Viral Rainbow Bagel Shop Seized for Nearly $900K in Unpaid Taxes

The Bagel Store — known for birthing New York’s viral rainbow bagel — was seized by the state tax department Wednesday and is closed until further notice.

A spokesperson for the tax department says the bagel shop currently owes a balance of more than $887,000 for its location at 754 Metropolitan Ave. in Williamsburg.

Owner Scot Rossillo tells Eater the store has had “some difficulties” with the tax department and is now in the midst of negotiations. But the lease for the outpost is over this year anyway, and Rossillo says he plans to relocate the Bagel Store to Park Slope at 69 Fifth Ave. — a location that the shop locked down in 2017. There used to also be a location at 349 Bedford Ave. but that has since closed.

Once just a humble bagel shop, the Bagel Store started drawing huge lines for the “Rainbow Bagel,” a name that Rosillo has since trademarked. By February 2016, the original location of the store even had to close up shop temporarily due to demand. Sometimes, a line reportedly still forms; a Yelper even wrote today that he came from Jacksonville, Florida specifically to try this bagel after seeing it on TV.

Now, Rosillo says he’ll update customers via the Bagel Store’s Instagram account @thebagelstore.