New York City-based H&H Bagels is building-out in Mandarin, which would be its second Northeast Florida location after opening in late June in Saint Johns in St. Johns County.
The city of Jacksonville issued a permit Sept. 8 for Kaneco Construction LLC of Jacksonville to build-out a 1,142-square-foot space at 10025 San Jose Blvd. at a project cost of $275,008.
The store is where Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop closed in Crown Point Plaza. Sleiman Enterprises is the landlord. The site brochure shows H&H Bagels in a 1,536-square-foot space.
The site is at southeast San Jose Boulevard and Crown Point Road in the Beauclerc area north of Interstate 295.
H&GH Bagels said through a spokesperson in May that it expects to open at least five units in Northeast Florida, with the first in Saint Johns and the second this fall in Mandarin.
A third is expected at the Beaches, but the company said in May it does not have a confirmed location.
The others would also be within the metro Jacksonville area.
In St. Johns County, H&H Bagels opened at 3735 Longleaf Pine Parkway in Saint Johns in the Shoppes of Aberdeen, whose brochure shows a bagel restaurant in 1,237 square feet of space on a corner next to Crave Cookies. Ash Properties is the landlord.
H&H Bagels had cameos in New York-centric shows such as “Seinfeld” and “Sex and the City.”
H&H Bagels, which offers breakfast, lunch and catering, says it has been a New York City institution since 1972 and has begun a national expansion through franchising.
In Northeast Florida, “our franchisee, Josh Witt, who is a local resident, identified Jacksonville as an ideal location to bring H&H Bagels,” the spokesperson said in May by email.
There will be five in Witt’s territory. H&H Bagels said Witt is an experienced food and beverage franchisee.
San Pablo Bagels Corp. and Longleaf Bagels Corp. are the franchisees for the first two locations. State corporate records show the officers are Joshua Witt and Irwin Witt, who are associated with other restaurant franchises.
The Witts also have registered Jax Beach Bagels Corp. with the state, but no restaurant location was indicated.
H&H Bagels lists 11 locations open in New York City (5); at John F. Kennedy International Airport (1) and LaGuardia Airport (1); Florida (2) in Boca Raton and Saint Johns; and one each in Santa Monica, California, and in Washington, D.C.
The site shows five restaurants opening in 2025 with two in Florida (Tampa and West Palm Beach); and one each in Los Angeles; Chicago; and Knoxville, Tennessee.
No other Northeast Florida sites were listed.
HHBagels.com says “our dough remains kettle-boiled in New York City water, then baked locally on-site all day, every day.”
“Our original recipe and traditional water bagel method has become synonymous with ‘the New York bagel,’” the spokesperson said.
The company uses unbromated and unbleached flour with no artificial preservatives. Each bagel has 13 grams of protein.
H&H Bagels also sells sandwiches, including a version with bacon, egg and cheese.
The company said that in addition to its bagels, it is renowned for its signature sandwiches.
The 13 bagel flavors include plain, whole wheat everything, onion, blueberry and Asiago.