Bread bagels have long been a breakfast favorite. Increasingly, restaurateurs are coming up with more uses for them, like making sandwiches and assorted snacks. The bagel is a popular item and it's not going anywhere anytime soon.

When thinking about your diner, ask yourself what your customers would like to eat. You know your customers best, so contact a few distributors of bagels to see what kind of products they can offer you.

1. Buy wholesale bagels to ensure you have plenty of what your customers want. Buying in bulk will help you keep your costs down as well.

2. Design a few menu items that use bagels in a non-traditional way. Sandwiches and miniature pizzas are popular.

3. Sell bagels as snack items as well as for breakfast and lunch. Come up with a few creative ideas to add to your menu.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get wholesale pricing from bagel suppliers

Buying anything by the case will yield a lower price. Considering the popularity of bagels for breakfast, you'd better stock up.

I recommend: Buy wholesale from A&S BAGELS, a New York bagel bakery with a wide variety of palatable selections like Cheddar Cheese and Sun Dried Tomato. Serve your health-conscious customers organic multi-grain bagels from Fleischer's Bagels.

Use bread bagels for making lunch items

A sliced bagel serves as the perfect bread for a sandwich. Add some deli meat, cheese, lettuce and tomato to a slightly toasted honey wheat bagel and watch your customers eat with pleasure. You can also make the ever-popular pizza bagel.

I recommend: Order Kosher Soft Bagels from Harlan Bakeries. Twin City Bagels offers par-baked and fully cooked bagels in flavors that would make for great sandwiches.

Buy from bagel makers with creative selections to offer snacks for your customers

Bagels even make good snacks. They're filling yet won't spoil someone's appetite for dinner. Think about how to add different kinds of things to your menu, like serving strips of jalapeño bagels with nacho cheese dipping sauce.

I recommend: Greenspun Bagel Company has some unique offerings, like Old Bay and Black Russian bagels. Check out the "Bagel Stuffers" at J.S.B. Industries; these are made of bagel dough shaped into thick sticks and stuffed with different ingredients. Examples include the "Cheese Pizza Bagel Stuffer" and the "Smart Choice Maple Cinnamon Bagel Stuffer," which is stuffed with cinnamon cream cheese.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Consider making bagels instead of buying them. Many of the bagel distributors mentioned above sell raw dough and even par-baked bagels (partially cooked, then shipped). This gives you more control over your inventory and allows you to serve only the freshest bagels.
• •  Don't forget to buy condiments like plain cream cheese, flavored cream cheese, reduced fat cream cheese, butter and jelly. You'll have some upset customers if stocking these items somehow slips your mind.