Birmingham Is Getting Two New Bagel Shops, and They Disagree About What a Bagel Is For

This fall Birmingham is getting two new bagel shops. Bev's Bagels opened at 283 Hamilton Row in September. PopUp Bagels has its signs up at 34400 Woodward Ave. and plans to open its first Michigan store there. They join Jersey Bagel Deli & Grill, which has been at 1120 E. Lincoln St. since 2021.

The two new shops are set up for different parts of the day. Bev's is a chef's counter built around sandwiches, salads and catering, and it closes at 3 p.m. PopUp makes no sandwiches at all. It sells hot, whole bagels in packs of three or more, to be torn open and dipped. Which one fits your morning depends on whether you're eating there or taking a bag home.

A sandwich counter in a space downtown already knew

The Hamilton Row storefront was serving food before Bev's moved in. The Detroit Free Press reported that the new Bev's took over the space formerly used by Marrow-on-the-Go. In May, Crain's Detroit Business reported that Marrow would wind down its Birmingham location and move its production, retail and dining into its Eastern Market flagship. That left a downtown food counter empty, and a bagel shop now fills it.

Chef-owner Max Sussman grew up in Huntington Woods and is a James Beard Award semifinalist. He cooked in New York before he started Bev's as a pop-up out of his home in 2023. According to that August 2026 report, the first storefront opened in Detroit's Core City "last summer." He talked about the move to Birmingham with Downtown Publications in August:

"I've always loved hanging out and eating in Birmingham. When I was growing up, I'd go there with my grandparents for lunch all the time."

He tied the memory to lunch, and the Birmingham menu is built for the middle of the day too.

What Hamilton Row has that Core City doesn't

According to Downtown Publications, the Birmingham shop keeps what Bev's Detroit is known for: bagel sandwiches made with organic ingredients, handmade schmears and bagel combinations suggested by customers. It also adds items you can only get in Birmingham:

• Open-faced bagel sandwiches built around vegetables, with lighter cream cheese and fresh produce such as Michigan heirloom tomatoes
• A chef's chopped salad, designed for the midday lunch rush
• Gluten-free bagels in plain and everything
• Weekday pastries and sweets

The same report says the downtown shop will put more weight on catering, aimed at corporate events, office lunches, holidays and family celebrations. Bev's Birmingham is open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., seven days a week. Taken together, the lunch salad, the office catering and the 3 p.m. close show a shop planned around downtown's working day.

The menu on Bev's website lists the Core City shop, so treat its prices as a guide to the Detroit store rather than the Birmingham one. On that menu, a bagel with plain schmear is $5. Single bagels are $2.50, specialty bagels $3, and a baker's dozen $26. Among the breakfast sandwiches, Over My Egg Body is $8 and The Gambler, made with scrambled egg, hash brown, ham, cheddar and hot sauce, is $14. The schmears include Lox & Chive, Za'atar & Kalamata Olive, Chili Crisp, Green Goddess and Maple Cinnamon, along with vegan options. The Free Press also reports that Sussman has a third location in the works in Ann Arbor.

The shop that won't make you a sandwich

PopUp Bagels takes nearly the opposite approach. According to the Birmingham-Bloomfield Bulletin, founder Adam Goldberg started the brand as a backyard pickup business in Westport, Connecticut, during the pandemic. The shops serve hot, whole bagels with no knives and no sandwiches. You tear the bagel open and dip it into a flavored cream cheese schmear or butter. The company has trademarked that routine as "Grip, Rip and Dip."

The menu has five bagels: plain, sesame, salt, poppy seed and everything. They're sold in packs of three or more. With a three-bagel minimum and roots as a backyard pickup business, a PopUp order is something you buy by the bag for a kitchen table, an office or a team breakfast.

The chain is growing fast. The Bulletin reports that it runs 49 stores in 18 states, has signed franchise agreements for 300 more, and aims to have 100 stores open by the end of 2027. The Birmingham store, in the former T-Mobile space, will be the first in Michigan. As of the Bulletin's Oct. 1 report, neither an opening date nor the local franchisee had been announced. The brand posts updates on its Instagram account, @popupbagels.

Side by side

Three addresses, three different mornings

Where each shop sits matches how it sells. Bev's is on Hamilton Row in the downtown grid, an easy walk for a weekday sandwich or salad from nearby offices and shops. Crain's Detroit Business places PopUp's Woodward address just outside downtown Birmingham. That's a sensible spot for a shop whose usual order is a bag of hot bagels to go.

Jersey Bagel Deli & Grill is the third point on the map, at 1120 E. Lincoln St. on the east side of town. Downtown Publications covered its arrival in 2021. Once PopUp opens, a Birmingham household will be able to pick among a deli on Lincoln, a chef's lunch counter downtown and a dip-and-tear shop on Woodward.

A first test run this weekend

This weekend is a good time to try Bev's. The City of Birmingham's Pumpkin Patch comes to Shain Park on Saturday, Oct. 24, with costume contests, bounce houses, food trucks, train rides and other free activities. The next morning, the Birmingham Farmers Market closes its season with a Halloween-themed End of Season Celebration at Lot 6, 660 N. Old Woodward Ave., on Sunday, Oct. 25, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Here's one way to plan it:

1. Saturday morning. Go to Hamilton Row after the 7 a.m. opening for a breakfast sandwich, then walk to Shain Park for the Pumpkin Patch.
2. Sunday morning. Pick up a dozen at Bev's for the house, then head up Old Woodward to Lot 6 for the market's final day of the year.
3. The weeks ahead. Follow @popupbagels for an opening date on Woodward. A pack of hot bagels from Michigan's first PopUp store will make an easy weekend tradition once the market is closed for the winter.

Bev's posts its gluten-free bagels by name, and you can find the full Core City menu on its website before your first visit.

Know a downtown Birmingham storefront that has changed hands? Erin keeps track of these openings the same way she follows the streets around them. If a new shop on your block has you thinking about the neighborhood, Erin Dewald would be glad to talk. Let's Connect.