Hand-Rolled Bagels Coming to Tarpon Springs Waterfront

TARPON SPRINGS, FL — Pete’s Bagels, owned by Steven Peterman and his wife, Sara Peterman, is expanding its Florida footprint with a new location planned for 810 Dodecanese Blvd., Tarpon Springs, FL 34689. The waterfront shop is targeting an opening in the first or second week of February, Peterman told Business Debut.

The Tarpon Springs location will mark the brand’s fifth shop. Pete’s Bagels first opened in St. Petersburg in 2019 and has since grown to four additional locations across the Tampa Bay area.

What to Expect

The Tarpon Springs shop will focus on the brand’s core offering: hand-rolled, kettle-boiled bagels baked fresh daily. The location will operate as a fast-casual, counter-service shop, with approximately 45 seats total, most of them outdoors along the water, and about a dozen seats inside.

“This location gives us the chance to lean into the coastal feel of Tarpon Springs while still doing what we do best,” Peterman told Business Debut.

Menu and Vision

The Tarpon Springs location will offer the same core menu found at Pete’s Bagels’ other locations. Bagels are made fresh daily using a traditional boil-and-bake process, with all production handled at the company’s commissary kitchen in Gulfport before being delivered each morning.

Popular menu items include classic egg and cheese and bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches, as well as the Original Peep, a lox sandwich made with cream cheese, lox, pickled red onions, arugula, cucumbers, and dill. Bagel varieties include plain, everything, sesame, salt, garlic and onion, Asiago, jalapeño cheddar, cinnamon raisin, and a French toast bagel that is expected to debut at the Tarpon Springs shop.

Pete’s Bagels will also continue to serve coffee from Look Alive Coffee, a St. Petersburg-based roaster used across all of the brand’s locations. Peterman said he went to college with one of the company’s owners and committed to the partnership early on. “I told them I’d be their first customer when they started the company,” he told Business Debut.”

The vision for the Tarpon Springs shop centers on pairing the brand’s established menu with a setting that reflects the surrounding community. Located in a historic Sponge Docks building with extensive outdoor seating on the water, the space is designed to offer a relaxed, coastal environment while maintaining the consistency guests expect from Pete’s Bagels.

A Growing Family Business

Peterman said the brand’s growth has remained closely tied to family, both in ownership and in storytelling. In addition to Pete’s Bagels, the group operates Seymour’s, a sister bagel shop in downtown St. Petersburg that is named after Peterman’s grandfather and remains the only location under that name.

Peterman said Seymour’s gave the family an opportunity to be more personal with the concept, from the name to the menu. “A lot of the items there are named after members of the Peterman family,” he told Business Debut. “It was a fun way to share his story and make the space feel really meaningful.”

While Pete’s Bagels locations share a consistent foundation, Peterman said each shop is designed to reflect its surrounding community. He said that same philosophy guided the Tarpon Springs location, which was selected for its historic setting and waterfront connection rather than to replicate an existing store.

Opening Timeline

Pete’s Bagels plans to operate seven days a week. Initial hours are expected to run from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., with the team evaluating whether to expand hours after opening, Peterman told Business Debut.

Hours

Hours of operation will be announced closer to opening.

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