Abby’s Bagels is expanding beyond Dallas’ Greenville Avenue to a new shop in Uptown.
The second Abby’s in North Texas is expected to open at 2222 McKinney Ave., across from the Crescent Hotel and neighbors with the former Morton’s (which is now Andreas Prime Steaks and Seafood).
It’s almost ready: The opening date is in late July 2026.
Owner Nick Backlund, who owned a cocktail bar called Hide for over a decade, is all-in on breakfast now. A bagel boom in Dallas propelled him to open a second Abby’s. Meanwhile, he closed Hide on Greenville Avenue this year.
“I never envisioned this happening; I always was kind of a night owl,” Backlund said. But, he added, his bagel business is “on fire. It just made financial sense.”
He said Uptown is a Dallas neighborhood that isn’t overrun with bagels yet. Dallas has seen more new bagel shops open in the past few years than ever before, but “none of the other big players in Dallas are in Uptown,” Backlund said. As two examples, Shug’s Bagels has shops in University Park and Oak Lawn, and Starship is in downtown Dallas.
“Nobody else had planted a flag here yet,” he said of McKinney Avenue and Pearl Street, “and it checked all the boxes.”
Abby’s Bagels is named after owner Nick Backlund’s wife, Abby. (Elías Valverde II/Staff Photographer)
Backlund sees opportunities for group orders for office workers nearby in Uptown.
The shop is named for Backlund’s wife, Abby. He started the company in 2024 for her, because she was missing the bagel shops in Chicago, where she attended art school. Abby’s bagels are fermented for 24 hours, then kettle boiled and baked.
Many customers at the East Dallas shop order a bagel and schmear, though the shop is best known for its sandwiches. The Dallasite is a bagel sandwich with jalapeño cream cheese, bacon, eggs and avocado, and it’s a bestseller. So, too, is Abby’s lox on a bagel.
Backlund is also of the shop’s pastrami, which is brined in the restaurant for 28 days, then smoked. The pastrami can come layered on any build-your-own bagel sandwich, or in a lunch option called The Texan, piled with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, spicy sauce and pickles. It’ll be available at the new Uptown shop as well as at the original on Greenville.
Beyond bagels, Abby’s is a coffee shop serving espresso made with beans from Devoción in Brooklyn, Abby’s favorite.
Backlund prides himself on creating a friendly place for neighbors to start their day.
“Everyone who walks in here at 7 or 8 or 9 in the morning wants to see a smiling face,” he said. “I think that’s one of the things that’s driven our success: People feel good when they walk into Abby’s.”
Abby’s Bagels at 2222 McKinney Ave., Dallas, is expected to open in July 2026. The original Abby’s at 1915 Greenville Ave., Dallas, remains open.
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