Food and Drink

Trendy bagel shop opens soon in Plaza Midwood. Here’s when

Piping hot bagels with one-of-a-kind schmears are headed to Plaza Midwood.

PopUp Bagels will open its second Charlotte location on Friday, July 10, setting up shop at The Commonwealth at 1606 Commonwealth Ave., according to a news release sent to CharlotteFive.

The grand opening kicks off at 8 a.m. and runs until 11 a.m. Customers can expect the brand’s signature hot, whole bagels and rotating menu of cream cheese flavors. This time, PopUp Bagels also teamed up Charlotte’s own Harriet’s Hamburgers for a limited-time “Good Good Schmear” inspired by the burger joint’s Good Good Sauce.

PopUp Bagels is opening a second Charlotte location this summer.
PopUp Bagels is opening a second Charlotte location this summer. Jen Goldberg Courtesy of PopUp Bagels

PopUp Bagels made its Queen City debut last fall at The Bowl at Ballantyne, marking the first of 10 locations planned for the Charlotte metro.

“We’re not a traditional bagel shop where we’re slicing bagels or serving sandwiches,” Todd Gallinek, co-owner of the Ballantyne store, told CharlotteFive at the time. “Instead, the concept is grabbing a bagel, ripping it apart and dipping it into your cream cheese.”

Alongside schmears that change weekly, the Connecticut-born bagel brand also has flavored butters. Its ultra-popular Brown Sugar Cinnamon Butter returned to menus last week — and it’s here to stay.

An overhead, artistic lifestyle shot showing several sliced bagels with various toppings, including poppy seed and sesame, scattered on a white surface. The bagel halves are arranged around small white plates holding different types of cream cheese.
PopUp Bagels plans to open at least 10 locations across North Carolina, with the first shop planned for Charlotte. Alexander Stein
Read Next

“After thousands of comments, countless DMs and what we can only describe as a very passionate butter movement ... we’ve decided to make things right,” the bagel shop wrote on Instagram.

PopUp Bagels is the latest restaurant slated to open at The Commonwealth.

In just the last few months, the buzzing retail and dining hub has welcomed Maman bakery and café, Sweetgreen, Japanese restaurants Uchi and Uchibā and Harriet’s Hamburgers.

PopUp Bagels

Location: 1606 Commonwealth Ave, Charlotte, NC 28205 (opening soon)

Location: 14020 Stream Wy #113, Charlotte, NC 28277

Cuisine: Bagels and schmear

Menu

Instagram: @popupbagels

An overhead, artistic lifestyle shot showing several sliced bagels with various toppings, including poppy seed and sesame, scattered on a white surface. The bagel halves are arranged around small white plates holding different types of cream cheese.
PopUp Bagels are made fresh and served hot alongside customers’ choice of schmear or butter. Alexander Stein
Read Next
Read Next

This story was originally published June 29, 2026 at 12:17 PM.

Related Stories from Charlotte Observer
Tanasia Kenney
Sun Herald
Tanasia is a service journalism reporter at the Charlotte Observer | CharlotteFive, working remotely from Atlanta, Georgia. She covers restaurant openings/closings in Charlotte and statewide explainers for the NC Service Journalism team. She’s been with McClatchy since 2020.
Get unlimited digital access
#ReadLocal

Try 1 month for $1

CLAIM OFFER