At 210 W. Marshall St. in Jackson Ward, a former print-machinery building now has block letters spelling "Bagels" across the storefront. Inside are butter-yellow tile, a refurbished Coca-Cola sign that serves as the menu board, and a window for dogs. Sunday Bagel opened there on Sept. 25. Richmond Magazine reported the date. Its hours are Thursday through Monday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Richmond Magazine adds that the shop closes early if it sells out.
Richmond's independent bagel shops all close around 2 p.m., and most take a day or two off, each on a different part of the week. Put side by side, those posted schedules work like a rotation across the city's neighborhoods. Sunday Bagel is open on Monday, a day when two of the older shops are closed.
The week, laid out
Here are the posted schedules for the city's independent shops this October. Hours change, and most of these come from the shops' own websites, so check before you head out, especially on Monday or Tuesday.
| Shop | Neighborhood | Address | Days open | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday Bagel | Jackson Ward | 210 W. Marshall St. | Thu–Mon | 7 a.m.–2 p.m. or sellout |
| Baltik's Bagel | Forest Hill | 6801 Forest Hill Ave. | Mon–Sat | 6:30 a.m.–2 p.m. |
| Chewy's Bagels | Carytown | 3138 W. Cary St. | Wed–Sun | 7 a.m.–2 p.m. |
| Julio's Bagels | Northside | 114 W. Brookland Park Blvd. | Tue–Sun | 8 a.m.–2 p.m. |
| Nate's Bagels | The Fan, at Cary and Allen | 21 S. Allen Ave. | Daily, per its site | 7 a.m.–2 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m.–2 p.m. weekends |
| Nate's Bagels | Scott's Addition | 1219 Highpoint Ave. | Daily | 7 a.m.–2 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m.–2 p.m. weekends |
Thursday, Friday and Saturday are easy, because every shop on the list is open. The other four days are where the rotation does the work.
Monday now has a downtown option
On Monday, Chewy's in Carytown and Julio's on Brookland Park Boulevard are both closed. Baltik's on Forest Hill Avenue opens at 6:30 a.m. that day, and Nate's lists both its Allen Avenue and Scott's Addition locations as open. Until late September, every Monday option was in the Fan, in Scott's Addition or south of the river, and none was in Jackson Ward or downtown.
Sunday Bagel fills that gap. A Thursday-to-Monday schedule is the usual restaurant pattern, the one you see at dinner spots that close early in the week, and it makes sense given the owners' backgrounds. According to Richmond Magazine, Jesse Roberts cooked at Le Coucou and Leo in New York and at Lost Letter in Richmond. Julie Roberts is the James Beard Award-winning designer behind Lillian, The Brooklyn, Antonelli's Deli and Pizzeria Delores.
The bagels reflect that kitchen background. Richmond Magazine describes them as naturally fermented, with a chewy, crackly crust, in four styles: plain, sesame, everything and oregano everything. House cream cheeses and a dairy-free spread round out the menu. The sandwich people will order by name is the Rockaway Combo, with mortadella, Genoa salami, provolone, Duke's mayo and salsa verde on an oregano everything bagel. Bialys are on the menu too.
Many Jackson Ward neighbors already know these bagels from the pop-up years. The couple held more than 100 pop-up events at Field, Giorno Market, Celladora Wines, the former Pamplemousse Gallery, Odd Bird and Penny's Wine Shop. The bagels were baked off-site for the pop-ups, and Richmond Magazine reported that the plan for the shop was to pull them fresh from the oven on Marshall Street. Jesse told Richmond Magazine he could "go in there on a Monday night and do a service, and it still doesn't feel like a bagel shop," and the couple has talked about hosting dinners there eventually.
Tuesday belongs to the north and the south
Tuesday flips the Monday pattern. Sunday Bagel closes, along with Chewy's. Julio's reopens at 8 a.m. on Brookland Park Boulevard after its Monday off. On Tuesday, the open shops are in Northside, Forest Hill and Nate's two west-side locations, with nothing open in Jackson Ward.
