Episode 664: Stuffed: How Moonrise Bagels is Building a National Brand One Pizza Bagel at a Time

Jeremy Rhodes and Ali Chetkof Rhodes discuss the rapid growth of their business, Moonrise Bagels. The couple shares the story of how a pandemic-era experiment with "stuffing" a bagel with pizza ingredients evolved from a home-kitchen project into a multi-unit operation with a flagship location in New York City’s Greenwich Village. Jeremy and Ali detail their transition from established corporate careers to full-time entrepreneurship, highlighting the operational challenges of moving from a small-town shop to the competitive Manhattan market. The conversation explores their unique product, which reimagines the bagel as a complete, handheld meal, and their focus on maintaining high quality through a handmade commissary process while expanding their reach nationwide via Goldbelly.10 Key TakeawaysThe "Accidental" Business: Moonrise Bagels began when Jeremy had leftover pizza sauce and decided to experiment by stuffing it inside bagel dough, leading to immediate viral interest on Instagram.Simplicity Scales: Jeremy advocates for a simple business model with a low SKU count to ensure operational efficiency and higher profit margins.Hospitality as a North Star: Both founders credit their obsession with "unreasonable hospitality" to their backgrounds, particularly Jeremy’s tenure at Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group.Staggered Transition: To manage financial risk, the couple staggered their exits from corporate jobs; Jeremy went full-time to staff the first shop while Ali provided financial stability before joining later.The "Testing Ground" Strategy: They spent years refining their recipes and team culture in upstate New York before attempting the high-stakes New York City market.Revenue Diversification: Beyond foot traffic, the brand utilizes DoorDash as a "digital billboard" and ships nationwide via Goldbelly to reach customers in all 50 states.Product Differentiation: Moonrise Bagels are unique because they are stuffed with sandwiches and proteins, breaking the product out of the traditional breakfast-only category and into lunch and dinner.The Commissary Model: To ensure quality and consistency across multiple locations, they produce everything by hand in a central commissary and boil/bake the bagels on-site at retail stores.Entrepreneurial Delusion: The founders agree that a level of "obsession" and "delusion" is required to survive the 3:00 AM wake-up calls and the daily grind of the industry.Support Systems: They emphasize that being a husband-and-wife team helps mitigate the "lonely road" of entrepreneurship by providing a constant sounding board for ideas and challenges.