Mary's Bagel Cafe opens, serves up taste of New York in Lakeland's Midtown

Lakeland — Lakeland native Denise Gilmore has worked three long years to see her vision become reality: The doors of Mary's Bagel Café opened Thursday morning.

Gilmore, 52, has envisioned a New-York-styled eatery off the corner of North Florida Avenue and 8th Street since 2019. It has been her dream to improve the 0.18-acre lot that she inherited from her grandmother, Mary Gilmore.

"I’m trying to move forward in this area, as I was born and raised on this property. I’m trying to build the community back," she said.

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Stepping into the eatery, there's an open and spacious feel around the counters to provide room for both customers looking to place order and a designated spot for food delivery pickup. A row of booth seating runs the length of one wall with tables with chairs that can easily be rearranged to account for different sized groups.

The café's menu spans from bagels and breakfast sandwiches to several lunch options. Gilmore said she's offering a variety cold and hot sandwiches as there are few places to grab fresh food in the surrounding area. The menu features names like "The Bronx" featuring a classic combination of bacon, eggs and cheese on a bagel or "The Soprano," a cold cut trio of ham, salami, capicola paired with provolone.

"I'm positive it will be successful," Gilmore said. "In this area of midtown, there's nothing here."

Convincing others to come alongside her and support her efforts to bring a new business to the Midtown area has been difficult, according to Gilmore. She and her husband, Mark Dornsauder, said they went to three different banks for a business loan before finding one that had confidence in them.

The couple turned to Lakeland CRA for assistance bringing a new business into one of the city's targeted redevelopment areas. The CRA contributed around $180,000 for alleyway improvements on city-owned property and design assistance for the café. The agency also contributed another $82,508 toward stormwater retention on Gilmore's lot.

The CRA owns the parcel adjacent to the café and hopes the funds it spends to help Gilmore will improve the value of the lot and help the city lure a second business next door.

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Gilmore has her own plans designed to draw additional food options to the area once the café is up and running smoothly. Set back behind Mary's Bagels, she owns a second lot that is currently serving as an overflow parking lot. Gilmore said she would like to see it transformed into a site she'd dubbed "Lakeland Crate."

"We want to get shipping containers and put small restaurants over there," she said.

Gilmore said she envisions two to three eateries that could offer an array of foods ranging from an ice cream shop to a grill offering pizzas, hot dogs and hamburgers. It could provide a casual spot for students to grab a bite to eat after school and a safe community gathering spot.

Lakeland officials changed the city's zoning codes in September 2021 to allow shipping containers to be used as accessories to certain commercial uses, which included food stalls. There are a few businesses that have pitched the concept of using shipping containers as part of their design, but few have come to fruition so far.

Gilmore said she is hopeful the idea will gain more traction over time. For now, it's all about the bagels.

Mary's Bagel Café is open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily with pick-up, delivery and catering options at 1241 N. Florida Ave.

Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on Twitter @SaraWalshFl.