Making bagels in Belmont part of family's 'American dream'
Customers of De Coria's Bagel Shop in Belmont don't have to look far to find owner Margarilo Coria, or his wife, Lucy, or two children, Luis and Monica, for that matter.
The Corias put the "family" in the term family business. Husband and wife were busy in the kitchen on a recent, rainy Thursday morning, him making bagels and her cream cheese. Luis, 19, was at the front of the business to greet customers and take to-go orders over the telephone. Monica, a junior at Stuart Cramer High School, works on the weekends and through the summer.
"We are partners. We are co-workers. We are family," Margarilo Coria said of his family who supported his efforts to start his own small business after watching him work for years in restaurants for other people.
American dream
The 40-year-old Coria came to this country from Mexico in 1999 and found work making bagels in Long Island, New York. He and his family moved to Gaston County in 2014. He sees the opportunity to build something by his family by making bagels in Belmont, although he has plans to open a second De Coria's Bagel Shop on Gastonia's Main Avenue.
"This is the American dream," said Coria as he stood over a baking sheet of 12 lumps of dough that he would soon turn into bagels. "I decided to do something for myself rather than work for someone else."
In June 2020, Coria and family made their first entrepreneurial move by opening a De Coria's Bagel Shop in the Franklin Square shopping area of Gastonia. He closed that restaurant six months ago over an issue with his lease, he said, and opened up his new place at 609 N. Main St., Belmont, sharing space with Estia's Kouzina, an established Greek restaurant near the intersection with Wilkinson Boulevard.
Coria plans to open the second bagel shop as early as January 2023 at 167 W. Main Ave., across the street from The Esquire Hotel and next-door to the Center City Crossings apartments under construction.
Operating a small business and making a good bagel have something in common, Coria said. Both are difficult.
"This is a 24-hour process," Coria says of the dozen lumps of dough on the pan. "So we made the dough yesterday, and then we let it rest. Today we boil and bake them."
After using a wooden tool to twirl a hole into the doughballs and create the shape of a bagel, Coria drops them into boiling water on the stovetop. After a short while he takes them out of the water, returns them to a baking sheet and puts them in the oven. Minutes later, he takes 12 golden brown bagels out of the oven.
"They're best just like this," Coria says of his fresh, out-of-the-oven, hot bagels. "You don't have to do anything to them."
Family business
Coria jokes that if he and his wife of 20 years had known they'd start a family business they may have not decided to stop at two children.
"More help would be nice," he said, adding that he does have two non family members working on the weekends, when production goes from 10 dozen bagels daily to 30 or more dozen bagels on Saturdays and Sundays.
"We're a family business so we're here all the time," he said. "People appreciate that, and we appreciate the business."
Coria asked each of his children if they wanted to invest their efforts into the family business, and both agreed, although daughter Monica dreams of becoming a lawyer. Luis will oversee the new store planned for Main Avenue in Gastonia.
He may be the one in charge, he said, but he remains "dad" at both work and home. Work problems get resolved at work, he said, and don't come home with members of the family.
Struggles
Anyone who has been to the grocery store lately knows things cost more. Imagine having to buy 1,000 eggs per week for not only the bagels, but to make the most popular sandwich, a bacon, egg and cheese bagel.
"Eggs used to be about 10 cents each, now they're 42 cents," Cario said. "It's crazy how much prices increase from one week to another."
A glance at the De Coria's Bagel Shop menu shows a bacon, egg and cheese bagel costing $7.25, most three-egg omelets at $9.95, and a single bagel with flavored cream cheese at $4.25.
Most customers realize the cost of his menu items have to reflect the price of food, he said.
"Like I told everyone, we never cut quality, even with food prices so high," Coria said. "I want to make my customers happy because I know they are going to support me tomorrow."
You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-201-7016 or email him at Kellis@gastongazette.com. Support local journalism or give a gift digital subscription by subscribing here.
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Belmont bagel makers pursing American dream with cream cheese
