There are three givens in life — death, taxes, and transplanted New Yorkers grousing about substandard Florida bagels.
But sublimely baked relief is in sight, Northerners. Manhattan’s iconic H&H Bagel chain is coming right here to St. Johns County.
Hoping to sate the appetites of migratory Gothamites who’ve flooded the county, company executives tapped Jacksonville as one of several new Florida outposts.
CEO Jay Rushin told the Jacksonville Business Journal that he marveled at the River City’s rapid expansion during an exploratory tour and decided to plant his flag.
“I think quite a few people recognize the hole in the marketplace down there,” he quipped to the outlet “And there’s tons of New Yorkers that gravitated down there over the years. Driving around with the Jacksonville group and real estate brokers, it was like, that area is already committed for 5,000 homes and right there, that’s another 5,000 homes…”
The St. Johns location will spring up at 3735 Longleaf Pine Pkwy in 2025, a company rep told The Citizen.
H & H — which has been featured on Seinfeld and Sex & The City — will also open up Sunshine State locations in Boca Raton and Tampa.
Fans of the sitcom will recall that Kramer once went on a 12-year-strike from his position at the bagel shop over a wage dispute — and management’s refusal to give him time off to celebrate Festivus.
The chain was founded by Helmer Toro and brother-in-law Hector Hernandez in 1972 at Broadway and 80th Street — hence the initials.
The chain drew headlines during the pandemic when demand from homebound bagel lovers pushed domestic deliveries up by 500% and set the stage for national expansion.
