LITTLE ROCK, Ark — Before the world was rocked by the pandemic, Trevor Papsadora found himself living in Maine, but he wanting a change since he had lived there his entire life.
To make that change happen, he and his partner, Myles Roberson decided to make the move to Little Rock. They bought a home and settled into the community, but Papsadora missed something that Maine had to offer.
And that, was a good bagel.
"Bagels are something we made every weekend in Maine, and when we moved here we were really excited to find a bagel shop we could eat at. We couldn't find any so we started making them," said Papsadora.
The craving for a food that they longed for from back home prompted them to open a business so they could share their love for bagels with the local community.
They started, The Bagel Shop which offers various made-from-scratch bagels.
They use high-quality ingredients, that are cold-proofed for 24 hours which helps the dough slowly rise, which is what helps creating the variety of bagels.
The bagels are made in a commissary kitchen, where they are baked, and then packed up for any pop-up at a farmer's market or other shops.
At their pop-up shop held last week, they ran out of bagels within their first 45 minutes of being open, so they made sure to bring make more bagels this time around.
They had their second pop-up shop at the Bernice Garden Farmers Market on Sunday and before they were even scheduled to open, they already had a line of people there to show their support.
Some were familiar faces, but many new people were there because they had heard about the bagels from popular word of mouth on social media.
The Little Rock bagel business has been a two-man show so far, but they hope that one day they can get a brick and mortar business with a full staff.
"Eventually, we want help and will need to hire and we're looking to get a brick and mortar ourselves," said Papsadora.
Emma Devine has lived in Little Rock for six years and said she never thought she needed a place where she can buy bagels, but after she heard about The Bagel Shop, she stood in line to order one of every flavor Sunday.
"Their social media has been exploding and I've heard about the pop-ups that sell out instantly so I had to come down here and try. I think they just kind of cornered the market and I have been craving one," said Devine.
Courtney Hodge and her 7-year-old daughter, Harper Williams live across the street from the farmer's market. They heard about The Bagel Shop on Instagram, and were excited to try them.
"They looked delicious! We got the 'Everything' bagel,'" said Williams.
Other business owners at the farmer's market also showed their support for the bagels and were eager to try them. Papsadora said he truly appreciates the love and support that the community has shown them.
Their next pop-up will be on Saturday, July 16th at Egg Shells Kitchen Co.
To follow their schedule you can check out their Instagram: @TheBagel.Shop or call their bagel hotline to hear their schedule at (501) 295-4457.