Ruby’s Bagels, owned by Daniela Varela, serves easily the best bagel in town. I had a commercial photoshoot there for their hospitality brand, and got to showcase some of their bagel favorites. It was one of those projects that just felt good from start to finish. The space, the food, and the people behind it all made for a really natural shoot!
A Milwaukee Bagel Story Worth Telling
Ruby’s Bagels is the brainchild of owner Daniela Ruby Varela, a Milwaukee-raised, first-generation entrepreneur who taught herself to make bagels after a life-changing bite at a bagel shop in Cleveland back in 2017. What started as a passion project and pop-ups around the city eventually grew into a food truck at Zócalo Food Park and, most recently, a full brick-and-mortar shop at 5513 W. North Ave., just steps from the Wauwatosa border.
The team hand-rolls, boils, and bakes every single bagel at Ruby’s fresh each morning. No shortcuts. The menu is intentionally simple, with classics like everything, sesame, rosemary sea salt, and cinnamon cranberry, paired with housemade cream cheese spreads and thoughtfully built bagel sandwiches. They’ve even landed on Bon Appétit’s Best Bagels in the US list, which feels both well-deserved and long overdue.
During our shoot, we focused on the food itself and the warmth of the space. The textures, the spreads, the steam. The goal was to let the care that goes into each bagel come through visually. Ruby’s isn’t trying to be anything other than exactly what it is: real, community-rooted, and really delicious.
It’s the kind of local business that makes Milwaukee feel like home, and I’m grateful they let me come in and capture a little piece of it.
View comments
+ Leave a comment