The Bagel Restaurant

Scope and Content: Accession consists of five photographs of the Bagel Restaurant located at 285 College Street. The photographs depict a table setting and framed autographed photo display, a waiter working behind the counter, menu card posted in their front window advertising the breakfast special and afternoon tea, closeup of plated home fries and sliced tomatoes, and a partial view of the chef working the grill next to dozens of eggs.; Photographs by Lisa Abram.

Administrative History: The Bagel Restaurant also knwon as the Bagel and by some the Dirty Bagel, was a popular diner located at 285 College Street, a few doors west of Spadina Avenue. The restaurant opened around 1952 and was favoured by local office workers, garment workers, and students enrolled at nearby U of T. The Bagel specialized in homestyle, eastern European Jewish foods. On the menu were offerings such as chicken soup and kreplach, borsht (both cold beet and hot cabbage varieties), kishka, chicken fricassee, boiled beef (flanken), and kasha (buckwheat). The service, often of note in local newspaper reviews, was described as both caring and instructive: “they fuss over you; they’re surrogate mothers.” The former tenant of 285 College Street was photographer Gordon Mendly, who lived and ran Famous Studios out of the same location from the 1940s–1960s.

Use Conditions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.