(Updated at 11:50 a.m.) Bruegger’s Bagels has closed up shop in Ballston.
The long-time breakfast and lunch spot at 818 N. Quincy Street just closed, posting a sign on the door directing bagel fans to a location of corporate sibling Einstein Bagels, in Bailey’s Crossroads.
“Thank you for allowing us to make your mornings brighter & more delicious since 1986,” the sign says. “We look forward to continuing to provide you with freshly baked, kettle-boiled bagels at one of our nearby locations, 15 minutes away: 3556D S Jefferson St, Falls Church, VA 22041.”
The closure was not announced in advance, but there were signs that this Bruegger’s was not long for the sizable ground floor space that it occupied along Wilson Blvd.
The restaurant appears to have struggled in the wake of the pandemic, as fewer people populated local offices, thus requiring fewer catered bagel platters. The dining room, once filled with local residents and office workers sipping coffee and noshing on schmear-filled bagels, never reopened.
Bagel aficionados who don’t want to go all the way to Bailey’s Crossroads will now have Brooklyn Bagel in Courthouse as arguably the closest equivalent eatery.