St. Petersburg’s Pete’s General is expanding

St. PETERSBURG — Bagel lovers, rejoice: Pete’s General, the popular bagel shop, bakery and general store near Historic Round Lake Park, is expanding with a second location in the Grand Central District.

The new, much larger offshoot will open this summer at 2361 First Ave. S and function as the main bakery space for the burgeoning bagel baking operation. The news follows a busy year for owners Sara and Steven Peterman, who first launched the general store in 2019.

Together with co-founder Erica Gonzalez, the team saw their busiest season during the pandemic, when the shop’s takeout window and contactless ordering system proved popular with diners.

Unlike the flagship spot, the new Pete’s will primarily be a bakery and won’t function so much as a general store, although there will be Pete’s General merchandise for sale, Gonzalez said. By expanding to a larger location, she said, the team hopes to grow their wholesale business and start delivering bagels to shops all over the city. And, she laughed, “this way maybe we won’t sell out at 11 a.m.”

Though hand-rolled bagels and bagel sandwiches have always been the main attraction, the bakery’s pastry program has also expanded, and the shop now sells an assortment of breakfast goodies, including cookies, muffins, scones, biscuits and buns. Those, too, will continue to be sold at both the original and new location when it opens.

Gonzalez said the new spot, which will share a building with a yet-to-be-named separate business, won’t feature indoor seating, but rather will be a spot for people in the neighborhood to pop in and grab their bagels and coffee to-go. There will be plenty of outdoor seating and picnic tables available in a grassy side lot, she said.

The crew hopes to open the new location by July 1, Gonzalez said. Until then, diners will have to visit the flagship to get their Salty Pete fix. And fans of the Historic Round Lake location need not worry, either: The original Pete’s General isn’t going anywhere.