OUR BAGEL STORY

– THE FIRST THE BEST FORGET THE REST ™

In 1919, Isadore Shlafman arrived in Canada and opened the first bagel bakery in Montreal. It was called the Montreal Bagel Bakery. It was located at the back of a lane, just off of Saint-Lawrence Boulevard, which was then known as “The Main”. This is where Montrealers got their first taste of bagel, rolled by hand and baked in a wood-fired oven. This was the very first bagel bakery in Montreal…

Montreal has long been known as THE bagel capital of Canada – and Fairmount Bagel is why
Reader's Digest2007

In 1919, the Fairmount Bagel Bakery cooked the first bagels in Montreal
Quartiers Gourmands2004

Irwin is something of a purist, maybe the only Montreal bagel maker who uses unbleached flour and whole fresh eggs
The art of eating2005

Although most of Shlafman’s competitors also claim to use an original Russian recipe, Shlafman’s are the best.
The Gazette1981

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BAGEL TOSS™

FAIRMOUNT BAGEL TOSS™

The Fairmount Bagel Toss is more than just a quirky skill – it’s a deliciously entertaining tradition rooted in the heart of Montreal’s oldest bagel bakery. According to local legend, this unique technique was born in the cramped, bustling kitchen of Fairmount Bagel, where space was tight and demand was high.

To save time and keep up with the lines of hungry customers, bakers began tossing freshly baked bagels across the room from the wood-fired oven. What started as a necessity soon became an art form. Over time, the bagel toss became a symbol of the bakery’s rhythm – a dance of dough and fire, precision and passion.