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Brobagel Picked as Name for Piece Brewery Owner's New Bagel Shop

 Piece Brewery and Pizzeria owner Bill Jacobs plans to open Brobagel in June.
Piece Brewery and Pizzeria owner Bill Jacobs plans to open Brobagel in June.
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Provided by Bill Jacobs

WICKER PARK — The highly anticipated bagel shop from Piece Brewery and Pizzeria owner Bill Jacobs now has a name: Brobagel, a moniker that harkens back to the Jacobs Bros. Bagels chain he once owned with his brothers.

"We wanted something that was going to make that connection," Jacobs said.

Piece, 1927 W. North Ave, started to get the word out about the name via Twitter on Friday, "We are bringing great bagels back to Chicago! Check out the news here: on.fb.me/1n4cv7C #bagels #Chicago #thename."

Jacobs said construction has started on the 1,128 square-foot shop, which is right next door to Piece at 1931 W. North Ave. and was once home to Salon Blue before it combined with its Lakeview location.

The menu will be just takeout and delivery, Jacobs said, and he's considering running bike deliveries.

Along with boiling and baking bagels in the store the old fashioned way with the same Jacob Bros. recipe, Brobagel will have lox, bagel deli sandwiches, soup, coffee, a few desserts and, yes, pizza bagels. 

"That's kind of an obvious connection," Jacobs said.

Jacobs Bros. Bagels, run by Jacobs and his three brothers, first opened as The Bagel Bakery in 1983 and eventually expanded to 20 locations before the business was sold in 1999.

This time around, Jacobs won't be running the business with his siblings, though he said they're "providing their support and their love."

As for whether Brobagel could expand this time, Jacobs said, "We'll evaluate down the road. For now, it's really about making this a success and making sure we're doing things right by our customers."

Jacobs is still aiming to open the shop by the end of June.

For Jacobs, having a bagel place again "really is like turning the clock back," he said.

"The best times were really when we were baking these great bagels," Jacobs said.

The whole process has brought back memories of when he and his brothers used to mix the dough and deliver the bagels themselves.

"It really is like a dream come true again," Jacobs said.