Jacksonville businessman and New Jersey native Mark DeBiase is investing with partners in rolling out a hometown favorite in Northeast Florida with Bang’n Bagel Co., starting with one shop and more in store.
DeBiase said July 29 he and his partners are bringing the New York-New Jersey bagel-deli inspired restaurant to Florida.
“This is a concept we believe will be well received in Jacksonville,” he said.
The menu includes New York bagels with freshly made dough hand-rolled, boiled and baked on the premises and served with cream cheese spreads.
Bang’n Bagel Company, as its sign calls it, will serve breakfast and lunch sandwiches as well as salads, coffee, drinks and more.
DeBiase said the group is consulting on the project with Goldberg Bagels, which operates more than 15 stores in the New York/New Jersey market.
The Original Goldberg’s Famous Bagels was established in 1949 in New York City.
“We have been planning this concept for 10 years and have done extensive research in the NY/NJ market,” DeBiase said by email.
Who, what, where
The city is reviewing a permit for the first store in an end unit at 13423 Beach Blvd. at northwest Gerona Drive West and Beach Boulevard, west of Hodges Boulevard.
DeBiase projects a Nov. 1 opening. Hours will be 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. He expects it to have 20 to 30 seats inside with a large covered patio.
“The store will be designed with a contemporary flair, edgy art and a welcoming environment for all,” DeBiase said.
DeBiase expects a build-out cost of about $400,000.
Oakwell Companies LLC of Green Cove Springs is the contractor for the 1,921-square-foot project in a 7,120-square-foot building.
FC3 Architecture + Design LLC of Hardyston, New Jersey, is the architect of record. Designmind LLC of Jacksonville is the interior designer.
The city issued a permit Aug. 4 for the signage for Bang'n Bagel Company at a cost of $2,388. Taylor Sign & Design Inc. is the contractor.
The space previously was leased to Pita Pit and more recently, Kairos Jax.
Kairos Jax has opened at 4815 Sweetgrass Place, at Glen Kernan Park at northwest Butler and Hodges boulevards.
Bangin Bagel Co. LLC registered with the state May 7, 2025, to do business in Suite 204 at the Beach Boulevard address.
Bang’n Bagel says on Instagram: “Jacksonville, get ready! Your new go-to bagel spot - 13423 Beach Blvd, drive-thru included! Coming Soon!”
The bangnbagelco.com website says it is “Launching Soon” and invites people to send a message.
It is based in Jacksonville Beach and led by DeBiase, Andrew Maider and August DeBiase, Mark’s son.
Mark DeBiase said Markie, another son, is the general manager. Daughter Sophia DeBiase plans to be the customer service manager and handle the front-of-store customer experience.
Their plans are based on restaurant and business experience.
Mark and Augie DeBiase and Drew Maider are franchisees of Jersey Mike’s Subs.
They have 26 Jersey Mike’s Subs in the Cocoa Beach, Daytona, Gainesville and Jacksonville markets, including one in the strip center with Bang’n Bagel.
Augie DeBiase and Maider operate them.
The Beach Boulevard property is owned by A D Development LLC, also led by Mark DeBiase.
Mark DeBiase was in the medical business for 30 years as a device distributor for Johnson & Johnson. Maider has been in the food industry for 20 years. Augie DeBiase was a quarterback at the University of Miami, where he graduated in 2021.
Why bagels, why now
After Mark DiBiase moved to Northeast Florida 30 years ago, he found the only sub he liked came from Publix.
“In New Jersey, there’s a sub shop on every corner,” he said.
About 10 or 11 years ago, he was in Tampa with Augie and found he needed to feed a group of young athletes. They discovered Jersey Mike’s Subs.
“It was like, wow, this is great, I ought to own one of these.”
Eight years ago, he and his partners signed a contract for five Jersey Mike’s Subs units and grew from there.
“It is the same story with bagels,” said DeBiase.
He recalled Aug. 1 that as he grew up in New Jersey and was working at a station pumping gas, his dad would bring him a sandwich from the corner bagel shop.
DeBiase said Northeast Florida bagels aren’t like those he grew up eating and intends to recreate.
As the tenant spot opened in his Beach Boulevard center, he saw the opportunity.
“If I am ever going to open a bagel spot, now is the time,” he said.
Over the past year, DeBiase, his two sons and Maider took six trips to learn about bagels, each visit spending a day in Manhattan, a day in Brooklyn and a day in New Jersey.
“We went through as many bagel stores as we could,” he said.
They took a seminar in Maine about making sourdough bagels, which will be on the menu.
They also have been working with Robert Goldberg to learn “everything there is to know about bagels.”
“It’s definitely going to be good.”
DeBiase said the design will reflect the “art studio” look from New York and New Jersey with the presentation of the bagels and cream cheese spreads.
The name came from Augie, who did a survey of several names on social media.
“Banging bagel co won overwhelmingly,” DeBiase said by email.
“We wanted a fun original name that we could play off of for merchandise and marketing.”
DeBiase is working toward a life-size “Mr. Bagel” for the store to invite customers to snap pictures and post them. He might hold a contest to name it.
He said several Bang’n Bagel stores are planned around Jacksonville and along Florida’s East Coast.
The first few will be corporately owned, with franchising possible after that.
The property
Bang’n Bagel is leasing its space.
A D Development LLC bought the almost 2.9-acre Beach Boulevard property in 2015. The Duval County Property Appraiser shows that two almost 7,200-square-foot neighborhood shopping center buildings were developed there that year.
The property was where GFS Marketplace landed approval to build its first Jacksonville store.
A permit was approved in July 2014 for an almost $16 million GFS Marketplace, part of Gordon Food Service, a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based restaurant supplier that operates marketplace stores.
The store wasn’t built and the developer sold the property to A D Development.
Mark DeBiase said in 2015 he wanted to develop two buildings on the roughly 2-acre site, which he did.
Gordon Food Service later renovated a former Staples store that it opened in October 2024 at southwest Beach and University boulevards.