This Berea shop makes one of the 50 best bagels in America. What’s its secret?

A list recently published online by Food & Wine magazine of the 50 best bagels in America includes one hidden gem crafting New York-style bagels by hand in Berea.

Native Bagel Co., located at 436 Chestnut St., earned the recognition back in March just prior to the business’s five year anniversary. According to owner Katie Startzman, the bagel shop’s inclusion came as a complete, albeit welcome, surprise.

“It was really gratifying because the food business can be very tough,” she said. “Getting that recognition made us feel like our efforts are paying off, especially since Kentucky isn’t an area well-known for its bagels.”

With an average online review of 4.8 stars, it’s easy to see why Yelp named the restaurant one of the top women-owned business in the country in 2020.

And while the Food & Wine story touted the shop’s homemade bagels topped with fresh eggs from the Berea College Farm and a few slices of country ham, Native Bagel has much more than that to offer. Eleven types of bagels (poppy seed, everything, cheese, salt, garlic, cinnamon raisin, plain, pretzel, honey, wheat and lemon berry zest) and six cream cheeses (plain, honey rosemary, roasted jalapeno, maple bacon, scallion and a seasonal strawberry using berries from the Berea College Farm) litter the menu.

What makes Native Bagel so good?

Startzman says not being rushed is what makes her bagels stand out.

“We do things the slow, handmade way, rolling and shaping the bagels by hand,” she said. “They rise very slowly overnight and typically spend two days in the refrigerator developing flavor before we boil them in a pan over the stove and bake them in the oven.”

Other menu items include a traditional lox bagel, avocado toast, coffee from Little Waves Roastery in Durham, N.C., and a country ham panini (a bagel with jalapenos, cream cheese, country ham and blackberry jam put through a panini press).

The Native Bagel also stands out, even from New York-based bagel makers, with its focus on locally sourced ingredients, something difficult to come by in the Northeast but plentiful in Kentucky. In addition to using products from the Berea College Farm the bagel shop also gets supplies from Hosey’s Honey, Penn’s Ham, and Weisenberger Mill.

“Something like a sausage, egg and cheese bagel isn’t too complicated, so having high quality local ingredients makes a huge difference,” said Startzman. “It’s something you can’t fake.”

Giving back to Berea

Along with sourcing local products the restaurant also gives back to the local community through Berea Kids Eat, a partnership between Grow Appalachia, Berea College, the USDA and Kentucky Department of Education that helps feed the 30% of area children living below the poverty line. Involved since September 2020, the shop’s involvement has helped to bolster its business in recent months after seeing a dip in sales at the start of the pandemic. Items prepared for the program have ranged from bagels and cream cheese to 300 quart batches of chili and more.

“Grow Applachia wanted to deepen the impact of their work in Berea so they turned to local restaurants to provide food for the program,” said Startzman. “Our involvement has been the reason why I’ve actually been able to hire more people during the pandemic.”

Now sitting at 11 employees including Startzman, husband Michael and son Julian, the Native Bagel has seen slow and steady growth since getting its start in 2016 as a food cart at the Berea Farmers Market. The pace has been ideal for Startzman, a Northeast transplant who graduated from Berea College in 2000 with a degree in English and no prior experience in the food industry, just a fondness for the bagels she grew up with and a love for the quaint Kentucky college town she now calls home.

“I just feel a deep commitment to Berea,” said Startzman. “I believe that business is a great way to create the world that we want to live in, and seeing the light at the end of the pandemic makes me feel very hopeful not just for the future of our business but for the future of our community as a whole.”

Native Bagel Company

Where: 436 Chestnut St., Berea

Hours: Monday-Saturday 8 a.m.-1 p.m., closed Sunday

Online: NativeBagelCompany.com