Last week, The Burn reported on a new bagel shop called Torus Bagels coming to Ashburn. But at the time, we didn’t have many details. Now we do – and it’s a heck of a story.
Torus Bagels will be going into a space at the Ashburn Village Shopping Center. It’s taking the unit that is currently home to the Jimmy’s John’s sandwich shop.
The new restaurant is the brainchild of Edward Wang. Wang is a graduate of Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn and went on to play football for Virginia Tech.
From there, he was drafted by the Buffalo Bills where he played for two years. He also had stints with the Oakland Raiders and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Flash forward a dozen years and Wang and his family are back here in Northern Virginia and he’s pursuing a long-held dream to open his own bagel shop.
“My wife did dental school in Maine. We were there for four years and there was little shop around the corner from where we lived and they had the best bagels,” Wang told The Burn. “I’ve always loved bagels and I would eat them different places and nothing ever quite tasted like the ones in Maine.”
Torus Bagels will specialize in sourdough bagels, just like that shop in Maine where Wang returned to train in the art of making bagels.
The store will also be nut and sesame free to honor Wang’s daughter who has allergies.
The menu – which is still being finalized – is expected to offer bagels in flavors such as garlic, salt, jalapeño cheddar, cinnamon raisin, and more. There will also be avocado toast, sandwiches, coffee beverages, as well as sourdough bread loaves for sale.
Right now, the permitting process for Torus Bagels is just getting underway. Construction is expected to start in the spring of next year with an opening sometime next summer.
And in case you were wondering what the name “torus” means – the word torus is a geometric term for an enclosed loop shape, just like a bagel.