Although the pandemic has taken its toll on dozens of St. Louis area businesses, it’s also spurred some new ones to open. Among them, Lefty’s Bagels, co-owned and operated by brothers-in-law, best buddies and Temple Israel congregants Scott Lefton and Doug Goldenberg.

“Scott’s been making bagels from home for the last couple of years  — it’s one of his passion projects,” explained Goldenberg, who is married to Lefton’s older sister Elizabeth. “He’d bake them for friends and family, and every time people kept clamoring for more. When we found the Bakers Hub it was like, well, we can get into this without a whole lot of risk and see how it goes.”

Lefty’s is currently selling fresh boil-and-bake bagels, handcrafted from Lefton’s own recipe, weekends at the Baker’s Hub in Chesterfield. Patrons can choose among four varieties — plain, poppy, sesame and everything — though Lefton expects to add a few other flavors in the coming months.

He explained that before moving back to his hometown of St. Louis 10 years ago, he lived in Los Angeles and Chicago where a good bagel was a cinch to find. “Moving back, we didn’t have quite the same number of options,” said Lefton, who graduated from Parkway Central High School. “It’s a whole different scene here. There aren’t a lot of mom-and-pop bagel shops.”

In addition to being family and friends, Lefton and Goldenberg both have fulltime jobs in the tech world. Nonetheless, their hope is to expand their bagel business over time.

“Judging how weekend sales go, we’ll see if we can grow it into weekday sales and then maybe have our own, brick-and-mortar dedicated place,” added Lefton.

Lefty’s Bagels is open at the Bakers Hub, 67 Forum Shopping Center in Chesterfield, Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., though it’s best to go early to avoid the shop selling out. A bagel costs $1.65; six for $8 and $14 for a baker’s dozen. Pre-orders are accepted for a dozen or more. For more information go to leftysbagels.com or call 314-275-095.9