In the shopping center across from Mt. SAC lies a small, quaint bagel shop on a corner covered with trees and canopies. Clearwater Bagel is located there.

Clearwater Bagel is a breakfast shop that provides bagel sandwiches, coffee, smoothies, iced blended drinks and a warm, welcoming environment.

Walking toward the shop, customers are met with trees around the outdoor patio, which has lots of seating facing the hills across the street. The chairs sit under a canopy and provide privacy and shade. When customers walk into the shop, they are first met with a “Good morning” or “How are you this morning?”

Tracy Machado, the owner of Clearwater Bagel, speaks on the importance of interacting with customers and creating a welcoming space.

“We love getting to know the customer; they get to know us,” Machado said, “I try my best to provide the best for my customers and make them feel welcome; I think that’s what matters a lot for us.”

The shop workers are eager to greet and welcome customers while they wait to order. While waiting, customers will see the immense menu options, which are compiled with all the bagel options: plain, blueberry, cinnamon sugar, jalapeno cheese, pumpkin, and so many more, along with six types of cream cheese: plain, strawberry, jalapeño, Nova salmon, walnut raisin and veggie.

The menu also shows all the breakfast sandwiches they offer, from bacon, egg and cheese to sausages, egg and cheese. They also have open-faced sandwiches, from turkey to tuna salad, and the most popular is lox.

For return customers, the workers immediately know the go-to order, making you feel like you are part of their bagel family.

“Sometimes the relationship with the customer is worth more than making the sale,” Machado said, “We become so much more involved because we love so much of what we do, and we can see the results that we bring into the community.”

They offer seating inside the shop, where cute decorations like “You are the cream cheese to my bagel” adorn the walls. While customers wait for their orders, the FM morning radio plays softly in the background.

Between ordering and waiting for a bagel, many people come in and out to order or pick it up. People stop to eat in the shop while reading their papers or scrolling on the phone, listening to F.M. morning radio and enjoying the morning.

When they call out orders, they smile at each customer, tell them to enjoy their bagel and send them on their way.

Customers can’t help but leave the little shop smiling and look forward to coming back.