Simona Greenberg of Neighborhood Bagels has created a weekend pop-up that’s becoming the talk of Miami. After moving to south Florida from New York, she started missing the way bagels tasted back home. So in January 2025, she decided to figure out how to make the perfect bagel.
Greenberg ended up trying 600 different recipes before finding the one. She says the perfect bagel is “crispy and crunchy, with a thick crust on the outside, and super fluffy and feathery on the inside, like feathers being pulled apart.” But Greenberg thinks what makes a bagel really special is the sweetness of it, which comes from the malt syrup. Neighborhood Bagels are all made with malt syrup, which is responsible for the thick crust and characteristic flavor of a New York bagel.
Greenberg is running the bagel start-up all while continuing to work a full-time 9 to 5 marketing job from home. She says she gets her entrepreneurial spirit from her dad, who was always starting something new and trying to make it work. “I watched him do that my whole life and I always knew that was something I was going to do,” says Greenberg.
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When her friends tried the bagels, first reports were promising. “They were all adamant that I could be selling these all over Miami,” she recalls. She began the business in February 2025, and it was consistent until June. But after she was featured in the Miami New Times, who called her bagels the city’s best kept secret, her followers doubled and kept growing from there. The business grew through personal recommendations. as well Greenberg says, “I think that’s what makes Neighborhood Bagels so special.”
In order to provide fresh bagels, pre-orders open on Tuesday (via Hotplate on Instagram @neighborhoodbagels) for Saturday pick-up. She offers a variety of classic bagels, including plain, sesame, and everything, while homemade cream cheese spreads and freshly whipped butter flavors vary each week.
When asked about a personal favorite, she said, “Recently I did a miso maple smear with a fresh plain bagel straight from the oven and absolutely loved that. It was perfect.”
To keep up with orders, she moved to a new kitchen in September 2025. Neighborhood Bagels is continuing to accept pre-orders for pick-up, but eventually the space will be a storefront for walk-ins.
“Of course people love the product because there’s nothing like it in Miami. But it’s community- based and community-driven,” explains Greenberg. “People enjoy telling their friends and family about it.” Building that community in Miami has been Greenberg’s favorite part.
AUTHOR
Ashley is a writer and teacher living in Florida. When she isn't reading or writing, you can find her in the kitchen experimenting with a new recipe, on the yoga mat in downward dog, or lost out in nature with her family.
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