eat and drink.
PopUp Bagels. 1078 Wisconsin Ave., NW.
PopUp Bagels has gone viral on social media in recent years for its “rip and dip” bagels—served hot and never sliced—paired with sides of ever-changing schmear flavors. Now, it’s opening its first DC location in Georgetown on April 10.
The bagel chain—with the slogan “Not famous, but known”—started in founder Adam Goldberg’s Westport, Connecticut, home kitchen during the pandemic. The concept has since expanded across the country with over 25 locations from California to Florida to New York. The New York Times even listed it among the “The 17 Best Bagels in New York City Right Now.”
“I always say that your visit to PopUp is like the best six minutes of everybody’s day,” says Brian Harrington, PopUp Bagel’s DC partner. He says they settled on Georgetown because of the foot traffic and proximity to college campuses.
PopUp offers a simple menu with five bagel options: plain, everything, poppy seed, salt, and sesame. Plain and scallion cream cheese, plus salted butter, are staples. But the schmears also come in weekly rotating specials, including the popular brown sugar cinnamon butter or a recent Guinness chocolate cake cream cheese for St. Patrick’s Day. Bagels are sold by the bag (three bagels and one schmear go for $15), and pre-orders are available by the dozen. A selection of juices, hot drip coffee, and La Colombe cold brew is available as well.
This will be the very first PopUp to also include a second story where customers can sit and enjoy their doughy delights. A mural over the counter will feature imagery from the Potomac, rowing, and other odes to DC. A patio will also be available.
“We are just trying to deliver exactly what people have come to know about the brand and just replicate it in DC,” Harrington says.
A grand opening, at 8 AM on April 10, will include giveaways from Lil Sweet Treat, La Colombe Coffee, and Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice, and other swag. There will also be a DJ. Harrington says that the Georgetown store’s opening announcement had more social media interactions than any other opening to date, so he expects lines.
This is just the beginning of PopUp in the DC area. The bagel chain is also planning another location Bethesda (7607 Old Georgetown Rd.) this year, with hopefully more to come.
Samantha is an Editorial Fellow at the Washingtonian and a senior at American University, studying Political Science and Women’s, Gender, and Sexualities Studies. She lives in Washington, D.C.
