Business & Tech
Q & A: Phil Cirrone of Stuff A Bagel
His 25-year-old bagel shop has expanded into barbeque, hot meals and bakery items.
For the past 25 years, seven days a week, 365 days a year, the staff at Stuff A Bagel produces gourmet omelettes, waffles, paninis, wraps, and salads for hundreds of daily customers. Overseeing this balance between lightning-speed orders and convivial atmosphere is Phil Cirrone, who along with his wife Lisa and four children, has grown the Main Street business from delicious bagels to barbeque, catering, hot meals and bakery items. Today, a sister Stuff A Bagel store in Bethpage is also operated by Cirrone and his family.
What makes Stuff-A-Bagel different?
Cirrone: Our high quality, our fresh ingredients, and our diversity. Everything in our store is made to order that day. Quality is what our customers remember and why they keep coming back. Our bagels are boiled and baked the old-fashioned way from a family recipe from my father-in-law more than 40 years ago. We use no preservatives and we try to buy everything local. Our fresh roast beef is purchased from the Meat Market in Farmingdale. We buy all of our vegetables from local sources on Long Island. We’ve expanded beyond bagels to a very diverse menu according to our customer’s tastes and lifestyles. Healthier ingredients, fresh fruit, homemade oatmeal, whole wheat, low-carb, and light dressings are all a part of our menu.
Why did you choose Farmingdale?
Cirrone: Actually my father-in-law did. He came out from Brooklyn and lived in Farmingdale. He liked the village feel and the residents. When the old Bollinger building had a fire in the mid-1980s, the space was vacant and we took over and opened in 1985.
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How is business in this economy?
Cirrone: While all businesses have slowed during the recession, we have very loyal customers who continue to patronize our store. Plus we’re always evolving with our menu, surprising everyone with new choices and customers enjoy meeting their friends, family, and neighbors in our clean, welcoming store.
How is running a business on Main Street?
Cirrone: We have a high profile being right on Main Street and it’s very accessible. If we have customers who need a fast order, they can pull up right behind the store and we can load their platters right into the car. We’re hoping that the revitalization plan from Village Hall will draw more people back into Farmingdale to walk along Main Street and visit the stores and restaurants.
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What is your busiest time of the year?
Cirrone: During the holiday season our business climbs as we get large catering orders and corporate events and family gatherings. But if you visit us on the weekend or in the morning, you’ll usually find a line. Since we’ve been in business for 25 years, we’ve expanded beyond Farmingdale and we’re delivering out east to the wineries all the way into the city to Park Avenue.
What is the hardest part of running the business?
Cirrone: Everyone expects us to deliver fast, hot, and high quality. Especially on the weekends, our staff is working so hard with orders coming in person, over the phone, via fax. We’re always trying to find that balance between preparing orders fast and with the highest quality.
What is the most rewarding part of being part of the Farmingdale community?
Cirrone: We’re involved with some many different organizations and families and we help so many people. We see local families grow up, we hire their children and we look forward to keeping in touch with them. Recently, I received a very kind letter from a man who grew up in Farmingdale and moved to the Carolinas. He wanted to bring his own son back into our store to show him where he hung out and let him taste a real New York bagel.
What changes have you seen in 25 years?
Cirrone: So many. When we opened, there wasn’t an internet. Now we have a web site, we get orders faxed to us or via the web or over iPhones. We’re more environmentally-friendly. We recycle almost everything and we’ve switched from styrofoam to paper cups. We’ve had to adjust to diets and lifestyle and we’re looking into introducing bagels and dishes that cater to people with food allergies.
What are your most popular dishes?
Cirrone: There’s so many it’s hard to choose just one. One of our most popular breakfast orders is our signature croissant stuffed French toast. It’s a croissant dipped in French toast batter grilled and then stuffed with cream cheese and laced with fresh strawberries and bananas. In the winter, we switch it up with caramelized apples and fresh pears.
