Meet the Entrepreneur Bringing a Piece of New York to South Florida
If you had told Dylan Levin ten years ago he'd own a bagel shop, he probably would've laughed.
His background wasn't in restaurants. It was in finance, mergers and acquisitions, and operations. But after spending years helping analyze and grow other businesses, he knew he eventually wanted to build one of his own.
That search ultimately led him to H&H Bagels.
After spending nearly a decade in New York, Levin had become a loyal H&H customer. So when he unexpectedly spotted an H&H in Boca Raton, it caught his attention and sparked the idea that would eventually bring the iconic brand to Miami.
"I wasn't looking for a restaurant,I was looking for the right business," Levin says. "I'd looked at everything. Then I saw H&H Bagels in Boca and thought, 'Wait...since when is H&H in Florida?' I looked into it, realized it was a franchise, and thought, 'This could actually be it.'"
Around that same time, Levin and his wife moved to South Florida while expecting their first child. As they started their next chapter, he saw an opportunity to bring the New York bagel experience he loved to a city he felt was missing it.
Today, H&H Bagels in Pinecrest has become a neighborhood favorite. "I don't just want to own a bagel shop," Levin says. "I want H&H Bagels to become part of people's routines. The place you take your kids before school, where teachers start their morning, where local schools and businesses order catering, and where families gather on weekends. If we can become part of this community, I'll consider that a success."
He's already thinking about what's next. His goal is to grow H&H throughout Miami while never losing what made him fall in love with the brand in the first place.
"Of course, I want people to know us for great bagels," Levin says. "But more than that, I want people to know us because we care about our customers. If we can become part of this community the way H&H Bagels became part of my life in New York, I'd consider that a pretty special accomplishment."
To learn more visit www.hhbagels.com