The new East Side location of Allie Boy’s Bagelry and Luncheonette (2100 N. Farwell Ave.) had a rabid audience last weekend. I was in line at about 10:30 a.m., and they were already down to just a few bagel flavors. The restaurant has a limited menu for the time being, co-owner Ben Nerenhausen told me, but it’ll fill out once they get up to speed. The reason Nerenhausen and his partner/wife Staci Lopez went for Allie Boy’s No. 2 is that they were “maxed out” at their flagship location in Walker’s Point (135 E. National Ave.).
The East Side space, located at the corner of the block, just south of Good City Brewing, is also Allie’s Boy’s baking headquarters. Here, they stepped up their oven game, bringing in “some heavy-hitting equipment from New York, built-in-place rotating deck ovens” that have helped them built their production capacity.
At Farwell, they have – typically, but you should get there early – a whole roster of bagel flavors (everything, poppyseed, pumpernickel, cinnamon raisin and more) and lots of schmears. They’re doing sandwiches – the Veg Head, egg and cheese, and lox – along with a fried sweet bagel and a latke waffle.
When the weather cools off, matzo ball soup will join the menu, and pastrami’s arrival is expected to arrive soonish, too. “Our goal is to kind of just get this base menu reflective of when we first opened [in Walker’s Point] – make sure that it’s the exact same menu [at both locations]” says Nerenhausen.
The name “Allie Boy’s” is a huge part of how the restaurant came to be. Lopez’s dad, Allan, used to take his daughter into New York City – a big deal for the young East Coast girl. He showed Lopez “the whole New York deli side of things,” says Nerenhausen. Her father’s nickname, in the city, was Allie Boy. The homage celebrates “that part of [Lopez] that made her who she is and helped to flame her love for this kind of cuisine.” Now, it’s an homage times two.
Hours: Thurs-Fri 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m.; Sat-Sun 8 a.m.-2 p.m.
