Wide World Of Bagels Coming To Mystic

When Wide World of Bagels opens in a few weeks it will be the first time in years downtown Mystic has had dedicated bagel eatery.

Elliot Cohen, one of the partners of , said people have been asking him to open a bagel place in Mystic for years and when Tim Hortons closed in November he received emails telling him about how perfect the location would be.

“It’s all about timing,” Cohen said.

Cohen expects Wide World of Bagels will be open for the July 4, 2011 holiday weekend, but says the spot will be much more than a bagel joint.

“It’s a year-round product, not just bagels but rolls, wraps, ice cream, a little bit of everything,” Cohen said.

Looking through their extensive menu it’s clear that Wide World of Bagels is much more than just bagels. There’s pancakes, omelettes, salads, burritos, sandwiches including Paninis and even buffalo chicken wings. But it’s not fast food.

“We’ll do egg whites, whole wheat” said Sales and Marketing Manager Christine Haggerty who is the owner of the former CC Bagel. “We can make anything healthy.”

Wide World of Bagels plans to stay open later than your typical bagel place. CC Bagel use to close at 2 p.m., but Wide World of Bagels will open at 6 a.m. and stay open to 10 or 11 p.m. It will also offer delivery from Groton to Pawcatuck.

But perhaps the biggest difference between Wide World of Bagels and any other bagel place is their novelty bagels. For every holiday they make different shaped bagels such as shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day, flags for the Fourth of July and also ones people can design to order.

The place itself will be tech savvy with video screens of the food they serve as well photos of customers. It will most likely have WiFi, everything inside is brand new and they will make the bagels on the premises.

“Our thing is fresh ingredients,” Cohen said, who added being able to make the bagels on site also means they should never run out.

Cohen and his partners’, his son Andrew Cohen and Scott Handler, other stores are located in New Jersey but they picked Mystic in part due to that perfect timing but also because of their fondness for the area.

“I love the area, we’ve brought family here for the last 8 years,” Cohen said, mentioning that everyone in town from the town officials to local business members have been very helpful.

“It’s just amazing that support, it’s very important,” Cohen said. “We’ve done nine stores, but this town, this community is so upbeat, just there to support you.”

While the community is supporting them, Cohen hopes they will support the community by hiring locals, many from the high school, providing wholesale opportunities to local businesses and hotels and giving the area a fun, family friendly year-round spot.

“We want to have fun,” Cohen said.