At the end of the spring semester, Boone staple Stick Boy Bread Company expanded its franchise by buying Mountain Bagels restaurant on Boone Heights Drive. Stick Boy Kitchen opened its doors May 6 and has since been serving breakfast and lunch to students, residents and tourists.   

I visited the place for the first time for breakfast Monday morning and was immediately greeted. While I waited for my bagel sandwich, several other employees checked on me to make sure I had been helped.

Thankfully, Stick Boy’s super-attentive service has made the move across town with the bakery.  

Certain things about the new store are noticeably different, and one of the biggest differences is seating. At the bakery on Hardin Street, it is typical to see people standing in the middle of the store waiting on bulk orders.

Stick Boy Kitchen patrons enjoy meals in small booths or tables. The casual Stick Boy vibe remains, though – in my hour in the store I saw several happy eaters get up and walk around, talk and browse the pastry case.

The menu is bigger as well. In addition to the standard sweets, coffee drinks and smoothies, the new location offers salads, soups, sandwiches and, of course, bagels.  

For my breakfast I chose a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on a honey-wheat everything bagel. My boyfriend tried the lox sandwich on a cheddar everything bagel.

Both choices tasted fresh and delicious, and we were impressed with Stick Boy’s bagels, which are new to the franchise. The equipment the kitchen is using to make their bagels is the same that Mountain Bagels used before they closed, but manager Lisa Pearce said the recipes are all Stick Boy’s.  

The bulk of the menu is devoted to lunch.  Pearce said the Stick Boy menu included lunch items such as soup years ago, but because of conflicts with the regulations set forth by the Department of Agriculture, which inspects bakeries, they quit making them.  

“Now that we have a restaurant, we’re able to make some of the old soup recipes and quiche and we came up with basic sandwiches – six of each kind, six hot and six cold, and just kind of starting off small, but making everything from scratch,” Pearce said.

Customer favorites include the El Presidente, a heaping concoction of turkey, avocado, Swiss cheese, bacon, spinach, garlic aioli, tomato and red onion on homemade country French bread, and the Ain’t Your Mama’s BLT, a huge sandwich with bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayo and Sriracha sauce on Stick Boy Sourdough, Coatney said.

As I was driving away, bagel still in hand, I was planning my next meal there.

I definitely recommend making the short drive from campus to check out what Stick Boy Kitchen has to offer.

Stick Boy Kitchen, open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., is located at 211 Boone Heights Drive.

STORY: EMMA SPECKMAN, A&E Reporter