Get breakfast and lunch on a bagel at this ‘delicious’ deli in Ocean Springs
Oren Zweig opened Lil Market because he couldn’t find the bagels he craved locally.
New Orleans and Mobile were just too far to drive, and having grown up in south Florida, were bagels are a staple, he was used to having them easily available. Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention!
Bagels have been around for a long time, coming to the USA from Poland, where they have been common since the 1600s. They may have gotten their start in the Jewish communities of Europe and later in the USA, but they are universally popular now. The yeasted wheat dough is boiled first, which gives them the chewy outside and soft inside. Perhaps the popular pairing is cream cheese, known as a bagel and a schmear, if you are an aficionado, but the sky is the limit to what goes well on a bagel.
Zweig is a self-taught maker of bagels, but he is quite accomplished. He likes to experiment with combinations, often getting the idea from a customer, like the fellow who asked for pepperoni and cream cheese bagel. It sounded odd, but was delicious, a bagel pizza of sorts.
Zweig is a philosopher, too, and says, “The secret to a good bagel is hard work and time.” There are no shortcuts. He also says, “Good food comes from patience and good ingredients.” All sage advice.
The menu offers 10 breakfast sandwiches, with your choice of a bagel or a croissant. Try ham, sausage or bacon with three scrambled eggs and cheese, or cream cheese, smoked salmon, tomato, red onions and capers, they all look good to me!
Lunch sandwiches include a classic, and delicious Reuben (I had one on my first visit and loved it), or an Italian combo that includes mortadella, Genoa, pepperoni, tomato, lettuce, olive salad. There is also a beef and cheddar sandwich, a Southwest, a famous chicken salad and a tuna melt. The chicken salad is a holdover from the previous restaurant, Lola Fleur.
There is also a cold case full of delicious things, like tuna and chicken salad, pimento cheese, a good tuna dip and antipasto. Across the way is a freezer filled with good things to take home and bake, like a wonderful chicken pot pie, lasagna, chicken and wild rice casserole and an amazing aged Vermont cheddar and smoked gouda in bechamel sauce mac and cheese. There is also a cold case with Boar’s Head cold cuts and cheese to choose from, everything is sliced fresh for you.
There are a handful of bagels to choose from. A regular bagel served plain, with sesame, everything, poppy and cinnamon-basil and four specialty bagels (asiago, garlic-asiago, jalapeno-cheddar and cranberry pecan). The cream cheese bagel also comes with a few toppings, like green onions, strawberries and a garden veggie mix. My favorite hands down is the smoked salmon and cream cheese, it’s a classic combination and I love it.
Zweig told me his favorites were a bagel with everything, green onions and cream cheese and their homemade chicken salad. He also makes soups in colder weather, like potato and leek, tomato basil and a classic matzo ball soup. The menu is a bit eclectic, but somehow it works. There is nothing like a bagel and a smear on a chilly fall or winter morning!
Lil Market Deli and Bagelry
Where: 720 Bellande Ave., Ocean Springs
Hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; closed Monday
Phone: 228-300-4545