Wide World Of Bagels Opens In Mystic

The verdict is in: “They’re real bagels. They’re delicious.”

So said the Viganto family of Mystic, formerly of Long Island, where undoubtedly a ‘real’ bagel can be found.

opened Friday morning at 5 a.m. and
once the doors opened, a steady stream of the hungry and curious came to test not only a variety of bagels from the ones you know like onion, everything, poppy and the like, but the unusual ones likely never encountered, including specialty bagels in various colors and shapes letters of the alphabet to zoo creatures.   

In the location of the former and then Tim Hortons doughnut shops at 24 East Main St., in Mystic, Wide World of Bagels is
. Indeed, the restaurant, which will be open daily from 5 a.m. until 11 p.m. features designer cream cheeses, lox and whitefish for the devout traditional bagel-eater to a full breakfast and lunch, even dinner, menu: omelets, anytime breakfast sandwiches and breakfast burritos; salads and sandwiches including deli, grilled and wraps; burgers, steaks, parmesans and even gyros; and deserts
including candies, cookies and pastries.  

“It’s amazing. We’re excited. Look, it’s a lot more than bagels. Delicious,” said Claire Letizio of Rhode Island. She and her husband
Chris came to “check it out.”

“It’s absolutely incredible, a real gem for Mystic,” she said.  

Wide World of Bagels was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey.
Owner Elliot Cohen, who has a condo in Mystic, was told by local friends that “my bagels were amazing.”

“People told me I should open [in Mystic]…so here we are,”
Cohen said. All the bagels served are baked on location in a specially created kitchen, Cohen said.

 “It’s been absolutely crazy, but wonderful,” said Sales and Marketing Manager Christine Haggerty. “It’s so busy, so great.”

Cohen said that the restaurant employs 34 people, “95 percent are local hires,” he said.

Wide World of Bagels does something, Cohen said, that many
other local eateries do not do, “we deliver.”

“That’s big and good for (the community),” he said. Cohen said the goal is to make visitors happy but more importantly the restaurant is “here for the locals.”

“Most of the people that came in this morning were local people. That’s very important to us,” he said. The motto, he said, is "Redefining the bagel industry, one bagel at a time.”

The business also does catering including baskets and platters for small to large events, private to corporate and can provide service
as well, Cohen said.

Cohen is one of three partners in the business—his son Andrew and Scott Handler the others. The business was created in 1999 in New
Jersey. For more information check out the website at www.wideworldofbagels.com.