By Cary Shuman
The Bagel Bin is back and better than ever.
Owners George Vlladesi and Hansi Vlladesi welcomed Mayor Patrick Keefe, Ward 2 Councillor Ira Novoselsky, and other distinguished city officials and guests to the grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Bagel Bin, a popular restaurant and gathering spot at 207 Shirley Avenue.
The restaurant had been closed for six years due to a fire in July 2019. But a shiny, new restaurant now sits majestically on the street floor of the apartment building masterfully developed by Jamie Russo, highlighting the amazing resurgence of the Shirley Avenue neighborhood that has continued under Mayor Keefe.
In the first 25 years of its existence, the Bagel Bin was considered one of the centers of the Revere political universe, a place where legendary figures such as the former mayor, the late Bob Haas Jr. and longtime city councillors Arthur Guinasso and Ira Novoselsky would meet for breakfast to discuss the issues of the day.
Mr. Haas’ wife, Juanita Haas, and son, Councillor-at-Large, Bob Haas III, along with Guinasso and Novoselsky, attended the festivities.
Perhaps the proudest person at the event was Hansi Vlladesi, son of the longtime owner, George Vlladesi.
“We’re very excited to be back and seeing our customers and welcoming them back to our restaurant,” said Hansi. “This is a dream come true. We couldn’t have imagined how beautiful it came out, but all our hard work paid off, and we’re here now.”
Novoselsky served as master of ceremonies for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“We’re here today to celebrate the reopening and grand opening of the Bagel Bin since July 29, 2019,” said Novoselsky. “We’re so glad to have them back. I can say to the owners that I watched every nail go into this building. I want to thank Jamie Russo, the owner of the building. They all did a great job. The place is beautiful inside.”
Mayor Keefe called it “a really special day” for the Vlladesi family and the restaurant’s staff.
“It’s been a long time coming. When this building was initially closed, it was pretty disappointing,” said Keefe, who worked in the restaurant industry as an executive administrator. “Ira was down almost every morning with some of his friends – one specific special friend of all of ours, former Mayor Robert J. Haas. I really appreciate Jamie and the crew dedicating the building and putting a plaque on the side for Robert Haas.”
Keefe illuminated on the beauty of the new edifice. “Take a look at this building, it’s gorgeous. Think about Shirley Avenue 20 years ago and think about the transformations of the neighborhood over the last 20 years. But people, like this family and the Bagel Bin have been in business for all that time and have seen some of the old days, and now they’re seeing some of the new days. Certainly, we all have our sentimental feelings of how things were, and we love them. But I look forward to what’s next, so I look forward to enjoying some more breakfast again at the Bagel Bin. I had some here just recently, and someone said to me, ‘can you believe that you’re getting smoked salmon and eggs on Shirley Avenue,’ and I said it’s never been better.”
“To Georgie, to Hansi, and your family, we wish you lots of many, many years of success and we thank you for investing and continuing to invest in our community.”
Concluding the ceremony, Hansi Vlladesi said, “It’s a pleasure to be here, and I thank everybody for giving us this opportunity to be here today. I want to thank Jamie Russo. He made this happen. I never believed this was going to happen, and we’re very excited to be back and provide Revere with the best food that we can actually make. Thank you so much, everybody, for this opportunity.”
