Dine and Discover Queens: Jesse and Scott Spellman - Utopia Bagels

It’s “Dine and Discover Queens” time! “Dine and Discover Queens” is a monthly spotlight on some of the best restaurants around the borough! This month’s featured eatery is Utopia Bagels, located at 1909 Utopia Parkway in Whitestone. Jesse and Scott Spellman are the co-owners of the establishment. To learn more, go to https://www.utopiabagelsny.com/.

Can you share a bit about your restaurant journey in Queens?

We started back in 1981 in a small shop and have since expanded, now taking over more property next to us. We also just opened our second location in Manhattan on June 1st and are opening our third location in Long Island City in 2025! Over this time, we have been able to see people travel from all over the world just to come visit our shop and try our bagels. We've had customers travel from all over NYC, Australia, even Egypt! It brings us great joy when they say they saw us online and couldn’t wait to come in and meet us.

What makes your establishment unique?

We individually hand-roll, kettle boil, and bake our bagels. We've been doing that in a 1947 carousel oven since 1981! We have managed to give our bagels a distinctive taste that our customers know and have loved for decades. When our store opened back in 1981, it was a local favorite serving hot bagels, pastries, and coffee to a loyal customer base and we continue to do that. We love serving police, firefighters, hospitals and making people's mornings!

Juliana Rivera at the Queens Chamber Business Expo at Citi Field

Are there dishes or drinks that have become beloved by the Queens community, or anything on your menu you would like to highlight?

One of our customer favorites is our freshly squeezed orange juice, made daily with the finest oranges. It's a perfect refreshing drink that we love serving. Our giant pizza bagel is a viral sensation, starting at 10 pounds! It offers endless possibilities for customization—no wonder it’s a go-to choice for holidays and special events! And, of course, our most iconic sandwich is 'the worth it,” proudly featured on Buzzfeed’s Worth It show!