Beloved Pompano Beach deli named best in South Florida

A 45-year-old Pompano Beach deli was just given the honor of a lifetime. Neighborhood staple Bagel Snack just picked up its second Sun Sentinel reader award. Different category, same result.

The shop at 1237 S. Powerline Road beat five finalists, including Ben’s Kosher Delicatessen in Boca Raton, Goldberg’s Delicatessen in Fort Lauderdale, and Pickle Barrel Deli in Deerfield Beach. It took home the Sun Sentinel’s Best of South Florida Dining reader award for best deli, results published April 7.

The shop already won best bagels in South Florida in the same competition back in 2024, making this the second time they’ve taken a category.

New owners, same recipes

Both wins hit differently given how the first year went. Kim Zweibaum and her fiancée, Mallarie Mondt, bought Bagel Snack in December 2024 from Jonathan and Thelma Simes, who had run it since 1992, and relocated from Pittsburgh to take over a 45-year-old institution. Zweibaum had spent years co-owning a bar and grill in Morgantown, West Virginia, while Mondt brought 15 years of restaurant experience.

In the first four months, the electricity went out, the ovens broke, and left them unable to bake for four days, and a staff member who had worked the counter for 35 years needed time to adjust. “We didn’t know a soul down here besides my parents,” Zweibaum told the Sun Sentinel. They kept the original recipes and menu mostly intact, and kept going.

What to order

What to order at Bagel Snack? Well, bagels, obviously, (with nova, lox, or pastrami), all sliced to order. Omelets are a big seller, and they run large. Sandwiches cover the classics: Reuben, Rachel, corned beef, and pastrami. The platters let you mix two or three housemade salads, like egg, whitefish, tuna, cucumber, or the health salad (their spin on coleslaw), and serve them over lettuce and tomatoes with a bagel.

Breakfast includes lox, eggs, and onion scramble, homemade corned beef hash, challah French toast, and buttermilk pancakes. Dr. Brown’s sodas and black-and-white cookies are on hand, plus vanilla crumb cake. The T-shirts — “Spread cream cheese, not hate” and “A bagel a day keeps the oy vey away” — are available at the counter.

Bagel Snack. 1237 S. Powerline Road, Pompano Beach; bagelsnack.com.