Cesar Gonzalez and his daughter, Lizbeth Gonzalez, are co-owners of the soon-to-open Bagel King & Donuts, 3228 N. College Road, unit 8, at NorthChase Centre.

Cesar Gonzalez began his career in baking at age 15, working for a French bakery then an Italian bakery in Connecticut where he learned the basics of the trade.

About 20 years ago, he met Phil Santomassi when Santomassi took over Donut Inn, the shop he was working in at the time. Santomassi and his wife, Patty, operated the shop for several years before relocating to Wilmington, where they would eventually open Donut Inn on Military Cutoff Road with the support of Gonzalez, who relocated his family to Wilmington for the job.

The Santomassis sold the business to the current owners, Allen Renquist and Matt Anlyan, in 2017.

After spending the past several years working for Santomassi at several of his local businesses, Cesar Gonzalez signed a lease for a shop of his own around this time last year.

“There’s nothing like this around here,” Cesar Gonzalez said. “I was really happy to find this location.”

Gonzalez originally planned to upfit the newly constructed space and open last March, but then the pandemic hit. Fortunately his landlord worked with him on adjusting the rent while he struggled with unanticipated delays with construction and materials needed to finish the build-out.

“The pandemic really slowed our progress, but now we’re ready to go,” Gonzalez said.

The father-daughter duo plans to offer about a dozen types of bagels, including rainbow bagels, and a wide range of donuts as well as apple fritters, turnovers, muffins and cinnamon rolls.

They will also serve breakfast and lunch sandwiches, omelettes, hot and iced coffee and other cold beverages. Gonzalez hopes to offer a full line of espresso drinks in the near future.

For now, there are a small number of tables inside and customers are encouraged to call ahead for carryout. The full menu can be found on their website: https://www.bagelkinganddonuts.com/

“I told my daughter Lizbeth when she was little that we would open a family bakery one day,” Gonzalez said. “Baking is my love.”

Pending final inspections, the Gonzalez family hopes to open by this coming weekend or early next week.

Bagel King & Donuts is expected to be open Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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