Good Judys’ Bagels, the popular vendor at area farmers markets, is planning to open a brick-and-mortar store at The Pines in Urbana.
It will fulfill a longtime goal of co-owner Jeff Thomas-Wilhelm, who shoved aside any obstacles — including a lack of experience in the food service industry — to reach the brink of opening a storefront with husband and co-owner Dakota Thomas-Wilhelm.
“Once I came to the decision to open up a coffee shop, I knew I had to figure out something to make it special in the area,” Jeff Thomas-Wilhelm said. “Like, why would someone want to come to my store. And then the idea of adding bagels to the business was added since there really aren’t many great options in town for those — or so I’ve been told by some of the market-goers in the C-U area.”
Make no mistake, Good Judys’ has created a buzz at farmers markets in Champaign, Urbana and Mahomet while also accepting online orders. And it might be surprising to learn how it all came about.
A disheartening professional experience recently caused Jeff Thomas-Wilhelm to leave his job, finally signaling to himself that it was time to start a business.
“After my employment time was up in mid-July 2023,” Jeff said, “I got to work on how do you even start a business in the first place? My husband and I created a business plan, reached out to the Champaign County (Small Business Development Center) for some guidance and to help introduce us to others who might be able to help us in the community. I also got a job as a barista at Espresso Royale because if I was going to run a coffee shop, I should probably work at one first.”
And then the self-educating began in earnest for Thomas-Wilhelm, who holds degrees from the University of Iowa and Abilene Christian University.
“Then I quickly figured out how to make bagels,” he said. “I watched YouTube videos, I read about it online. I found a recipe online and went from there, eventually converting things to grams and thinking about how things would work on a larger scale beyond my home kitchen. I also told friends, ‘Hey, you’re getting an endless supply of bagels for the foreseeable future.'”
Thomas-Wilhelm explained his process.
“I put all ingredients into the mixer (high gluten flour, sugar, salt, water, yeast) for about 10 minutes, then pull the dough out, form into dough balls, then bagels,” he said. “After that, they are placed on a cornmeal tray and refrigerated for 18-24 hours. The next day, the bagels are boiled in a water bath with sugar and baking soda for one minute. If a bagel gets a topping, like sesame seeds, this is when I add those. The bagels are then placed on a rack and baked in the oven.”
Good Judys’ offers plain, sesame, everything, garlic and sea salt, cinnamon sugar, blueberry, honey oat, oatmeal raisin and java chip bagels. Thomas-Wilhelm said the Urbana store will also offer breakfast sandwiches, served hot or cold.
He hopes to open The Pines shop in the fall, though permit timelines and construction will play a large role.
“We’re excited to be able to bring a coffee shop with bagels to the south side of Urbana,” he said. “We’re excited to meet our neighbors out there and learn about the other businesses.”