Baltik's Bagel plans to make its Church Hill outpost a compact production operation with a customer-facing pickup option, rather than a full dine-in cafe. Owner Yero Rudzinskas said the shop will move into the former Alamo BBQ building at 2202 Jefferson Ave., targeting a November opening with the same bagels and breakfast sandwiches as the Forest Hill Avenue location.
Rudzinskas confirmed the plan Tuesday, according to Richmond BizSense. He purchased the property for $560,000 in July, according to city records cited by WTVR. BizSense described the building as roughly 500 square feet, a compact footprint for the planned production-and-pickup model.
Alamo's Earlier Plans for the Building
Alamo BBQ’s owners temporarily closed the 2202 Jefferson Ave. restaurant in 2023 while seeking city approval to add onto the building, according to WTVR. The report said operations had moved to the owners’ other restaurant, Frontier by Alamo; that proposed expansion was a past plan for the barbecue restaurant, separate from Baltik's current proposal.
Baltik's opened its first shop along Forest Hill Avenue in the Southside in 2024, building a following for bagels and breakfast sandwiches before expanding into wholesale and catering. The business now wholesales its bagels to around 50 markets and restaurants, the report notes, a sign of how far the operation has grown from its original footprint.
Small Building, Big Production Plans
The Church Hill shop will have the same name, menu and offerings as the Forest Hill original, but will serve customers through a walk-up window. Rudzinskas also plans to add covered outdoor seating for customers who want to stay for a bagel and coffee.
Planned hours would start at 6:30 a.m. and run until 2 p.m., matching the original location's schedule, though earlier hours could be added for VCU Health employees heading to work nearby. As the retail, wholesale and catering businesses grow, Rudzinskas is also looking for a facility to expand bagel production, telling BizSense he is considering a production facility paired with some kind of retail presence.
A February WTVR profile described the original operation's 1,500-square-foot space and 15-person team as supporting bakery, sandwich, wholesale and catering work. The shop uses multi-day fermentation and bakes fresh throughout the day, the station reported.
Richmond's Bagel Scene Keeps Rising
Baltik's would be the second bagel shop to open in the city this fall, following Sunday Bagel's new brick-and-mortar shop in Jackson Ward. After three years running as a pop-up and mobile vendor, Sunday Bagel unveiled its storefront at 210 W. Marshall St. earlier this month, according to Richmond Magazine. The shop, run by spouses Jesse and Julie Roberts, is open Thursday through Monday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., per Axios.
Together, the two openings point to a bagel moment taking hold across Richmond neighborhoods well beyond downtown. Church Hill's version will lean on the same recipe and reputation Baltik's built on Forest Hill Avenue, just with a smaller footprint built for speed and volume rather than sit-down service.
