Owners Nate Gray and Bayly Peterson have planned on opening a bagel shop for two years. With the renovations of the building near complete, there will not only be one but two bagel shops located in downtown Bellingham.
Bellingham locals are known to love and support their cafes, restaurants, breweries, and bakeries. Otherside's opening has the community excited and eager to try out everything they have to offer.
Emily Shadel, a third-year Western Washington University student and future employee at Otherside Bagels said, “I live in the Stateside apartment building where Otherside Bagels is located so getting to work will be very convenient. I think a lot of workers feel the same since some are Western students who live Stateside.”
The shop’s location allows for a convenient stop for college students to grab a quick bite to eat on their way in and out of the building.
Nate Gray, owner of Otherside said, “there is only one bagel shop located in Downtown Bellingham and there is room for more. Given where we are located the student density is something we are very excited about.”
The company will have plenty of customers looking forward to their bagel goods. Not only bagels will be sold inside the market, but their inventory also includes quality coffee.
Bellingham is known for its competitiveness in a delicious cup of coffee, which made Otherside Bagel shop look abroad for high-grade coffee beans.
“We are using Proud Mary coffee which was founded in Melbourne, Australia,” Gray said. “They are doing with coffee what we want to do with food, which is to take a high degree of care from where we source and what we ultimately kick out to the customer. Proud Mary's felt like a natural partner for us.”
It is important to Otherside that they have variety on their menu and are more than just a typical bagel shop. Their menu consists of breakfast sandwiches and deli sandwiches.
A display of merchandise available for sale at the bagel shop. // Photo courtesy of Nate Gray
“Something that sets us a bit apart from your typical bagel shop is we will have pizza bagels, bagel chips as well as bagel dogs,” Gray said. “We are also doing loaded Bialy Bagels, using the wider hole in the center with a savory filling inside. Down the road, we are striving to make our own lox in the house to go along with our bagels.”
The pandemic spawned a new grouping of independent businesses, particularly in the food industry. Restaurant openings allowed people to be social and continue some sense of normality by grabbing a bite to eat at a local restaurant or cafe.
Guy Occhiogrosso, president, and CEO of The Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce, discussed how the influx of the food industry began to thrive throughout the pandemic in the last few months.
“There is a huge trend of people creating their own businesses,” Occhiogrosso said. “The pandemic brought a lot of chaos and many lost their jobs which resulted in many starting their own companies. Public-facing industries really started to pivot during the last year. Restaurants, in general, are thriving.”
Otherside Bagel Co. will have a soft opening to the public on May 10 located at 929 N State St.
Check out their Instagram Otherside Bagel Co. for more information regarding their latest updates.
Michaela Camlin(she/her) is a third-year at Western Washington University studying journalism focused on public relations, and reporting on city news.
You can reach her at michaelacamlin.thefront@gmail.com.
