Bada Bing Bagels

Mark and Andrea Liberatore opened Bada Bing Bagels in 2005. "We came up with the concept from scratch," Mark says. "We created everything from the logo to the recipes."
A delicious task since this shop, located on South Padre Island, features 20 different bagels and 17 spreads. Andrea says the most popular bagels are the plain and sesame, but they cater to every taste. There are bagels loaded with everything, sun-dried tomato bagels, spinach bagels and even French toast bagels. All of them are custom-made by a baker in New York City.
"A lot of places say they have New York style bagels, but we have the real thing," Andrea said.
What makes Bada Bing truly unique are the spreads. While plain cream cheese is definitely on the menu, so is honey almond, jalapeno, cheddar salsa, apricot pecan and goat cheese & garlic, among others.
This is not just a breakfast establishment. Bada Bing serves lunch, full-size sandwiches on bagels with chips and a pickle.
The most popular? The Wall Street featuring lox and cream cheese. They also feature salmon nova slices by the pound.
"We've had people from New York ask us to open a location there and they have a bagel shop on every corner," Andrea said.
Dolly was their first hurricane and while they both say they would stay for another storm, Andrea said Mark was more prepared for the damage.
"Dolly tore out the back part of the roof and decimated the office and bathroom, it flooded back there," Mark said.
Now the repairs are complete and yesterday Bada Bing opened back up for business. "We love the tourists," Andrea said. "They see everything with fresh eyes."

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