PopUp Bagels Coming to The Village Walk at Montgomery

By Barbara A. Preston for The Montgomery News | November 12, 2026

PopUp Bagels has signed a lease for a 1,724 SF end-cap space in the Village Walk at Montgomery, 1360 Route 206 in Skillman, according to a joint announcement by Catalyst Real Estate Partners and Pierson Commercial Real Estate.

Village Walk at Montgomery on Rt 206 in Skillman, near Rt 518

“This marks another step in the brand’s continued expansion across New Jersey,” Catalyst announced. “Known for its hot, fresh-baked bagels, signature schmears, and ‘Grip, Rip, and Dip’ experience, PopUp Bagels continues to bring its highly anticipated concept to new communities throughout the state.”

Even The New Yorker magazine is writing about the bagel empire founded by Adam Goldberg in Westport, CT, during the COVID pandemic in 2020.

Goldberg apparently has replicated the genuine New York bagel experience, and is sharing it with places throughout the country that traditionally serve up lousy-tasting bagels.

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While Montgomery already has Bagel Barn in the Princeton North Shopping Center with authentic chewy on the inside with a crackling crust on the outside ring-shaped rolls, folks expect there to be a bagel showdown in Montgomery.

Princeton once set the bar for the best local bagels at Abel Bagel on Witherspoon Street. Its owner Alfie Kahn made flavorful crusty bagels, served warm. He also added color to the preppy Princeton scene as he used to drive around town in what looked like a Vietnam era Army Jeep with a 50-caliber machine-gun and American flag.

A recent column by Pam Hersh [my former editor!] pointed out the “gun was an inoperative replica, armed not with bullets but with bagels. The jeep became a moving billboard, thanks to the sign stating: ‘Abel Bagel shoots holes in the competition.’”

Let’s see if PopUp Bagels will be able to top that!

Abel Bagel closed years ago, and Montgomery has grown significantly in population since Bagel Barn, which offers sandwiches and a deli, opened.

PopUp Bagels

PopUp Bagels will offer just bagels — plain, everything, poppy seed, salt, and sesame — and what it calls schmear. “We focus on the essence of the perfect bagel, a product so good it stands on its own,” according to popupbagels.com. “Our rotating menu of epic schmears change weekly.”

PopUp Bagels also offers smoked salmon. The building is under construction with an opening date sometime in 2027.