A Bagel Co., Cloudcroft NM (2026)

A weekend-only bagel counter at 8,676 feet, stocked by overnight freight from New York because the owners decided the alternative was making a bagel they didn't believe in.

Alfredo & Nancy Montoya · New York-style bagels · sandwiches · schmears · weekends only · often sold out

Three things, done one way

The menu

A short counter menu built around one imported ingredient. The bagels are the product; the sandwiches and schmears are what the Montoyas build on top of them. Specific varieties are not published — what is on the rack on a Saturday morning is the menu.

New York-style bagels

House specialty

Not baked in Cloudcroft, and that is the entire point. The Montoyas tried to reproduce New York bagels at home, couldn't, went back to New York and asked why, and were told it was the soft water and recipes handed down over generations.

Shipped overnight from New York
Two supply runs per weekend
Varieties rotate — no published list
Sells out most weekends they're open

Go early. "The shop still sells out almost every weekend they're open" is the line from the Reader's reporting, and it is the practical fact about this place.

Sandwiches

Counter service

Built on the same bagels. This is the fuller order if you're making it lunch rather than a grab-and-go on the way to a trailhead.

Bagel sandwiches to order
Made at the counter
Specific fillings not published
Ask what's on that day

Worth asking what they're building that morning rather than arriving with a fixed order in mind.

Schmears

New for 2026

The spreads — the third of the three things the shop says it does. Named as a distinct part of the offering rather than an afterthought to the bagels.

Spreads for the bagels
Take-home and eat-here both work
Flavors not published
Part of the core three-item menu

A half dozen bagels and a schmear is the take-back-to-the-cabin order.

What I'd order

First visit, Saturday morning

"A plain bagel with a schmear, eaten standing up. If you want to know whether the overnight-from-New-York thing is real, taste it with as little between you and the bagel as possible."

Bagel + schmear

Making it lunch

"A bagel sandwich, whatever they're building that day. It's a small counter with a short menu — the answer at the counter is better than any plan you arrive with."

Bagel sandwich

Cabin weekend

"A half dozen to take back, plus a schmear. It's a weekends-only shop that sells out, so buy for Sunday on Saturday rather than assuming you'll get a second chance."

Half dozen + schmear, to go

Weekends only

Hours

A Bagel Co. is open weekends only. Alfredo and Nancy both work full-time jobs in El Paso — the shop is, in their words, their passion rather than their livelihood — and their sons Freddy and Mike help on the weekends they can while attending school full-time. Specific opening and closing times have not been published. Treat weekend mornings as the reliable window, go early, and expect the racks to empty before the day is over.

SundayOpen · times not publishedToday

MondayClosedToday

TuesdayClosedToday

WednesdayClosedToday

ThursdayClosedToday

FridayClosedToday

SaturdayOpen · times not publishedToday

West end of Burro Ave

Where you'll find it

The west end of the Burro Avenue strip, next door to Hair Necessities, in the building that was Maggie's Shaved Ice. The fresh charcoal paint is the tell — it is the darkest storefront on that end of the boardwalk, and the change from the previous tenant is obvious if you knew the block before this summer.

Address & directions

Burro Ave, west end — next to Hair Necessities
Cloudcroft, NM 88317

No street number has been published for the shop yet. Burro Avenue is walkable end to end in a few minutes, and the charcoal front is the landmark.

Get directions to Burro Avenue →

Contact

A Bagel Co. has not published a phone number, website, or social account. Until it does, the reliable move is to walk the west end of Burro on a weekend morning.

Background reading: “Big Apple Bagels Come to Burro” — Vivian Willett, Cloudcroft Reader, August 26, 2026.

What else is on that end

The west end of Burro puts you within a short walk of most of the village's dining. Black Bear Coffee sits at 200 Burro, Dave's Café at 300, and KennaBelles at 308 — so a bagel here and a coffee three doors along is an easy pairing.

See the dining-guide map for the full Burro Avenue layout.

Decision aid

Good for · skip if

A weekends-only counter with a three-item menu is a specific kind of stop. Here is when it is the right one.

Good for

A Saturday or Sunday morning walk down Burro Avenue
Anyone who has opinions about what a bagel should be
Grabbing breakfast before a trailhead or a drive
Buying a half dozen to take back to a cabin
Trying the newest independent food business in the village
Supporting a family-run shop where all four Montoyas work the weekend

Skip if

It's a weekday — the shop is closed Monday through Friday
You need to know the hours before you drive up; none are published
You're arriving late in the day and can't risk a sell-out
You want a sit-down breakfast plate — try Dave's Café or Dusty Boots
You want pastries and a case to choose from — KennaBelles is open six days
You want a full coffee program alongside — Black Bear is at the 200 block

Practical notes

Why the bagels come from New York

The Montoyas found the thing they wanted to build a business around on their first trip to New York. “We fell in love with bagels. Every trip after that, to a new place, we looked for good bagels and just couldn't find the same quality found in a New York bagel,” Alfredo told the Cloudcroft Reader.

They tried to recreate them at home and fell short, so they went back to New York and asked shop owners directly. The answer they got was the soft water — and that the recipes went back generations, which was not something they could reproduce. Rather than sell a lesser version, they decided to ship the real thing in overnight.

“The biggest challenge is the logistics and making sure everything arrives on time for the weekend,” Alfredo said. Even making two trips for supplies, the shop sells out most weekends.

Weekends only, and why that's unlikely to change soon

Alfredo and Nancy both hold full-time jobs, which stay in El Paso. The bagel shop is their passion, not their livelihood — a distinction they draw themselves. Like a number of Cloudcroft business owners, they build around the fact that the village does not have busy days every day of the week.

Their sons Freddy and Mike help every weekend they can while attending school full-time. “It truly is a family business,” Nancy said. The Montoyas say they have bigger plans, but for now weekends are the operating model — so plan a weekend visit rather than hoping for a midweek opening.

The building — formerly Maggie's Shaved Ice

A Bagel Co. took over the space that housed Maggie's Shaved Ice, on the west end of Burro Avenue next to Hair Necessities. The local snowcone shop closed, and this replaced it over the summer of 2026.

The most visible change is a fresh coat of charcoal paint. If you have walked that end of the boardwalk before, the storefront will read as new even before you get close enough to see the sign.

What we don't know yet

This page deliberately leaves some fields blank rather than guessing. As of publication there is no published street number, phone number, website, or social account for A Bagel Co., and no posted opening and closing times beyond “weekends.” Bagel varieties, sandwich fillings, schmear flavors, and prices have not been published either.

If you have been and can fill any of these in, tell us — corrections and additions from people who have actually walked in are how these pages get better.

A note on competition — and on not having any

When the Montoyas decided to open in Cloudcroft, they specifically wanted something that would not compete with anyone else in town. Nothing else in the village dining lineup is doing New York-style bagels, so the shop sits on its own rather than splitting an existing market.

They told the Reader that the amount of support they have received — from New York to Cloudcroft — has been the biggest surprise of the whole thing.

Editor's take

"Most small-town food businesses solve the sourcing problem by lowering the bar. The Montoyas went to New York, asked why their bagels weren't as good, got an answer they couldn't work around, and chose overnight freight over a compromise. That decision is the whole shop. It also explains the two constraints on visiting: weekends only, and go early, because they sell out."

— DiscoverCloudcroft editors

Walk the west end on a weekend

No phone, no website, no posted hours — just a charcoal storefront next to Hair Necessities, open Saturday and Sunday until the bagels run out.

Get directions Read the Reader story

A Bagel Co.