Cult fave Bagel O’s opens their long-awaited second store in Subi

You’ll hopefully forgive us for using the term “long-awaited” again – after all, it was also the headline back when Bagel O’s opened their Mount Lawley flagship back in 2022.

This bagel-loving crew have a talent for building up hype – people spotted their signature blue and white signage on Beaufort Street nearly a year before they opened their doors, and it became one of the most anticipated openings of the year.

Hype is one thing, but the proof is in the pudding – or in this case, the bagel. And with the huge fanbase they’ve amassed since opening, we suspect you don’t need us to tell you about how good these bagels are…

It should come as no surprise then that almost two years later, the moment some blue and white decals appeared on Rokeby Road, the arrival of a new Bagel O’s store was once again the talk of the town – and the subject of countless Instagram comments.

But the wait is finally over: Bagel O’s Subiaco deli is officially opening their doors on Saturday, August 31.

The new store won’t deviate from the success of Mount Lawley, offering the same opening hours and menu as their OG location.

“For us, it was more about trying to cover the western suburbs as well,” owner Sha Tehrani told us in the midst of pre-opening preparations – we managed to chat to him in a brief moment between assembling furniture, plumbing deliveries, and (unsurprisingly) countless passers-by asking when they can get their hands on a bagel.

“I remember when I opened Mount Lawley and I was like ‘I’m not doing this again!’. That was a lot of work… And here I am: me not doing it again!”

“We didn’t want to go out too much into the suburban areas, so we thought: Subiaco, it’s a hub. I used to actually live in Daglish, so was very close by. We just thought, close to the city, easy for us, it makes sense.”

“And it takes a bit of heat off Mount Lawley. My staff’s wellbeing is important, and I see how busy it gets and how run down they can get – you don’t want to over work people, you want to make sure people are enjoying what they do, that it’s a healthy environment, and for us that was one of the main things.”

“I think what makes it special is that everyone that works within our business loves what they do, they do it super well – they inspire me every day. I have staff members that come in and they’re so happy: they enjoy what they do, they come up with these things, they’re like ‘Let me do a TikTok’… I don’t know how to use TikTok! They put their own time into it to do it. I watch our chefs when we do our specials every two weeks, the effort they put into it, everything we do is made in-house, and they surprise me nearly every day.”

“One thing that’s been a standout point for me, personally, and for our entire team and everyone that works with us at Bagel O’s… We’ve noticed how fortunate we are and how blessed we are, and how lucky we are that customers have responded the way they have. Without customers, you’re nothing. Every day I always think about it: this could have gone another way. I talk to the guys all the time, it needs to be amazing food, amazing customer service, and the experience overall needs to be exceptional. You’re only as good as your last day.”

“There’s a big rivalry about New York bagels, LA bagels, people go ‘Oh these are like New York bagels!’ And I go, ‘No, these are Perth bagels.’ We make them here, they represent WA, and this is what we’re about.”

Bagel O’s Subiaco deli will be located at 115 Rokeby Road.

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All images: Sally Hall / Perth is OK!