By Eric Curl
April 2, 2023 – Bagels may soon be replacing biscuits across the street from Savannah’s Wright Square.
The downtown building that previously housed Savannah fixture Debi’s Restaurant has a new tenant lined up following a major renovation of the 1960s-era structure.
Debi’s served up “down-home style cooking” before the building on State Street was renovated. Google Street image from May 2019.
JTVS Builders recently submitted a building permit application and construction plans to prepare space at 6 W. State St. for Philadelphia-based Spread Bagelry, which serves up “fan favorite” sandwiches such as Chicken Cheesesteak, Avocado Toast and Carnegie Breakfast.
While the restaurant’s website lists 10 locations, with eight in Pennsylvania, CEO Jamie Schrotberger recently discussed plans to scale the business to 50 locations within a few years.
The non-historic building is connected to a separate historic building dating back to 1907 that houses the CVS Pharmacy fronting Bull Street. Following the sale of the property to North Carolina-based Raley Miller Propertiess for $4.8 million in 2019, the building underwent renovations designed by Savannah-based Lynch Associates Architects to accommodate the restaurant and retail space on the ground floor and residential uses on the upper levels. The renovations included the replacement of the building’s facades and addition of a fourth story and mezzanine level.
Savannah Agenda reached out to the owner of the bagel shop and to the building’s owner. Updates will be posted if a response is received.
Meanwhile, Debi’s restaurant continues to serve its “down-home style cooking” at the new location out of the downstairs of the East Bay Inn at 225 East Bay St. after moving in 2019, as reported at the time by WTOC.
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