Montreal-style bagel shop “listened to the people” and re-opens in Whitby after short closure

The bagel lovers of Whitby have spoken. Kettlemans has re-opened.

Durham residents were left without their Montreal-style bagel fix when the Whitby location at Taunton Gardens abruptly closed earlier this month, leaving only a sign thanking customers for choosing their bagels.

“We wish to thank you for your patronage over the past two years,” the sign on the front door said. “Kettlemans and this community have a special place in our hearts. It’s unfortunate we have to close our doors, but we wanted you to know we do appreciate your business and support.”

On Tuesday, a little over a week later, the restaurant re-opened, albeit with a slightly reduced menu.

“We listened to the people and decided to re-open,” said Emma Latreille, Kettlemans’ Communications Manager, from the Ottawa headquarters.

Kettlemans, with its traditional hand-rolled Montréal bagels, spreads, salads and sandwiches, opened with plenty of fanfare in January 2023, bringing with them sweet Montreal bagels (the bagels are boiled in honey water before being cooked) and 24-hour service.

The restaurant was an immediate hit:

• “This is amongst the top ranked deli shops on my list in the GTA”
• “Kettlemans makes some really great hand rolled bagels”
• “Great go to place to linger over bagels & tea”
• “Now we got a location in Durham. Pretty exciting”

There appeared to a cooling of interest, however, as the Whitby location moved from 24-hour service to a 9 p.m. close before shutting its doors, bringing more reaction on the company’s socials – this time with disappointment as the theme.

“Disappointed. There are no other locations within a reasonable distance.”

“Nothing close enough now since you’ve left Durham Region. So won’t be going anytime soon.”

Another responded to a tweet from the company with pictures of four of its locations asking, ‘Which Kettlemans are you rolling up to?’ with the answer: ‘Whitby. Except it was closed. Permanently.”

Thanks to the “love and support” the Montreal-style sandwich shop received from its customers, Kettlemans is back in business in Whitby.

“We closed for about a week but we received lots of love and support from our customers, Latreille said. “We’re going to try this out and see how it goes.”

Kettlemans was founded in Ottawa in 1993 by Craig Buckley and Joe Bianchini. The company currently has four stores in Ottawa, three in Toronto and in Montreal – where Buckley grew up – which opened in January 2023.

And now you can re-add Whitby to that list.