Bagelfeld's Burned Down

My favorite bagel place burned down. More accurately, the only bagel place I’ve gone to in the last 30 years burned down. I gave up the calorie-laden gluten-filled treat in middle age. But it became time to reconsider, so I did, and I’ve been guiltily patronizing this old shack behind a DMV office once a week or so. Now it is closed.

Actually, Bagelfeld’s didn’t totally burn down. Rather, it had a rooftop fire, but the fire was serious enough to force it to close. The building is still there, as I found out when I drove by to investigate.

Moreover, there is another branch of Bagelfeld’s, although it is in Tempe. Tempe is a suburb of Phoenix, and it’s the home of ASU. Perfect location for a bagel place--surrounded by young people who don’t cook or eat at home.

But when I looked at how long it would take to get there, and saw that it was 30 minutes away, even on Sunday morning, I decided that 30 minutes was too far to travel for a $5 bagel.

Especially since with all the students at ASU and it being Sunday, there would surely be an endless line, and the students would have figured out a way to order online and cut out the standing. Who would be the last girl standing? Moi, the newbie.

So I drove home and had my usual oatmeal and fruit breakfast. I’m an adult, and easily dissuaded from pleasurable experiences by small things like traffic and waiting in lines.

But I also considered that this event might be a metaphor because last year our favorite Mexican restaurant, La Santíssima, also burned down.

Now, restaurant fires are not uncommon. They make up about 5% of all residential fires, which amount to about 5600-8000 fires a year. Although most of these fires are small and confined, they still cause close to $200 million in property damage, according to Hoodz International, a commercial cleaning company that does all the research on this, probably so they can devise a better marketing plan for their cleaning services. (Restaurants are very difficult to sell services to, because they never have a lot of extra cash, so if you want to sell them outside services, data is where you begin.)

The primary cause of restaurant fires is faulty cooking equipment, followed by electrical/lighting. Bagelfeld’s, which had a roof top fire, will probably re-open soon.

Update: We actually drove out to Tempe and spoke to the staff at the Bagelfeld’s store out there. An employee told us the Phoenix store probably WON’T re-open, as the fire was pretty severe.

The owners of La Santíssima, I think, threw in the dish towel and decided they were no longer going to be in the Mexican restaurant business. I haven’t heard from them in a year and their building is still vacant and forlorn.

I have now lost two of my favorite places. The reason these places burn down is because I tend to go to underfinanced,unique, ethnic places run by real people that are not part of chains --types of restaurants that are in old rickety buildings. The buildings probably don’t come up to the fire code, but still they’re wonderful places with great food and family owners who really care about them.

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There’s some kind of lesson about two of these burning down within the space of a year in my life. Am I not supposed to go out to eat anymore? Probably not.

But enter my good karma--which always pops up at the most necessary time.

Just this morning I found out that Tom and Julie Palmer, whose late mom was my bestie back in the day, have bought and restored the old deli on Central Avenue in Phoenix called Cheese ‘n Stuff. I’m guessing they used to hang out there in high school, so as empty-nesters they partnered up with some of their former classmates to rescue the place when its long-time owners died. Just in time! It gives me a new mom and pop place to try out next week!