Americans eat more than 10 billion bowls of soup each year. For more than 30 years, just outside of Chicago, Skokie residents have enjoyed delicious matzo soups, bagels, and other snacks at Jewish deli The Bagel. Sadly, that’s now coming to an end.
Sadness doesn’t even come close to how I felt,” said Chuck Dribbin, Skokie resident and regular at The Bagel.
According to the Chicago Tribune, The Bagel will close at the end of November after 31 years of operation in Skokie. The Bagel owner Danny Wolf and general manager Haya Golenzer announced plans for closing on the deli’s Facebook page.
“The mall wants this space to reconfigure the area, since Lord and Taylor left next door,” said general manager Richard ‘Ricky’ Brantner. “Our lease expired, so for the last three months, we’ve been month to month. We tried to stay open as long as we could for customers because they’re like family.”
Thankfully, the company’s Chicago location in Lakeview will remain open. The Bagel will continue offering its historic family recipes, including the complimentary bread basket and house-made kosher-style dill pickles and matzo ball soup.
“We in true form ordered what all of the grandparents would have ordered anyway,” added Beth Berk, who arrived at the Skokie deli for one last time with her father Bob Canel and her two sons.
As every employee and customer remembers, The Bagel’s mantra has never changed: the food is good and the memories are even better.
“It’s very sad because I think that people need it,” added Phyllis Abrams, who contacted her granddaughter in Washington, D.C. to schedule one last dinner date at The Bagel. “This is a connection… Especially Jewish people… this is our heritage. There are very few places that you walk in with that same feeling of family.”
The Bagel in Skokie will close for good on November 29th at 3p.m.