Kismet Bagels opens a bialy shop at Reading Terminal Market

The bialy — a first cousin to a bagel — has made its debut at Reading Terminal Market.

Kismet Bialys, which opened Jan. 24, is the offshoot of Kismet Bagels, the rapidly rising pandemic project of Alexandra and Jacob Cohen.

The bread rolls (pronounced “bee-AH-lee”), baked in-house, are stuffed with sweet and savory combos. They are traditionally topped simply with onion, salt, and poppy seeds, but Kismet also offers bacon, egg, and cheese bialys, za’atar-dipped bialys with a runny egg and zhug sauce drizzle, Buffalo Chicken, Lox ‘n Schmear, and sweet ones, like a s’more. Four-packs of bagels and tubs of “schmear” (spreads) are also for sale.

Kismet Bagels started in spring 2020. Jacob Cohen was selling real estate, while Alexandra Cohen was selling ads when they started baking bagels at home to stave off pandemic boredom.

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When they posted about their hobby on a Northern Liberties neighborhood Facebook page, orders and donations flooded in.

Their first pop-up, at Urban Village Brewing, brought in $1,200, which they donated to Project HOME. They went pro with wholesale before opening their first shop. They still send a cut to charity. Current beneficiaries are Project HOME and Penn Vet’s Ryan Veterinary Hospital; they also send product to Philabundance.

They opened two brick-and-mortar locations in 2022: at 113 E. Girard Ave. in Fishtown in April and at 1700 Sansom St. in Rittenhouse in December.

Hours at Reading Terminal are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. It’s at the market’s aisles B and 2, on the Filbert Street side.