SOUTH ABINGTON TWP. — Bowen Hunter loves bagels with smoked salmon. He eagerly waited over the summer to try the new Toastee Bagels near his home in Clarks Summit.
With the bagel shop now open and Hunter home from college, he finally got his chance — and wasn’t disappointed.
The business on Northern Boulevard has delighted many customers in the months since it opened in early August.
Assistant Manager Rebekah Rowles said she and her colleagues have been busy nonstop but they enjoy it. The business gets an equal amount of people coming inside the business and ordering at the drive-thru.
“We’re happy to be here,” she said.
Customers are drawn in by the promise of authentic bagels, and the shop’s location along a busy highway doesn’t hurt business, Rowles said. The shop is open daily from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., with most customers coming in or using the drive-thru between 6 and 10 a.m.
Toastee Bagels carries about a dozen varieties of freshly made bagels in flavors including plain, blueberry and jalapeño cheddar. House-made spread flavors include strawberry, scallion, vegetable, lox and cinnamon raisin. It also serves breakfast sandwiches with pork roll and other meats cooked to order on a griddle.
Rowles said breakfast sandwiches, as well as their Asiago, jalapeno cheddar and garlic herb and rosemary bagels are the most popular menu items.
Hunter, a junior at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, New York, likes the amount and variety of bagels the business carries.
“They have a great bagel selection here,” he said. “We have bagel places up in Syracuse, but … they got like 16 different bagels. That’s crazy.”
Employee Savannah Ross gets bagels for a customers at Toastee Bagels in South Abington Twp. Monday, October 12, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
The front entrance to Toastee Bagels in South Abington Twp. Monday, October 12, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Bagels are for sale at Toastee Bagels in South Abington Twp. Monday, October 12, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Assistant Manager Rebekah Rowles works behind the line at Toastee Bagels in South Abington Twp. Monday, October 12, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Employee Savannah Ross gets bagels for a customers at Toastee Bagels in South Abington Twp. Monday, October 12, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Hunter also likes how spacious the indoor seating area is. He hopes the recent closures of nearby Burger King and KFC will bring the bagel shop more business.
“Hopefully that directs more people to come get bagels,” Hunter said.
Township resident Tom McHugh is a regular at the shop. He was introduced to Toastee Bagels by a co-worker from Mountain Top and was thrilled when a shop opened by him. He loves how convenient it is, with his favorite bagel being Asiago.
Township residents Emma Hobson and DJ Getz tried Toastee Bagels for the first time Monday. They liked the coffee and the everything bagel.
The location, in the former Rainbow Market, is the bagel shop’s first in Lackawanna County. Owner Neil Patel launched a Toastee Bagels location on Route 315 in Plains Twp. in January and previously announced plans to establish a spot in the Dallas/Shavertown area. There is a third location in Mountain Top.
Rowles said while the Plains Twp. and Mountain Top locations are popular with customers today, it took time for customers to come in. The South Abington Twp. location really took off in popularity.
“We want to continue growing and just making everyone happy, like bringing bagels here,” she said.
The restaurant is the latest development on the site owned by Rainbow Land Company. A two-story, 12,000-square-foot building housing multiple tenants also sits on the site. Rainbow Land Co. LLC purchased two parcels at 621 Northern Blvd. on Dec. 5, 2019, for $745,000. The developer also purchased the former Chinchilla Hardware and Variety Store at 417 Northern Blvd. for $220,000 in 2019 and later demolished it.