The Bagelry is an independent craft bakery and café at 42 Nelson Street in Liverpool's Chinatown. Founded by bakers Natalie Murray and Rhonda Davies, the shop produces traditional boiled bagels from scratch every morning, bridging classic New York deli culture with hearty British breakfast ingredients.

What The Bagelry does

The business operates as a working bakery and daytime eatery. Each batch of dough is mixed, proved, hand-rolled into rings, kettle-boiled in water to develop a dense, chewy interior, and baked on stone decks until golden. Customers can stop in for hot made-to-order breakfast and lunch sandwiches, take away individual bagels or multi-packs for home toasting, or grab freshly fried brioche donuts with coffee.

The bagel counter and varieties

The bakery produces a daily selection of bagel varieties, available loose or as the base for sandwiches:

  • Plain and Sesame: The classic foundations with a crisp exterior and chewy crumb.
  • Poppyseed and Onion: Savoury crusts toasted with aromatic seeds and roasted dried onions.
  • Everything Bagel: Generously coated with garlic flakes, onion, poppy seeds, sesame seeds and sea salt.
  • Cinnamon Raisin: Lightly sweetened dough studded with plump raisins.
  • Jalapeño Cheddar: Spiced dough baked with melted mature cheddar on top.

Cream cheese schmears are whipped on-site with rotating savoury and sweet flavour profiles, including chive and scallion, roasted jalapeño, honey walnut, and plain salted cream cheese.

The kitchen: Stacks, deli melts and vegan options

Hot sandwiches are ordered under "The Stacks". Breakfast builds feature soft fried eggs, melted cheese, smoked back bacon, butcher-style sausage patties, or crispy potato hash browns. The Mega Stack combines bacon, sausage, fried egg, cheddar and a hash brown inside a toasted Everything bagel.

Lunch trade turns toward classic deli combinations. The Pastrami Melt piles warm cured beef pastrami with melted Swiss cheese, tangy dill gherkins and American mustard. The Salmon Stack pairs cold-smoked salmon with thick house cream cheese, capers, fresh dill and red onion. Plant-based dining is a core part of the menu rather than an afterthought, featuring marinated tofu scramble, vegan sausage patties, melted vegan gouda and plant-based mayonnaise.

The story behind 42 Nelson Street

Natalie Murray and Rhonda Davies began baking bagels together in 2013, initially supplying local independent coffee shops and trading at Liverpool farmers' markets, including the Dovedale Food Market. Demand quickly outstripped their domestic kitchen capacity. In 2015, the pair launched a public Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, raising the funds required to buy a specialist commercial deck oven and lease a former commercial unit on Nelson Street.

Opening their doors in late 2015, The Bagelry brought fresh artisan baking to Chinatown. The business has since expanded its operations with a suburban bake shop on Dovedale Road in Mossley Hill, while the Nelson Street flagship remains the production home for central Liverpool.

Prices and ordering

Prices represent excellent city-centre value for handmade bakery goods (checked September 2026):

  • Toasted bagel with butter or house jam: £2.50 to £3.20
  • Bagel with whipped cream cheese: £3.80 to £4.50
  • Hot breakfast stacks (egg, cheese, bacon or vegan sausage): £6.50 to £8.50
  • The Mega Stack: £9.00 to £9.80
  • Deli hot stacks (Pastrami melt or smoked salmon): £8.50 to £10.50
  • Crispy seasoned tater tots: £3.50 to £4.00
  • Fresh brioche donuts and sweet bakes: £3.00 to £3.80
  • Loose bagels to take home (half-dozen bag): £7.00 to £8.00

Orders are placed at the service counter. Customers can pre-order boxes of bagels and sandwich platters for collection through their website, which is particularly useful for weekend office or family gatherings. Seating is on simple wooden benches and high stools along the perimeter walls, with walk-ins welcome and well-behaved dogs permitted inside.

Around Chinatown and Nelson Street

The bakery stands near the intersection of Nelson Street and Great George Street, just down the hill from the Imperial Arch that marks the ceremonial gateway to Europe's oldest Chinatown. The location sits at a natural crossroads between the cultural venues of the Georgian Quarter, the independent bars of Ropewalks, and the creative studios of the Baltic Triangle.

For more local food and neighbourhood guides, read our Ropewalks area guide and our guide to where to eat in Liverpool by area.