New in Town: Mafioso-themed bagel shop coming to stadium district

A downtown bagel shop with eclectic, Michigan-made ingredients and a staff that treats customers like old friends — that’s the ambition of Goodfellas, a new stadium district restaurant expecting its soft opening the first week of February.

Co-owners Adrian Joseph and Nate Parisian decided to try their hand at the bagel hustle after deciding that there weren’t enough bagel options in downtown Lansing.

“I like bagels, he likes bagels — we all like bagels. And this was all born out of there not being enough options for breakfast sandwiches,” Joseph said. 

The menu will be structured around a score of signature bagel sandwiches, each named in tribute to common phrases and names from classic gangster cinema. For example, “The Don” features ham, bacon, egg, whole grain mustard and garlic and herb cream cheese, while “The Godfather” has sausage, fried onion straw, muenster cheese and avocado cream cheese.

“One of the facets of our business is that we didn’t want to have stuff that is easily accessible. We want to go straight to the producer, straight to the farm,” Joseph said. “We’re using a lot of cage-free eggs and sustainably sourced ingredients.”

Goodfellas’ fresh bagels and coffee will be supplied by Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor.

“We had to set up an exclusive route to get these bagels every day. They don’t deliver the bagels because there’s a one-day shelf life, so every bagel we’re turning over is the freshest you can get,” Joseph said.

Joseph and Parisian have been renovating the former Capitol City Scoop location at 625 E. Michigan Ave. since late last year. According to the pair, it’s been an uphill battle, as the space was left in a state of disrepair.

“The place had been vacant for nearly a year. There was nothing here for a long time,” Joseph said. “It looked crazy before this; it was left in a rough spot.”

While the soft opening is geared toward the family and friends of Parisian and Joseph, nobody truly curious to try Goodfella’s gourmet bagels will be turned away.

“We want a place where if you come, you should expect to be spoken to like a goodfella — you know?” Joseph said. “It’s a mantra and a real cool environment.”

Goodfellas Bagel Deli

Soft-opening expected first week of February

625 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing

(517) 580-8611, facebook.com/goodfellasbageldel