Bagel Boom: How Mt. Juliet Wound Up With Four Bagel Shops
Something is rising in Mt. Juliet, and it is not just the dough. With the news that Einstein Bros. Bagels will open on August 1, the fast-growing suburb is about to claim its fourth bagel shop — a remarkable concentration of boiled-and-baked real estate for a city this size, and a tasty sign of just how quickly Mt. Juliet is filling in.
For years, the standard-bearer was Jersey Oven Bagels, which set up on Pleasant Grove Road back in 2020 and spent the better part of a half-decade as the town's go-to for a proper hand-rolled bagel. Then the boom arrived. The Ugly Bagel — a name that leans cheerfully into imperfection — opened recently near North Mt. Juliet Road and Division Street, tucked beside the Sprouts Farmers Market. The Bagel Barn is readying a spot on Lebanon Road. And now Einstein Bros., the national chain, is joining the party on that same corridor, about a mile from The Bagel Barn.
The Einstein Bros. project is the work of franchisee Nishant “Neil” Meraiya, who is converting a former KFC building into a bagel bakery on a property owned by Lineberry Properties. The buildout is expected to take roughly two and a half months, putting the shop on track for its early-August debut with the chain's familiar lineup of classic bagels, egg sandwiches and sweets.
Why here, and why now? The short answer is rooftops. Mt. Juliet has been one of the fastest-growing communities in Middle Tennessee, and morning-rush staples like bagels and coffee tend to follow new neighborhoods the way water follows a slope. Four shops within a few miles of one another is the kind of delicious problem that only a growing town gets to have — and it sets up a friendly, carb-loaded rivalry for the weekend-breakfast crowd.
For residents, the upshot is simple and happy: more choices, shorter drives, and a genuine excuse to run a summer-long taste test. An everything-with-a-schmear from the local veteran, a sesame from a newcomer, a plain from the chain — Mt. Juliet's bagel bracket is officially open. May the best boil win.
