Benson's Bagels has a date. After months of construction updates and watching signage go up along Sullivan Avenue, the bagel chain says its South Windsor restaurant will open its doors on October 8, 2026, at 7 a.m., with daily hours running from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The announcement, first reported by The Connecticut Scoop, locks in a timeline that had been shifting for months. The shop sits at 1014 Sullivan Avenue, directly across from Sullivan Avenue/Geissler's Plaza, per the same outlet's reporting. Getting here took a while: the South Windsor location has been under construction since fall 2025.
Earlier this year, that same construction progress was already visible to locals driving past the site. The Connecticut Scoop reported that the restaurant's construction is nearly complete, with their signage recently being installed, as the project moved toward its final stages. A separate report from patch.com described Benson's Bagels as approaching the final stages of its project at the Sullivan Avenue address around the same time.
Health Department Gave the Green Light to Bring in Food
Patch also reported a notable procedural step: the South Windsor Health Department recently conducted a walkthrough and authorized the owner to begin bringing food into the restaurant, according to the outlet's reporting. That detail suggested the opening was drawing close even before Tuesday's firm date was announced.
Not every earlier estimate panned out exactly as predicted, though. The Connecticut Scoop's own restaurant round-up had floated an early 2026 target, writing at the time to look for them to open in early 2026. The October 8 date now confirmed by the chain lands several months past that initial window.
What's on the Menu, and Where the Building Came From
The restaurant itself is a 2,520-square-foot building completed last year that features a drive-thru window, according to reporting from the Greenwich Time/Journal Inquirer. Menu offerings are expected to include various bagel flavors and spreads alongside breakfast and lunch sandwiches, plus pancakes, lox, French toast, smoothies and coffees. The Journal Inquirer's reporting separately described a menu including breakfast items like omelettes and pancakes, and various burgers and sandwiches served on bagels, croissants and buns. The Connecticut Scoop has also reported the shop will offer more than 15 varieties of fresh bagels baked daily.
South Windsor will mark Benson's Bagels' second Connecticut restaurant and third location overall, joining existing shops in Enfield and Springfield, Massachusetts. The chain's Enfield location opened on Enfield Street in early 2023, with a ribbon cutting that May, the Journal Inquirer reported. That same report noted Benson's was eyeing somewhere closer to Hartford for its next venture after South Windsor, though no additional details on that future site were available.
