New Baltik’s Bagel taking over shuttered fried chicken joint on Forest Hill

Yero Rudzinskas at the future home of Baltik’s Bagel. (Mike Platania photos)

Southside is getting a new bagel spot. 

Yero Rudzinskas is preparing to open Baltik’s Bagel at 6801 Forest Hill Ave. The 1,500-square-foot space came available over the summer once fried chicken concept Go Bird closed after about three years in business. 

A native of Sonoma, California, and graduate from the Culinary Institute of America, Rudzinskas’ resume spans multiple industries and continents. 

After working in Michelin-starred restaurants in New York and San Francisco, he went to Taiwan, where he helped open a few eateries and clubs. He eventually returned to the States and got an MBA from the University of North Carolina before working in the tech and investment banking industries. While in banking, Rudzinskas said he focused on food-and-beverage businesses with the idea of eventually opening a place of his own. 

He said launching Baltik’s feels like “coming home.”

“I was never a natural at the banking, finance culture. I’m totally capable of doing the work, and it’ll help keep the business afloat, but there’s something about working with my hands and making something,” he said. 

Opening Baltik’s is also a tie to Rudzinskas’ Lithuanian heritage. He said while bagels’ historical provenance is debated, they likely originated in the Baltic region of Europe hundreds of years ago. 

“The truth is, the bagel origin story is controversial because it happened in the 1400s and nobody was writing anything down,” Rudzinskas said, laughing. “But (bagels) almost certainly came from inside the walls or the borders of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. I wanted to draw a line to the originality of that.”

The space along Forest Hill Avenue was formerly a Dunkin’ and most recently, Go Bird restaurant.

Rudzinskas said he’s structuring Baltik’s to be less like a traditional bagel shop and more like a quick-service restaurant, complete with a drive-thru. 

“What we’re building is a bagel-focused, super-premium, quick-service restaurant. And by super premium, I mean everything is going to be made here in-house,” he said. 

“We’re kettle-boiled, we’re chef-driven, and we’re lightning fast. If we can hit all three of those things, then I think we’re going to be really successful.”

Baltik’s bagels will be similar to New York-style bagels but “a little bit lighter in body, and a little bit less dense,” Rudzinskas said, noting that there will be a separate, softer version of bagels for sandwiches to help keep the sandwich ingredients from sliding out. 

In addition to classics such as sausage, egg and cheese sandwiches, Rudzinskas expects to have a few unique items like pastrami, hot pepper and cheddar sandwiches, as well as avocado toast with pickled onions, chili crisp, herbs and crispy potato straws. Baltik’s house-made spreads will include garlic herb, scallion and hot pepper cream cheese, among others. 

It’ll also offer house-made sodas, limeades and iced tea, as well as coffee with beans from a local roaster. Rudzinskas said he’s also planning to get into both catering and wholesaling Baltik’s bagels. 

Renovations on the building are nearing completion and Rudzinskas said he’s looking to fill out his staff ahead of a late September opening. Baltik’s will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Saturday. 

For Rudzinskas, fueling the venture is a deep-rooted love of bagels. 

“The way I think of it is, there are three or four foods which light up the joy response in people: ice cream, pizza and bagels,” he said. 

“It’s always been my favorite food. Like a bagel with smoked salmon and capers? That’s it, yeah, that’s my death row meal.”

A pair of other bagel spots are in the works north of the river. Julio’s Bagels is heading to the former Ms. Bee’s Juice Bar space on Brookland Park Boulevard, and Nate’s Bagels is working on a second location in Scott’s Addition.