It started as a food truck and creative ways of feeding hungry college kids while giving back to the community.
Thirteen years later, David Fine is enjoying watching the big bagel boom across the city of Philadelphia.
The Baltimore native, who lives in South Philly’s Graduate Hospital neighborhood, has conquered the local market and will now take on the world at New York BagelFest at Citi Field in New York in November.
But years before Fine gobbled up the city’s bagel industry with what is now called Schmear Bagel Parlor, he was a fresh graduate from the University of Pennsylvania with a few ideas of how to dress up a bagel.
“I was just out of college and I learned to love food trucks at Penn,” Fine said. “At the time, and it sounds crazy to say, there weren’t enough bagels in Philadelphia back in 2013.”
Fine majored in history and communications at Penn and he studied his surroundings while he was there.
“I did a brief stint in the nonprofit sector and I wanted to try my hand in being creative and unique and put the pieces together for food trucks serving bagels with a side of social good,” he said. “The concept at the time was to use the wheels of the truck, leverage buzz-worthy food to help spread the word about local causes.”
That’s how Fine’s “Schmear-It” brand got started. And as the business expanded, Schmear began featuring a local cause to which a portion of sales will be donated.
As word of mouth spread about the Schmear’s humanitarian efforts and tasty product, so did the company. The first brick and mortar was established at 36th and Market between Penn and Drexel’s campuses. Schmear opened a second shop in Market East in the summer of 2020 on 12th Street. In addition, Fine was still operating the food truck, but that part of the business was finally nearing its end.
“Kitchens weren’t meant to drive over Philly potholes,” Fine said with a laugh.
Through all this time, Schmear-It was buying its bagels from Philly Bagel Company and using its ingenuity to create delicious masterpieces on top of the provided Philly Bagel canvas. That all changed when Philly Bagel approached Fine about selling its company.
“Back then, bagels weren’t a part of the process. We just bought them,” Fine said. “And who would you buy them from in 2013? Philly Bagels was pretty much the only game in town. They decided it was time to sell and they approached us. It was a big bite to take but what’s the most logical step if we want to keep doing this? It was worth taking the plunge.”
In September 2023, in one large acquisition, the business tripled. Schmear acquired Philly Bagels’ baking facility on Bainbridge Street as well as five distribution shops, including South Philly locations on East Passyunk Avenue, Fitzwater Street and 3rd Street, as well as locations on JFK Boulevard and Locust Street.
“We went from two to seven locations overnight and immediately the name of the game was figuring out operations and getting our feet under us,” Fine said. “And we retained all the employees because we really needed them.”
Fine had brought on business partner and fellow Penn grad Brett Weinheimer as the business got larger, and they started another location on 44th Street in West Philly at the Lil’ Pops Shop that was owned by founder Jeanne Chang. The addition in 2024 also sparked a re-brand to the current name Schmear Bagel Parlor.
“She, too, had a very community-minded basis to the whole brand and very fresh natural ingredients,” Fine said. “Kids loved it, parents loved it. Everyone loved it. She announced she was closing her shop. The timing worked out nicely. We rolled that out as the first Schmear Bagel Parlor and rolled it out gradually to all the stores.”
Popsicles have been a great addition to a few of the Schmear stores with the hopes of having them as a staple in many more. But Schmear sticks true to its bread-and-butter mission of house-made cream cheese spreads and signature and custom-crafted schmears like bacon scallion, jalapeño cream cheese and seasonal fruit varieties, with a side of locally brewed coffee. There’s also an underlying tone of friendliness to start any day off right.
“It’s just cool being in the breakfast sector and being able to establish those regular relationships,” Fine said. “We’ll see the same people four or five times a week and you can establish those relationships, even in a fleeting exchange.”
Schmear Bagel Parlor will package all those great ingredients and venture into hostile territory on Nov. 15 as Citi Field will host more than 25 of the world’s most celebrated bagel makers competing in New York BagelFest. The event will welcome iconic New York institutions and internationally acclaimed bakeries from Europe, Canada and beyond.
“We’re still learning and we’re young, but it will be really fun to participate,” Fine said.
There are several categories in the contest, and Schmear is still crafting where it hopes to compete. Like everything else on its journey, the choices are quickly evolving, including another location coming to the Manayunk area soon.
“We’re trying to find out exactly what we are going to bring,” Fine said. “I’m thinking about whether it would be something on our menu or something totally outside the box that maybe makes it on the menu later. It would be cool to bring something Philly related. We’re working on it.”
Tickets to New York BagelFest start at $69 and will be available for purchase at www.bagelfest.com, with a limited number of Early Bird Tickets available. ••
