The Bagel Shop began as a pop-up shop, and even though owners Myles Roberson and Trevor Papsadora have been set up in their brick and mortar spot in downtown’s SoMa neighborhood slinging bagels, sandwiches and stellar pastries for more than a year, they’re still hosting pop-ups and utilizing the space to satisfy Papsadora’s culinary ambitions.
For the last few months they’ve been transforming the bustling breakfast and lunch spot into a delightfully cozy dinner destination called Rex’s featuring a rotating pub-style menu. Papsadora said they wanted to create “an easy neighborhood meeting place with a little something for everyone.”
The menu regularly features sandwiches, flatbreads, plates like fish and chips, local beer and thoughtfully curated wines. Papsadora said that pop-ups give him a chance to go into “full test kitchen mode” to see what people respond to. Roberson provides the cozy vibes by dimming the lights and setting up candles and flowers throughout the dining room and providing a mellow pop playlist that inspired me to fire up my Shazam on separate occasions. It’s a nice Friday night vibe. It’s the kind of dinner setting where one might nod their head upon being seated for the first time and utter something like “this was a good idea.”
I met my friend Motley there after work on a rainy Friday evening recently and he spontaneously ordered the poutine tot appetizer, which turned out to be a wise decision — crispy golden tater tots with brown gravy, cheese curds and scallions. It’s a savory, playful mess.
If you enjoy patty melts, you should put Rex’s on your Friday night calendar. A deeply satisfying, piping hot half-pound patty consisting of brisket and short rib is served with onion jam, house sauce and gooey Swiss on a delicious marble rye. It’s well worth the $17 price tag, especially considering it’s as big as your face and could easily feed two. Motley’s wife, Keesha, met us down there and they split the Thai peanut sandwich, which the menu describes as “crispy everything chicken, house peanut sauce, red onion on Texas toast.”
I just texted him to ask him what he thought about it? His response:
“Pretty damn good. I told Keesha we should go tonight lol.”
On another recent visit to Rex’s alongside Culture Editor Daniel Grear, we shared the night’s insanely good dessert special: a butter pecan cookie a la mode. Here’s what Grear thought about the treat:
“I would venture to say that the word ‘decadent’ is overused in the world of food writing, but there’s simply no better way of describing this cookie and ice cream combo. I’m not sure if I’ve ever had a better mixture of chewy, soft, hot and cold before. This is the kind of concoction that shows up in your dreams.”
Papsadora said he’s inspired by global flavors and likes to fuse Thai and Indian flavors into American classics. For Rex’s pop-up tonight, he’s doing a TGI Fridays-style spinach dip, “but in the style of saag paneer, my favorite Indian spinach dish,” he said. Papsadora said he grew up eating shepherd’s pie on cold nights in Maine, so this week he’s cooking up a beef bourguignon topped with creamy garlic mashed potatoes.
Papsadora said they would love to open up more than one night a week if word gets out about the weekly pop-up.
“This has been one of our slowest pop-ups we’ve done,” he said. “I think we have a reputation for being so crazy and busy, but Rex’s has been really chill, mostly our regulars bringing the family in for a fun night out.”
Rex’s (1501 Main St.) is open every Friday from 5-8:30 p.m. Right now they offer tables for walk-ins and accept reservations for larger parties.
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