We all know about bagels. Plain bagels. Cinnamon and raisin bagels. Bagels with cream cheese. Bagels with lox. Bagels from New York City. Bagels from Harrisburg — that try very hard to be like those bagels from New York City. It seems like everyone is eating bagels these days — and why not? They’re much more fashionable and up-to-the-minute than the average toast or, dare we mention, bread … And, in this area, there are a wide variety of places to get your bagel fix, including Chesapeake Bagel Bakery, a favorite spot that has been serving to the locals for more than three years.

Another aspect of the business that Barbour takes pride in is the fact that each of the three Chesapeake Bagel shops pay great attention to customer service — especially in a fast-paced city such as Harrisburg. “People want to come in and they want to get out,” he adds; in order to do so, “all employees are cross-trained” so that, as a team, they can satisfy the customer on a continual basis. Barbour does this “cross training” to insure that the customer enjoys not only his food, but his experience with Chesapeake Bagel, as well. “That way, you get them to come back more often,” he explains, adding that, with personalized and quick service a large majority of his daily customers have become regulars — many of whom order the same thing, day after day, year after year. “I have one customer who has ordered the same thing for breakfast and lunch for over a year,” he says, smiling, “there are a lot of regulars.”

It’s no surprise, then, that of the three stores, Chesapeake Bagel’s Strawberry Square shop draws the chain’s biggest lunch crowd. Located in the heart of downtown, the corner-shop “does the best business Monday through Friday of all of the stores,” Barbour states, “the customer count is twice as high.” And, with such a high amount of customers, many of them professional, the store also serves as the meeting ground for the occasional business conference. “The other day we had a few people eating over blueprints,” Barbour says, “I would like us to be that place where people come.”

To capitalize on the popularity of the bagel market, Chesapeake Bagel is “changing the menu constantly,” according to Barbour, in an effort to change the public’s concept that their store is “just bagels and cream cheese.” In addition to the fourteen choices of bagels available, Chesapeake Bagel now offers foccacia and bagel sandwiches — a feature that offers more variety to the customer than just the meat, they also get to pick the bread. “You can vary the bread, which varies the sandwich,” enthuses Barbour, adding that the sandwich has brought new life to the bagel world. Although the new selections on the menu have added variety to the store’s offerings, Barbour admits that bagels remain the biggest seller — especially the plain type, “It’s like vanilla ice cream,” he says, “the plain bagel is still the most popular thing.”