Meet the Bakers Who Sell ‘B-Holes’ in Dupont, Petworth

Two local bakers spend their weekends on a street corner offering their “b-holes” to anyone who wants them.

The bakers — Grant Sarvis and his girlfriend and business partner, Julia Greenberger — are the owners of  a pop-up bagel shop called “B-Holes” that sets up outside of Prego Again (1617 17th St. NW) Prequel (918 F St NW) and the Petworth Market on Saturdays and Sundays.

But what’s a b-hole? Sarvis explained it’s basically the bagel equivalent of a doughnut hole, a culinary creation that came to him while he was tending bar at Ted’s Bulletin.

“There was a little sign that advertised the doughnut holes. It said ‘d-holes’,” said Sarvis, “So I started joking around with a co worker and said, ‘you’re not a d hole, you’re a b hole.’ Then I thought that would be a great name for a bagel business.”

So Sarvis whipped up some recipes up with Greenberger, and together, they launched the pop-up shop about three months ago.

But what about the name? Doesn’t it conjure… unpleasant imagery? Well yeah, Sarvis said. But that’s part of the fun.

“We’ve gotten 99 percent amazing responses about the name,” Sarvis said. “We’ve even gotten tons of pictures with families captioned ‘look at my kids eating a B-Hole.'”

It might also help that Sarvis and Greenberger’s “b-holes” are delicious, or at least that’s when they’ve been told. The pop-up’s menu currently includes Misses Lavender, a sweet bagel filled with honey butter and lavender, covered with a lemon sauce; Barlic Gacon, which is filled with cream cheese, roasted garlic, bacon and topped off with minced garlic; and the wildly popular Original, filled with chives, onion, garlic, cream cheese and sprinkled in everything seasoning.

And there are some new B-Hole flavors in the works, added Sarvis.

“We’re working on one called the Fee Fi Fo Fig. It’ll have strawberry fig cream cheese with maple glaze on top,” said Sarvis.

Sarvis noted that although goal for B-Holes right now is to “give people the best bagel experience in D.C.,” he wouldn’t rule out opening a brick-and-mortar shop one day.

“We want you to enjoy it with a smile on a face laughing about the name with your friends,” he said. “The name is bold but we’re selling you something that will make you happy.”