Willie’s opens new café location in Utica

UTICA , N.Y.— After five years with just one location, Willie’s Bagel Café is bringing its New York City–style bagels to even more people with a second location in the former Patio Drive-In property on Oriskany Street.

Willie’s Gourmet Cafe, which opened in early March, fulfills a longtime dream for owner William Rodriguez, who always wanted a location on Oriskany Street, says his son Ronny, who manages the new café.

When Patio Drive-In owner Lawrence Gurdo decided to retire and sell the building last summer, Rodriguez says he jumped on the opportunity. According to online real-estate records, Rodriguez purchased the property and its 2,532-square-foot building for $265,000.

The first Willie’s Bagel Café opened in 2016 and has done well, Rodriguez says. The location at 219 North Genesee St., however, is a little out of the way for some customers. Close to the Thruway and a number of hotels nearby, that café does a brisk business with travelers looking to grab a quick breakfast or lunch to go.

The new Willie’s Bagel Café at 1401 Oriskany St. still offers meals to go, but also has something the original spot doesn’t.

“The biggest difference is dining in,” Rodriguez says. The new café features a large dining area where customers can sit and enjoy their meal. It’s a great fit for the more residential neighborhood, he says. 

It is also a prime location to serve employees at the Wynn Hospital of the Mohawk Valley Health System once it opens just a short drive away. Projected to open in 2023, the hospital will employ about 3,000 to 3,500 people.

“It’s a place for families to gather and co-workers to come to lunch together,” Rodriguez says. 

The Oriskany Street site is one that’s important to many people who live in the area and were used to visiting the Patio throughout its 65 years in business. Rodriguez is proud that they have brought back an option for breakfast and lunch to people in the neighborhood.

There are several competitors nearby, including a Dunkin’ Donuts just a few blocks away, but Rodriguez isn’t worried.

“What sets us apart in general is we provide New York City bagels to Central New York,” he says. Willie’s also offers Boar’s Head brand meats for its sandwiches. “For any NYC natives, that’s a big deal,” Rodriguez notes.

On top of the bagel recipe perfected by his father — who ran a bagel shop on Long Island for 20 years — the freshness of their food sets them apart. “You can see us cooking,” Rodriguez says.

Both locations serve a variety of bagels including seasonally colored bagels, flavored cream cheeses made in house, wraps, sandwiches, salads, soups, pastries, and more. Many of the sandwiches are named after family members, and those same family members help run the family-oriented business.

Willie’s Bagel Café was fortunate through the pandemic to still do well, Rodriguez says. But now that cases have been dropping, he’s excited to welcome both old and new customers to the new location where they can relax and dine in. To help facilitate things, they invested in a pager system so customers can place their order and find a table while they wait. Just in case the COVID landscape changes yet again, the new café has a pick-up window it can use if the need arises, Rodriguez says.

Next on the agenda for the new Willie’s Bagel Café is an addition of a conference room. “We want to build a conference room with a projector where people can host their meetings here,” he says.