Luke’s New York Bagels, which first opened on Main Street in March 2020, welcomed a line of tired but eager customers to its new location at City Food Hall Jan. 30. The window opened at 7 a.m., when 22-year-old Jose Herrera was the first to order.
Herrera, a UF health science senior, was able to choose one item of Luke’s merchandise for free, and received a complimentary bagel with cream cheese. He held his black Luke’s crewneck while discussing his appreciation for the shop’s diverse selection of breakfast items.
“It’s not just your classic bagel — like your plain bagel and your everything [bagel],” he said. “You have a lot of options. I like trying the variety.”
Luke’s original location at 620 S Main Street has considerably grown during its soon-to-be five years of operation. Jason Hurst, who became the owner of Luke’s New York Bagels in December, said the shop welcomes around 200 people per day at its busiest. During football season, that number goes up to around 1,000.
Hurst said he saw the potential to expand the business because of the shop’s customer base in Gainesville, and he imagined the success of locations across the state, serving UF alumni who move to different cities after graduation. Working with former owner Luke Vescovi, who is now a member of the advisory board, Hurst decided to target current students with a convenient location while still serving the Gainesville community as a whole.
“About 75% of our customer base is students,” he said. “We would like to be able to have the students be able to come over here, but then also have the capacity to be able to serve some of the Gainesville residents and the people that live over on that side of town.”
As more City Food Halls are established in cities across Florida, including Orlando and Tallahassee, Hurst said he hopes Luke’s can expand with them. Students in line predicted City Food Hall’s proximity to campus will draw in more crowds.
Gracyn Frederick, a 20-year-old UF industrial and systems engineering junior, was the 10th person in line for the opening and said she’s visited the Main Street location in the past.
“The other one's really far, and it's just a little hidden gem on the corner,” she said. “This one's kind of right smack-dab in the middle of students. Personally, this is going to hurt my wallet a little bit, because it's really close.”
Tripp Pomeroy is the 59-year-old CEO of Sweetwater Organic Coffee, which provides the coffee sold at Luke’s. Sweetwater aims to ethically source the coffee it produces by working with Cooperative Coffees to support “small-scale farmer co-ops,” he said.
Hurst said he was “impressed” by Sweetwater’s fair-trade coffee system and knew ethical sourcing was a priority for his own company. The two have worked together throughout the opening of the new location, and Pomperoy arrived at Luke’s at 7 a.m. to support his business partner. Hurst’s efforts serve as a way of building a community, Pomperoy said.
“It's a great location — really accessible to UF students and everybody who comes downtown,” Pomperoy said. “And Jason is all in on community, which is what we [at Sweetwater] are as well.”
Luke’s New York Bagels City Food Hall location is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
Contact Juliana DeFilippo at jdefillipo@alligator.org. Follow her on X @JulianaDeF58101
Juliana DeFilippo is a freshman journalism major and General Assignment reporter for The Avenue. In her free time, she loves to read and work on crossword puzzles.
