West Orange Bagel Shop Celebrates Strange (But Successful) Year

WEST ORANGE, NJ — If you lay all the bagels sold at Bagels By Jarrett since it opened side by side, they’d span the entire length of I-280 – and have room to spare. That’s the sort of year it’s been at the enormously popular West Orange eatery.

On Monday, the crew at Bagels By Jarrett celebrated the shop’s first anniversary since its soft opening in 2020. It’s been a strange journey for the long-awaited restaurant, which is helmed by Jarrett Seltzer and has become a household name on internet chat boards and social media groups in West Orange.

• See related article: Bagel Baron Teases West Orange With Long-Awaited Restaurant

Just weeks after opening, the eatery was forced to close its doors and go curbside-only due to the pandemic, like many other restaurants in the region. It's since adapted in many ways, including expanding its menu to include items such as its "lawsuit sliders" and mouthwatering tacos.

But despite the many trials and tribulations of the COVID-19 crisis, the “bxj army” is still marching on, Seltzer reported Monday.

“Today marks the 1-year anniversary since our soft opening and what a year it has been … from building a beautiful bagel shop, to closing the doors just a few weeks in and switching entirely to curbside,” he wrote.

Seltzer continued:

“It was a year of countless mistakes and constant growth. When we started it would take us 34 minutes to run 450 bagels on our dough former, it now takes us 7 minutes. We've sold enough bagels that if you put them all side by side, they would span the entire length of route 280 (and more). We've kept the chicken industry alive between chicken salad and lawsuits, not to mention buffalo boxes and wings.”

None of the good vibes would be possible without the restaurant’s dedicated customers and crew, he added, offering them the following shout-out:

“I thank you for your loyalty and I thank you for your level of trust. Your trust is what allows me to constantly be creating as I know that most of you will give anything we make a shot. What other bagel shop can sell out of tacos? Or burgers? We as a crew put our hearts and soul into the work we do here to make food that people truly appreciate. I can't say that a year ago I thought we'd be in this position and here we are, and I love it. Here's to opening another bxj this year and a quick thank you to my #1, Nick. Nick is the reason this shop is able to as smooth as it does and is also the reason we rarely make errors with your orders. Nick and I have been friends for a very long time and if there's 1 thing that sets us both off, it's a wrong doordash order that we've been sitting at home waiting for. Nick is also the only person here who's never missed a day of work. Sorry about that whole salary idea Nick, you can have today off. Thank you, bxj army, here's to an even bigger and better year … we've certainly set the bar pretty high.”

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