We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Danna Fleishman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Danna below.

Danna, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you share a customer success story with us?

We truly have the the best customers in the world. We pride ourselves on knowing our customers by name and their usual order. We take pride in how many times our customers have told us we’ve made their day better by being open and bring fantastic bagels to Colorado. However, one very special customer stands out. We have a customer who lost their younger brother suddenly. They could have visited a close friend or family to cheer them up and put a smile on their face, instead, they came to see the Fleishman crew. She let us know that all she wanted was a hug from us and to let us know what happened. We definitely had the easy job. The fact that we have made such a bond with our customers and community is one of my greats joys since opening Fleishman’s Bagels and Delicatessen.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Growing up I went to NYC and NJ every weekend to visit my father. We always got bagels, whitefish, kippered salmon and schmear. I looked forward to it every weekend. I used to scoop my bagels back than, so I could put more of the good stuff in my bagel (whitefish and kippered salmon).

After moving to Colorado from NYC, bagels were no longer as stable in my life as they once were. I just couldn’t find what I was used to back east, so I stopped eating bagels in Colorado. And trust me, I looked for a good bagel for a long time. That’s when I decided I wanted to open a true east coast bagel and delicatessen in Boulder. I went back to NYC and talked to my mentors, who have been in the business for over 50 years about how to start a bagel shop in Colorado. Nine years later, my dream of making bagels came to fruition.

I went back to NJ to work with my mentors (Goldberg’s) to learn the business. It took me an entire year to get the recipe the way I wanted it. For an entire year, I tested bagels every week. After six months, I scraped my first recipe and came up with a new and improved one. It took me another six months with the new recipe to get it right.

In 2020, I signed a lease to open my first Brick and Mordor, which was the week every restaurant in the United States closed due to COVID-19. I pulled out of the lease, and unfortunately, I couldn’t find another retail location. That’s when I made the decision to open the food truck. I opened on January 18th, 2023!

Fleishman’s Bagels and Delicatessen is dedicated to bringing the authentic flavors of New York to the discerning palates of Colorado. Our flavors and menu options are straight from the East Coast. We bring you authentic New York-style bagels and deli favorites such as bagels and schmear, bacon, egg and cheese, bagel and whitefish, kippered salmon, Rueben’s, and our classic pastrami or corned beef on marble rye. Our menu features all the classics, including our famous Matzo Ball Soup, black and white cookies, and kugel. In true NYC fashion, we hand-roll, boil, and bake all our bagels. We are a locally-owned food truck, and we are excited to serve the Boulder community. We take pride in delivering the highest quality, delicious food to our customers!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Every business goes through their rough patches. Fleishman’s was no different. We got the one, two, three punch early on. You always want to think you thought everything through and you are making all the right decision. For all you small business owners out there, learning from your mistakes is a good thing. Its enviable, mistakes will happen. Its what you take away from them that counts!

I lost every team member in one week and I had to train a new team member starting that week. Instead of closing like everyone thought I would. I was able to reach out to the fabulous community I was able to build and they supported me and my business. We never had to shut our truck doors. The fact I had so many phenomenal people rallying around me was one of the most credible things I have ever encountered.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Let me start by saying I have one of the best customer base in the world. We are so lucky to have the phenomenal customers we have. Some of our best customer’s our the University of Colorado students. They are amazing and extremely loyal. Even when we have sold out of their favorite bagel flavor, they don’t care as long as they get their bagel sando. The word is out and we are getting a good amount of new students each semester.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://fleishmansbagel.com
• Instagram: fleishmansbagel
• Facebook: fleismans bagels and delicatessen
• Yelp: Fleishmans bagels and delicatessen

Image Credits

Fleishamn’s Bagel. Danna Fleishaman