Julio's is the Northside anchor. Richmond Magazine reported its opening in spring 2025 and named Pizza Bones owner Ashley Patino and co-owner Noah Bowman as the people behind it. The shop's own site sums up the method in four words: naturally leavened, boiled and baked. Julio's schedule has also grown since it opened. The 2025 opening coverage listed Tuesday through Saturday, and the shop now lists Tuesday through Sunday.
On the south side of the river, Baltik's is the earliest start in town at 6:30 a.m. Owner Yero Rudzinskas opened the Forest Hill Avenue shop in 2024 in a former Dunkin' building. The bagels are hand-rolled and kettle-boiled. Rudzinskas ties the brand to his Lithuanian background, though the company's own story admits that historians still argue over where bagels came from. When the shop opened, Richmond Magazine listed sandwiches such as the River City Sunrise, Southern Picnic, Avosmash and Snowbird, plus flavors that included lemon pepper, honey and bacon.
Wednesday through Saturday, the middle fills in
Chewy's reopens Wednesday in Carytown, and from then until Saturday every shop on the list except Sunday Bagel is open. Sunday Bagel joins on Thursday. Owner Ashley Cricchio had opened Chewy's brick-and-mortar by April 2022, according to Richmond Magazine. The shop describes its sourdough bagels as slow-fermented and boiled.
Nate's is the steady presence through all of this. Its Scott's Addition shop at 1219 Highpoint Ave. opened in June 2025, and Axios Richmond described it as open daily. Since it covers every day of the week, it's the reliable choice when you aren't sure what else is open.
Sunday is the reverse of the shop's name
The one shop that closes on Sundays is Baltik's, and the company says that's so its staff gets a weekend day off. Everywhere else, Sunday is a full day. Sunday Bagel, Chewy's, Julio's and both Nate's locations are open, though Julio's and Nate's start at 8 a.m. on weekends.
So Southside loses its shop for the day, and Jackson Ward, Carytown, Northside, Scott's Addition and the Fan all have one open. If you live off Forest Hill Avenue, the Sunday plan means crossing the river.
What November adds in Church Hill
None of the schedules above include a shop in the East End. Church Hill is next.
Rudzinskas bought the former Alamo BBQ building at 2202 Jefferson Ave. over the summer. Richmond BizSense reported in July that he hadn't yet decided what to do with it. On Oct. 14 he confirmed to BizSense that it will become the second Baltik's, aiming to open in November. "The other question was, 'Does anyone care?' It seems like they do," he told the outlet.
The building dates to 1950 and is about 500 square feet. Rudzinskas told BizSense it already had "a hood, a walk-in and a grease trap," which he called "the holy trinity of restaurant infrastructure." Service will be through a walk-up window, with covered outdoor seating. It will start with the same 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. hours as Forest Hill, and earlier hours are possible for the many VCU Health employees nearby. The name and menu will match the original.
If it keeps the Forest Hill pattern, Church Hill will get Monday-through-Saturday coverage and a Sunday off. That would give the city a Monday bagel option on both the Jackson Ward and Church Hill sides of downtown.
Some of you may have eaten Baltik's bagels without ever going to Forest Hill Avenue. The company wholesales to about 50 markets and restaurants, including Stella's Grocery, Little House Green Grocery and Union Market. Rudzinskas also told BizSense he's looking at a larger production facility, possibly with a retail counter attached. Wholesale accounts like these are how the bagels reach the neighborhoods that don't have a shop yet.
If you're thinking about a move within Richmond, or deciding whether to keep a rental near Jackson Ward or Church Hill, Bradley Real Estate can walk you through the day-to-day details of each part of town, from what's open early on a Monday to what's opening next, along with the numbers. Schedule a Consultation, and we'll bring the coffee or the bagels, whichever shop is open that day.
