Jeremy Rhodes and Ali Chetkof, owners of Moonrise Bagels in Woodstock, have taken the standard bagel to another level for the past three years with their flavorful stuffed bagels. In fact, they’ve grown popular enough that they’ve opened a second location in Poughkeepsie this month.
“We were looking at a couple of different areas like Albany and New Paltz because we didn’t want to be too far from the original location—or from our house,” Chetkof explains. “We liked the spot in Poughkeepsie, in a new plaza with other places to eat, and liked the idea of a different market for us to explore. Especially since we’d be near a few colleges, including the CIA—maybe we’d get some new talent from there to work with us.”
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The new location opened on July 20 and saw long lines from the start. “It blew our expectations away,” she says. Rhodes adds: “We tripled production space here, and in the first week saw almost three times the business from the Woodstock location.”
So, what’s a stuffed bagel? For those who haven’t tried one yet, it looks like an ordinary unsliced bagel, but a bite will reveal a variety of flavors baked right into the bread. All fillings are made in-house and the bagels take more than 24 hours to make. At $8.95 each, there’s the buffalo chicken bagel, a top seller, stuffed with breaded chicken bites with housemade buffalo sauce and blue cheese. “The Reuben is pretty popular, and probably the most filling, made with really great pastrami, some surprising sauerkraut, swiss, and Russian dressing, with packets of Gulden’s mustard on the side,” Chetkof says. A classic bacon, egg, and cheese-stuffed bagel is a standard, as well. You’ll also find “unstuffed” AKA classic bagels with housemade spreads, like the lox with cream cheese, capers, shallots, and lemon.
But it all started with the pizza bagel. During the pandemic, Rhodes found himself with some spare time when his former career went remote and he no longer needed to commute; he chose to spend that time trying cookbook recipes. “I landed on bagels and really enjoyed making them and sharing them; the stuffed bagel became like a party trick of ours—going away with friends for the weekend, we’d make and bring a bunch,” Rhodes explains. Word spread, interest grew, and a business naturally unfolded by December 2021.
“We found a space with a year lease, decided to give it a shot, then pretty much painted the counter blue and started selling bagels,” Chetkof says. “The new space is like the Woodstock location, but grown up. It’s larger and much more conceptualized, an experience of our brand: Fun, friendly, and warm.” Instead of just a blue counter, you’ll find pool-blue banquette tables, walls, ceilings—fun is the right word.
“We’re so excited to bring our brand here and be able to expand our team,” Chetkof says. “Poughkeepsie has a lot more locals, whereas Woodstock tends to bring more tourists, and both are great, but it’s exciting to see the next step come to fruition.”
Moonrise Bagels is open Monday through Friday from 6am to 3pm; weekends from 7am to 3pm.
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