Home to more than 4,500 rubber ducks, Lucky Duck Bagels is open in West 7th district
The rubber ducks are the first thing just about anybody would notice in Miguel Galvan’s new bagel shop in Fort Worth.
Lucky Duck Bagels, which opened in the West 7th district at 817 Currie St. on Oct. 30, is home to more than 4,500 of the yellow toys. They’re on the counters, the walls, the window sills, the tables and sitting atop the trash can by the door. And Galvan is constantly buying more, since each purchase comes with a rubber duck.
The 22-year-old opened the shop with his boyfriend, 24-year-old Jordy Arbaiza. Galvan used to manage a bagel restaurant chain’s location at DFW Airport, but said he grew frustrated when he saw that the experience could be better for employees and customers alike. He tried to bring suggestions to his boss, but felt like he was ignored.
So about a year ago he decided he was going to open up his own shop. He just needed to decide how he would make his restaurant stand out from others.
“My boyfriend calls me his ugly duckling as a sort of a pet name,” the 22-year-old bagel shop owner said. “It’s stuck with me for a long time. So when I quit my last job and I was trying to figure out what to make our theme, ducks just made sense.”
And it seems to be working.
“It’s been a huge relief,” Galvan said. “Before we opened, I was nervous all the time. Especially at night. I would actually shake and had to take melatonin to sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about things I needed to do. I was thinking about recipes, vendors, supplies, work that we needed to do on the space.”
Galvan said he expected to spend months or even years before turning a real profit with his new business, but in the four weeks he’s been open he’s already recouped most of his investment.
People are drawn in by the quirky atmosphere the ducks create, he said, and then keep coming back after they try the food.
Options like the All Night Quacker, the Quack Sandwich and the Ducking Crispy Sammy have won the loyal business of bagel fans, especially people who live or work in the area. He said Lucky Duck Bagels already has 15 customers who come in every weekday, without fail. Some even show up on weekends, and most arrive to grab some breakfast just before regular working hours.
It may not always be a quick stop, though.
The shop has seen several mornings so busy, including the day it opened, that customers had to wait 15, 20, even 30 minutes for their orders. The line some days will stretch out the door and diners, almost all of whom Galvan said have been exceedingly patient, will crowd into the corners of the shop waiting for their food.
But Lucky Duck isn’t just a morning fueling stop. Open as late as 3 a.m. Sunday morning (more likely to be thought of as Saturday night, if you’re in the entertainment district that late) and 9 p.m. every other night, bar-goers in the area can stop by for a quick bite during their bar crawl or to get food and sober up.
And the rubber ducks aren’t the only things unique about Lucky Duck Bagels, Galvan said. The food isn’t something you’ll find at most other places. Aside from the recipes Galvan and Arbaiza thought up themselves, the actual bagels are brought in daily from Colorado, halfway cooked and finished off in-store each morning. Their cream cheese is made in house, and he’s working on a new onion, chives and black pepper recipe.
He hopes the way he treats people is different than his own past experiences, too.
No matter how busy he gets, Galvan says he tries to have at least a short conversation with each customer. He also wants to make sure he takes care of his employees better than other places he’s worked with things like higher wages, better benefits, more flexible scheduling and a more patient, relaxed atmosphere.
The restaurant has been so successful, Galvan is already exploring opportunities to open another concept nearby There, he said, he hopes to serve craft coffee. He said he’ll be sharing more details about that soon.
This story was originally published November 29, 2023 at 12:09 PM.