What started as a class project between two University of Washington students has turned into a four-location bagel empire that stretches from the U District to Bellevue. Jaafar Altameemi and Murat Akyuz co-founded Toasted, a halal-friendly bagel cafe that has become one of Seattle's most talked-about fast-casual success stories, even as the pair weathered break-ins, permitting nightmares, and repeated cash crunches along the way.
Altameemi and Akyuz met on their first day of class at the UW Foster School of Business, according to The Seattle Times. Altameemi, an Iraqi immigrant whose family settled in Lynnwood, envisioned a bagel shop that would make its own bagels and double as a community gathering space, per the same report. Akyuz, whose family moved from Istanbul to California after emigrating from Turkey, later joined the business after seeing the stress his friend was under trying to get it off the ground.
The two signed their initial lease at the end of 2022, but the road to opening was anything but smooth. The Times reports Toasted ran out of money about four times between 2022 and 2024 before its first shop ever opened its doors. Additional local reporting from the University of Washington's student newspaper, The Daily, found that the City of Seattle later delegitimized previously approved building plans mid-construction, triggering landlord litigation, permitting delays, contractor complications, and temporary staff layoffs during the company's expansion push.
A Nine-Month Delay and Three Break-Ins
Toasted finally opened its first shop at 15th Avenue and 50th Street in 2024, initially serving bagels sourced from Aaron Emas at Backyard Bagel while the founders worked out their own recipe. Getting there wasn't easy: the Times reports the project suffered a nine-month delay caused by a King County plumbing inspector's plan review. The U District location, which now offers indoor and outdoor seating, also endured three separate break-ins that cost the business $10,000 in glass replacement, according to the same report.
“How many times can you not give up?” Altameemi said, per the Times, reflecting on the years of setbacks before the business found its footing. Despite the hurdles, early momentum was already building online. Toasted's earliest spring 2024 videos racked up hundreds of thousands of views, the Times reports, well before the brand had expanded beyond its first cafe.
Bagels In-House, and a Sibling Bakery in Lake City
Toasted now makes its bagels in-house, testing production by scaling from ten to 100 bagels at a time before settling on its current process, according to the Times. That in-house effort eventually spun off into its own venture: sibling cafe Jaded, based in Lake City, now supplies all four Toasted locations. Jaded opened its own cafe in January, and the founders are not interested in wholesaling Jaded or opening more Jaded-style shops elsewhere, the Times reports.
Jaded's own website describes a bakery that produces small-batch, naturally fermented bagels at the top of every hour throughout the day, a contrast to the single large-batch approach used by traditional wholesale bakeries. That hourly rhythm is meant to keep bagels fresh across Toasted's growing footprint rather than relying on one bulk delivery.
Halal Menu Meets Levantine Flavors
Toasted's menu leans into an all-halal meat lineup, including turkey and turkey bacon, a choice food distributor US Foods says serves Seattle's underrepresented Muslim population as well as health-conscious diners more broadly. The cafe serves Muslim customers breaking fast with friends, and it extended hours at its original U District location during Ramadan, according to the Times.US Foods also credits Toasted's multi-location volume with giving it leverage to negotiate bulk pricing that helps insulate customers from price hikes elsewhere in the industry.
The food itself blends bagel-shop basics with Levantine and Mediterranean influences. Industry publication WhatNow describes menu items like the Za'atar Turkey, the Smoked ‘Cado with smoked feta, the Sultan's Roast Beef with caramelized jalapeños, and cardamom honey lattes. Local outlet The Stranger has also highlighted Toasted's “OF Flight,” an open-faced sampler featuring four topping combinations: labneh with honey, avocado with smoked feta, lox with pickled onions, and pear with cinnamon.
Cutting Prices as Orders Climb
In a counterintuitive move for a growing chain, Toasted began lowering prices in January and publicized the cuts in June, the Times reports. The lox bagel dropped from $19 to $15, and a bagel with egg and cheese now sells for $5.95. Toasted has reported that order averages actually increased after the price reductions took effect, according to the same report.
Four Locations, With a Fifth on the Way
Toasted currently operates locations in the U District, South Lake Union, Pioneer Square, and Bellevue. The South Lake Union cafe, which opened in 2025, seats 45 people, while Pioneer Square runs as a streamlined, to-go-only cafe. Axios reported in January that the Pioneer Square location, at 102 1st Ave S, reflects the founders' bet on that historic neighborhood's post-pandemic recovery.
The Bellevue location, inside the SoMa Towers food court at 278 106th Ave NE, opened in February 2025 using a quick-service kiosk format aimed at the district's dense tech-office crowd, according to Bellevue Downtown. That food-court model stands in contrast to the sit-down setup in the U District, illustrating how the brand adapts its layout depending on the market.
A fifth location is planned for Capitol Hill, though the opening has already been pushed to 2027 because of construction delays, the Times reports. Capitol Hill Seattle Blog reported in October that Toasted signed a lease for a 2,444-square-foot flagship space in the Solis building at 13th Ave and E. Pike St, a storefront that had sat vacant since early 2020. Toasted plans to bring Turkish breakfast and possibly late-night events to the new location, according to the Times.
Part of a Broader Bagel Boom
Toasted's rise comes amid what The Stranger has called a broader boom in Seattle's specialty bagel scene, with scratch-made and sourdough-style shops like Mt. Bagel, Hey Bagel, Rachel's Bagels, and Loxsmith all competing for attention. Both Altameemi and Akyuz are UW graduates, and the Times reports that Altameemi has said simply, “the bagels are everything,” as the pair positions Toasted to become a major player in that expanding local market.
