WeirdDoughs Bagels Opens on Culpepper Street with Smattering of Bagles and Schmears

I’ve been waiting forever for something cool to go in the space that used to be the adorable Gateau Bakery Café & Tea Room on 12 Culpepper Street in Warrenton since the former eatery closed its doors in December 2021. Finally, the new occupant, WeirdDoughs Bagels & Brews, has opened their doors, serving bagels, bagel sandwiches, sweet treats and coffee drinks.

The shop has been at it on social media – which I might add has been genius if not relentless – for weeks promoting the opening and teasing their menu items in photos, and they’ve been at the Warrenton Farmers Market on Saturdays with a sampling of their offerings.

  

The interior of the shop has changed quite a bit from the former elegant team room, resplendent with floral upholstered high-back chairs, to a more casual stocky wood tables and cross-back wood chairs look. The chandeliers, for now, have remained, though there’s a call for votes on social media regarding whether they should stay or go. The new design makes the best of the wonderful large windows with barstools and a counter facing out to Main Street.

So far, the hours are limited, which is a bummer, and frankly worrying, as the odd and inconsistent hours were a main reason for the space’s former establishment failing. Currently, WeirdDoughs is open Wed-Fri 7:30 am to -12 noon and weekends from 8:00 am to 12:30 pm. Since the owners seem open to the voting process, I vote to extend the hours, to at least accommodate lunch, like a 2 pm closing time. At 12:30, the staff was sweeping the floors, and after relocating to the tables outdoors, my brunch companion and I noticed several customers turned away at the door. It seems business would surely sustain the lunch crowd.

As chronicled on social media, the opening has been a process, and there are some kinks to be worked out. When I went by at 11:30 am, they were already out of many mainstays and ingredients, including lox and cheddar cheese. The staff seemed a bit stressed, as would be expected with a new venture with new people. For instance, most of the tables were crumb-covered and wet with cup rings from previous customers. After 10 minutes it was clear no one was coming to clean off the tables, I offered to do it myself. Then, the woman behind the register gave me a wet paper towel, which, in the best-case scenario, would have been her cue to go wipe the tables. Oh, well.  Hopefully, those growing pains will be resolved as they get into their groove.

Back to the best part, the menu. Some of the aforementioned unique bagel treats include stuffed bagels in flavors like a blueberry French toast bagel stuffed with cheesecake schmear and a cheesy stuffed garlic bread bagel. These can be prepared for dining in or available for grab-and-go to take home or to the office and heat up in the toaster oven or microwave. Other menu items include to-go boxes like Box O Lox, Protein Box, and Fruit & Cheese Box. For sweets, there are cake bombs, and besides coffee and tea, there’s lemonade, sweet tea, and Arnold Palmer to drink.

I had the Ch’Egg’Ba, which was a breakfast sandwich of American cheese, egg, and bacon, for $6.75. It was good, served warm, and delivered in a bad to our table within about seven minutes.

So, we’ll definitely be back, and while they are in the start-up phase, I will be sure to get there early and absolutely often!