Brooklyn Bagel Opens in Sandy Springs
Alan Alzedeh is willing to work in the wee hours to assure quality bagels and “hazerye” make it to the franchise’s now four locations.
Brooklyn Bagel & Deli is growing like … well … flagel dough. With locations in Ansley Mall, Johns Creek, Brookhaven, and most recently, Sandy Springs, Trehan native Alan Ahlzadeh knows what it takes to run a hands-on family business. For starters, he sleeps during the late afternoon, to be able to be alert and manage starting at 2 a.m.
He explained, “In 2010, I purchased Brooklyn Bagel Bakery in Johns Creek. From that location with much hard work and tinkering, Brooklyn Bagel and Deli was born; and today, we have just opened our fourth location. After 40 years in the restaurant business, I still love it and believe it or not, I am excited to start my day at 1:30 a.m.!”
His wife, Merrill, is trusted backup and lends support by running around to deliver items that may be left behind. On the day this writer visited the new Sandy Springs location just outside I-285, in a strip center on Roswell Road, the couple was on hand keeping the “nova and corned beef ship” running as smoothly as a side spread.
Son, Avi, runs the Ansley Mall location. They have between 15 to 20 employees at each location, and the family claims to be open to all/more locations and is looking at franchise options.
Ahlzadeh’s sweet spot is quality and speed as cash and carry, while there are plenty of roomy tables to sit down and nosh. A plethora of Jewish appetites were enjoying the Sandy Springs location at noon on a Friday, which has a very deep corridor for sitting down to kibbitz. Seating ranges from 40 to 130 indoors with groupings of outdoor seating. All locations are designed for fast casual ambiance and practicality for grab and go service.
Brooklyn Bagel & Deli bagels are made fresh every morning with simple quality ingredients and pride as each bagel is hand rolled, boiled, then baked to achieve a perfect shiny crust and chewy inside. All bagels are made from scratch and hand rolled in the commissary. They are then transported to the different locations daily where they are then boiled and baked on site. Alan’s favorite nova, along with whitefish and sable, are shipped from New York City; and the corned beef and pastrami come from gold standard Carnegie Deli. All the bagel dough, tuna, chicken, egg salad, potato salads, coleslaw, Israeli salad, all the cream cheeses and desserts, are prepared in the commissary.
To complement his Persian heritage, Ahlzadeh also spent formidable years in Israel. As the son of a kosher butcher, he began working at age 8, for his father and four older brothers where he delivered chicken and meat to homes on his bicycle. He moved to the United States at 12 and started school anew. After living with different family members in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Long Island, he settled in Paramus, N.J., on Route 17.
He recalled, “After some very cold years, I moved to Dunwoody where I still reside now with my wife and children.”
Alan attended Georgia State University where he majored in accounting, a practical boon for a restaurateur. Shortly after college, along with his brothers, he purchased a Shipfeifer Gyro Wrap franchise in the 1980s. The first location was in Lenox Mall before expanding to other malls and concepts.
At Brooklyn Bagel & Deli, a baker’s dozen sells for $19.99. The most popular flavors are Everything, Sesame and Plain. Ahlzadeh stated that the most popular sandwiches include The Classic (sliced nova with cream cheese, tomato, onion and capers), Tuna Melt, Rueben, and My Cousin Vinny. Other clever monikers are Empire State, Central Park, Brooklyn Way, Prospect Park, and Kipper the Salmon.
Brooklyn Bagel & Deli has a catering division for mitzvahs and parties; EzCater for offices; take out and Door Dash account for 30 percent of the sales volume.
Alan concluded, “The hardest thing about running a deli is early morning, keeping consistent food quality, and making sure all 15 to 20 employees show up and work smoothly as a team and do so every day. We pride ourselves on authenticity, speed, consistency in a fast-paced environment with high energy; concurrently being known as a community hang out for socialization.”