Bagel boom in Fort Worth: Shug’s, Dan’s bring NY flavor west
Big-time bagels have come to Fort Worth, and the best is yet to come.
A location of viral TikTok favorite Dan’s Bagels is now open near TCU. But the breaking bagel news is that Dallas cult favorite Shug’s is in the early stage of planning a west Fort Worth bagel bakery and sandwich shop.
Shug’s, founded in part by Crescent Hotel chef Preston Paine, has a location in the works at 5101 Camp Bowie Blvd., two blocks west of Kincaid’s Hamburgers in the Arlington Heights neighborhood.
The 60-year-old small retail building has been everything from a gas station to a cleaner and, for the last 40 years, a liquor store best known for its bright “Oasis Liquor Beer” neon and convenient drive-through window.
The first Shug’s opened in 2020 at 3020 Mockingbird Lane in Dallas, in the busy Park Cities Plaza shopping center next to Southern Methodist University. Founder Justin Shugrue, an SMU graduate from Westchester, New York, said he simply liked the hospitality industry and hoped to serve good bagels.
Paine, a former hotel chef on Madison Square Park in New York, helped come up with the formula, which includes New York deli-quality meats.
The second Shug’s replaced a long-standing sandwich shop at 4001 Lemmon Ave., Dallas. A third Shug’s just opened in New Orleans near Tulane University.
Right now, a Shug’s is under construction in Austin off North Lamar Boulevard near West 12th Street.
Customers posting reviews on Yelp.com and Google.com rate Shug’s Dallas locations between four and four and one-half stars, warning only that it’s busy and has limited parking.
Several commenters compared the lox and cream cheese to bagel shops in New York, but others praised the “spicy Shug” breakfast bacon-egg-and-cheese bagel with hot sauce and pepper Jack cheese, or the large menu of chicken cutlet bagels.
A selection of lunch sandwich bagels includes a Reuben, a Philly and a club made with a huge fistful of deli-quality Boar’s Head spicy turkey, bacon and a choice of cheddar or pepper Jack.
The year after Shug’s opened, and with the SMU location already doing long lines of takeout business during the COVID-19 pandemic, a second signature bagel shop came to Dallas-Fort Worth.
Dan’s Bagels, now open at 2430 Forest Park Blvd. near the Fort Worth Zoo, offers Connecticut-style sourdough bagels as originated by founders Dan and Jennifer Hilbert at their small suburban shop in Trophy Club.
Both enter a market long dominated by Boopa’s Bagels, 6513 N. Beach St., and other sandwich cafes such as Yogi’s Deli & Grill, 2710 S. Hulen St.
Dan’s Fort Worth location is open daily except Monday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m; text but don’t call 972-586-3090, dansbagels.com.
Shug’s Dallas locations are open daily from 6:30 a.m. on Lemmon Avenue and from 7 a.m. near SMU; 214-466-8200 or 469-526-5050, shugsbagels.com.
This story was originally published November 10, 2025 at 4:47 AM.
