Local residents looking for a place for breakfast and light bites will have one more option, as the Village of Mineola board of trustees approved an application for the Mineola Bagel Café at last week’s March 8 meeting.
The Mineola Bagel Café will be located at 175 East Jericho Tpke. According to Robert Deleo, Jr. from Deli Design Inc., who represented Long Island Bagel Café at the meeting, the building, which was formerly a Chase Bank, has been completely renovated on the exterior and interior by the landlord, and has kept the original 42 parking spots.
The hours of operation for the new bagel shop will be 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., with the same menu all day, seven days a week, according to Joseph Anzalone, co-owner of Long Island Bagel Café. Roughly 15-18 employees will run and operate the café, with at least four people at the counter at all times. No table service will be available. Customers will order at the counter and bring their purchases to one of the 26 tables inside, or take it to go.
“All the neighborhoods we open in, we always try and get young people to come in and start getting and learning work ethic. We hire local and always support the schools,” Anzalone said.
Trustee Paul Pereira expressed concern about noise and the issue of delivery trucks being double parked on Jericho Turnpike during peak travel hours. Because the location was formerly a bank with more limited hours of operation, residents will now have to get used to a business that will be open longer hours, seven days a week.
Anzalone assured Pereira that there will be no problems.
“The vendors we choose do what we tell them to do. Or they risk losing our business and they understand that,” he said. “We don’t want to interrupt or annoy our residents in the area. We’re coming into this community to have a long future relationship, like all the other communities we are in.”
Trustee Dennis Walsh stated that “statistics verify that 95 percent of the traffic will come in from Jericho and return back to Jericho. They won’t be driving through the neighborhoods.”
Anzalone said the store’s bagels are hand-rolled, boiled and baked, the old fashion way.
“Everything is done in-house, and is fresh. That is what we pride ourselves on,” he said.
In addition to bagels, menu offerings include paninis, salads, sandwiches, wraps and soups. Owned and operated by Long Island Bagel Café, which has been in business since 1986, this will be their ninth location on Long Island, with other stores located in Baldwin, Glen Cove and Bellmore.
The board unanimously motioned to approve the bagel café after no comments were voiced by members of the public.
