The emporium introduced the new Providence Bagel restaurant over the summer, now open for service. Photo by Greg Clark.
Providence Bagel, an
Owner Chris Wietecha said they are focused on offering the highest-quality food. The Kingston location is one of three Providence Bagel locations, and is the first in Washington County. All of their bagels are made at their North Providence location and delivered to the Kingston location twice a day in order to assure freshness.
Additionally, all of the shop’s cold brew and nitro brew coffees are made in-house. Wietecha said the coffee beans are roasted and kegged in the shop and then served the next day.
“We don’t even have a freezer in there,” Wietecha said. “Everything is made in house. Our eggs we make, all of our vegetables and meat for sandwiches we slice right there. We pride ourselves in higher-quality product, never frozen and made in-house.”
Wietecha said the shop also offers different specials on Wednesdays and weekends. On the first day of classes, the special was a rainbow bagel with University of Rhode Island colors. During the month of September, the shop is also offering cereal bagels as a special.
“[We offered] an Applejacks bagel,” Wietecha said. “We have a Fruity Pebbles bagel coming, [and] we have a Coco Puffs Bagel coming,” Wietecha said. “Our specials always go crazy because we get a little wacky with the bagels we do. Any special we have usually
The shop also offers standard types of bagels, with their everything bagel being the most popular. Additionally, the shop sells Knead Donuts. The Kingston location is the only of the three Providence Bagel locations to offer donuts.
Wietecha said they will have a major focus on giving back to the community. Any bagels and donuts that are left over at the end of the day are donated to the local food pantry.
“We really want to be involved in the community,” Wietecha said. “If there’s nonprofit organizations on campus that are looking for donations, or if there’s some big event, I want everyone to know to feel free to come to us because we’re more than happy to help out wherever needed.”
Matthew Leake, a URI student, said he is glad Providence Bagel decided to open in the Emporium. Leake said the location is convenient and the shop offers both good food and service.
“The donuts are awesome,” Leake said. “I’m excited to try their bagels, I’ve heard a lot of good things about their bagels. The owner and the staff in general [are] super nice.”
Shelly Lucier, the general manager of Providence Bagels, said that 90 percent of their staff are URI students. Lucier said they place an emphasis on internal growth and are looking forward to working with URI students.
The setup of the shop allows staff to interact with guests while they are making orders, which is one of the benefits of having a smaller shop, Lucier said.
“Our team members are talking to guests while they’re waiting in line,” Lucier said. “You can see your sandwich or the guest’s before you sandwich being made. There’s usually samples out.”
Moving forward, Lucier said they hope to utilize the outdoor space more.
“We do have tables and chairs that we bring in and out everyday that create an additional eight seats for our guests to enjoy, along with the picnic tables in the Emporium,” Lucier said. “We’re always exploring new ideas about how to engage our guests and create an even more enjoyable experience every time they’re there.”
Lucier encouraged customers to follow Providence Bagel on social media platforms so that they can stay up to date on the latest specials offered at the shop. Providence Bagel can be found on Instagram at @providencebagel. The shop also has an email list customers can sign up for online.