PopUp Bagels, the viral hot-bagel chain that turned “grip, rip and dip” into a national following, finally landed in New Jersey this weekend. For kosher customers, there is real news here beyond the hype: the new location carries a hechsher. The catch is that it is a limited one, and knowing exactly what it does and does not cover is the difference between grabbing a kosher order and grabbing something that was never certified in the first place.
What PopUp Bagels Actually Is
If you have not run into the concept yet, PopUp Bagels does not work like a standard bagel shop. There are no sliced bagels, no toasting, and no build-your-own breakfast sandwiches. Fresh batches come out of the oven throughout the day, and the bagels are served hot and whole, sold in groups of three so you can tear them apart and dip them into whipped schmears and butters. Five varieties are on offer: plain, salt, sesame, poppy seed, and everything.
The brand was founded by New Jersey native Adam Goldberg, who grew up in Livingston and Short Hills before launching the concept out of a backyard window in Connecticut. It has since grown into one of the fastest-expanding food concepts in the country. The Westfield store sits near downtown and steps from the NJ Transit train station, and it is the first of more than 25 locations the company has planned across the Garden State, with a Tenafly shop already confirmed to follow.
The Limited Hechsher: What Is Covered
This is where kosher customers need to slow down and read the sign in the window. The certification is a limited hechsher, and it applies to a short list of items only. The bagels are certified pareve and non-Pas Yisroel. On the schmear side, exactly two options fall under supervision: the plain cream cheese and the scallion cream cheese, both certified as regular dairy, non cholov yisroel.
Everything else is out. Every other flavored cream cheese and schmear on the PopUp menu, and the chain rotates through a long lineup of them, is not kosher and not covered by the certification. That means the tiramisu, apple pie, pickle, spinach artichoke, and every other seasonal spread are off the table for kosher diners, no matter how good they look behind the glass.
This is fairly typical for most kosher-certified PopUp Bagels locations.
What Kosher Customers Need to Know
The practical takeaway is simple. Stick to the bagels and pair them only with the plain or scallion cream cheese. If you want lox, the certification allows packaged lox that bears an OU symbol, so this is not a case where the store is slicing its own fish under supervision. Anyone who keeps cholov yisroel should note that the certified cream cheeses are regular dairy, and anyone particular about Pas Yisroel should know the bagels do not qualify.
The certifying agency also flagged the standard seasonal caveat: the items are not for Pesach use, and everything may be purchased immediately after Pesach. As always with a limited hechsher on a mainstream chain, the certification covers specific products, not the store as a whole, so treat anything not named on the letter as unsupervised.
PopUp Bagels Westfield Info
PopUp Bagels is located at 220 South Ave W, Westfield, NJ 07090. The phone number is 855-747-6347. The limited kosher certification is under National Kosher Supervision, with Rabbi Aaron D. Mehlman serving as Executive Rabbinical Director. Certification covers the bagels (pareve, non-Pas Yisroel) and the plain and scallion cream cheeses (dairy, non cholov yisroel) only. All other schmears and flavored cream cheeses are not certified.
Looking for kosher restaurants near you? Download the KosherNearMe app at YeahThatsKosher.com/app.
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