Rosca, a new bagel cafe making Mexican everything and hibiscus cured lox, just opened in Chicago.
“We don’t want to just be known as a bagel shop,” said chef and owner Felix Zepeda. The business’s other half, he said, is his general manager and girlfriend, Ariana Cabral. “We want to be known for a full immersive cafe vibe.”
Rosca celebrated its grand opening in Pilsen on Nov. 5.
His Mexican everything bagel has become the savory bestseller.
“Instead of things like Mediterranean oregano, we use Mexican oregano,” Zepeda said. “Instead of red chile flakes, we use ancho chile flakes, and we also throw in little things like dehydrated lime zest and some cumin seed, so it’s a lot of bold flavors that really scream Mexico.”
But that wasn’t his first creative bagel recipe.
“The blueberry coconut bagel,” said Zepeda. “That was the first flavor I nailed down and locked in.”
Blueberry has always been his go to bagel, with cinnamon raisin a close second, the latter inspiring his bestselling sweet from the bagel lab.
“Our cinnamon raisin churro,” said the chef. “We take the traditional cinnamon raisin bagel, dip it into vegan butter and toss it into cinnamon sugar to almost mimic a churro.”
He last worked at Rye Deli + Drink.
“That’s really where I started this bagel journey,” said Zepeda. “Their morning focus was scratch-made bagels, and it was around the time that COVID hit.”
During the first lockdown, he hit the books to figure out the whole bagel thing.
“Once I got to figure out the ins and outs of how to work with the dough and how the cooking process went, and just the whole craft in general, I just fell in love with it,” said the chef. “And didn’t look back.”
He went from selling bagels out of his condo on weekends seven months ago to the bagel cafe.
“Now we have our own brick and mortar inside of Hoste, which is an event space,” said Zepeda. “It is a beautiful hidden gem in Pilsen.”
He grew up in the neighborhood, and some of his bagel flavors came from his favorite things to eat as a kid, including Mexican fruit lollipops coated with spicy chile powder and tangy chamoy.
“My mango pepita bagel,” said the chef. “It has Tajín on top and mango inside.
All of his bagels begin with organic einkorn wheat berries that he stone mills in-house to flour, he said, transformed to naturally fermented vegan sourdough.
“Every single one is hand rolled by me,” he added.
They also make cream cheese and labneh from scratch, and offer a vegan cream cheese flavored with their add-ins. Zepeda just introduced his hibiscus-cured lox, too.
“We cure it in salt, sugar, some fresh dill, lemons and rehydrated hibiscus flowers,” said the chef. The flowers come from brewing hibiscus water for their hibiscus and blackberry agua fresca. “We layer rehydrated hibiscus flowers right on top of our salmon to give it a nice pink kiss for that perfect hue.”
They’re still waiting for espresso equipment, but the menu is coming soon, and will be a little bit different.
“Like a wine pairing for our bagels,” said Zepeda. Every bagel will have an espresso drink recommendation, from a cortado to affogato to cold brew to a pineapple tonic. “Very chef-driven, because a lot of my background is in steakhouses.”
For his signature Mexican everything bagel, he’s working on a Mexican Coke espresso hibiscus refresher to pair.
“The same approach that I’m taking with the bagels, I’m also going to be taking with our beverage program,” he said. A popular piña mango agua fresca is already available, house-made with fresh fruit, including pineapple.
When you walk in, the first thing you’ll see is a traditional hand-painted Talavera vase made in Mexico. The decor is meant to feel modern, said the chef, but comfortable.
“I like to describe it as if your cousin inherited Grandma’s house and made it into a cafe,” he said. “Like we don’t have the plastic on the sofas anymore, so you can chill and eat on the couches.”
1857 W. 16th St. (inside Hoste event venue), bkdrosca.com
More new restaurant openings, in alphabetical order:
Bar Tutto
Top Chef winner Joe Flamm just opened an all-day Italian escape. Bar Tutto said buongiorno in Fulton Market on Dec. 9. Get a gianduja cornetto at breakfast, rustic panini for lunch and crisp fritti misti at dinner.
1110 W. Carroll Ave., bartuttochicago.com
Brûlée
Chef and founder Emani Roberts celebrates flavor, culture and connection at her debut breakfast and brunch restaurant. Brûlée officially opened in the South Loop on Nov. 6. The Black woman-owned business has created an avocado croast (croissant toast), lobster and sweet potato waffle, plus a signature brûlée French toast.
2036 S. Michigan Ave., bruleechicago.com
Chomp
Pizzaiolo Travis Hezel is a one-man show who only makes one kind of pizza at an “L” station in Chicago. Chomp started slicing in Pilsen on Nov. 5. Hezel offers what he calls plain slices: cheese on thin crust made with Janie’s Mill organic flour, served on paper plates.
1710 W. 18th St., chomp.pizza
HolyPeño
The zabiha halal fast food restaurateurs behind Holy Buckets Halal Chicken & Pizza just launched a new Mexican-inspired concept. HolyPeño soft opened in Bridgeview on Nov. 24. Look for loaded bowls, or bring your own chip bags for fillings, plus churro milk cake for dessert.
8473 S. Harlem Ave., Bridgeview; instagram.com/holypenousa
New Sound Cafe
Husband and wife owners and operators Andrew Follett and Hannah Follett have restored a historic gospel record shop into a community cafe in their neighborhood on the West Side. New Sound Cafe began serving in Austin on Nov. 22. The Follets roast their own beans and offer snacks from Trini’s Tasty Pastries, including cinnamon rolls, biscuits and breakfast sandwiches.
5958 W. Lake St., newsoundcafe.com
Petite Edith
Chef Jenner Tomaska and his wife and business partner Katrina Bravo, both of Michelin-starred Esmé, have added a little bistro sister to their family. Petite Edith said bienvenue in River North on Nov. 21. The seafood-centric, Midwest-meets-French menu features fougasse with white anchovies, razor clams casino and king crab toast.
878 N. Wells St., petiteedith.com
In reopening news:
Gale Street Inn, the 62-year-old restaurant best known for its old-school fall-off-the-bone ribs in Jefferson Park, has reopened under new owner, neighborhood resident and restaurateur Paulo Villabona on Dec. 4. Its former owner had abruptly closed the restaurant in June.
4914 N. Milwaukee Ave., galestreetinn.com
In closing news:
Proxi, the Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant open since 2017, which just shifted to a coastal Asian focus this April, will close in the West Loop on Dec. 31.
565 W. Randolph St., 312-466-1950, proxichicago.com
Smoke Daddy BBQ Wicker Park, which opened in 1994 as one of the first restaurants in the neighborhood renaissance, will close permanently on Jan. 4, 2026. (The Wrigleyville location will remain open.)
1804 W. Division St., 773-772-6656, thesmokedaddy.com
The Chicago Diner Logan Square, an outpost of the pioneering vegetarian and vegan comfort food restaurant with the slogan “meat free since ‘83” will close its sibling outpost after 13 years on Dec. 12. (The original Lakeview location will remain open.)
2333 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773-252-3211, veggiediner.com
White Eagle Events & Convention Center, the destination banquet hall that once marked life and death milestones for generations of Polish American Chicagoans, has closed after 78 years. It was founded by the legendary Ted S. Przybylo near the intersection of Division Street and Western Avenue in 1947, but moved to Niles in 1967 and sold in 2015.
White Eagle in Niles closes after decades as a hub for Polish community and political powerhouses
Do you have notable restaurant news in the Chicago area? Email restaurant critic Louisa Kung Liu Chu at lchu@chicagotribune.com.
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