A Morning Shift with the Sclafanis

Cutting open bagels and tossing them into the toaster, Chris Sclafani, owner of Sclafani’s bagels, is enjoying another day serving students in the SMU Cox building. Calm jazz music echo through the building while students quietly collaborate on their school assignments. The long lines from the morning rush have mellowed out by now and Sclafani is taking his time preparing coffee and bagels. 

Sclafani and his wife, Lindsay, enjoy spending all hours of the day with one another. Laughing and chatting together they turned working into something they are passionate about. 

Chris Sclafani and his wife, Lindsey, pose in front of the Sclafani’s bagel shop inside the SMU Cox School of Business.
Photo by Olivia Nimmo, Sept. 26, 2025.

“Working here, I feel more confident in myself because I’m doing something and I’m providing a service,” his wife says. “It helps you build a good way of communicating and interacting with students from all over the United States.” 

He spreads cream cheese on a bagel. The most difficult part of his job, he says, is when his alarm goes off in the morning and it is time to get out of bed. Handing over the freshly wrapped bagel to a student he smiles signaling that interacting with the students around him makes the early mornings worth it. 

Coming from a long line of bakers in his family, Sclafani acknowledges just how demanding the job is. Requiring a good amount of patience and dedication. While his hands may ache from kneading the dough all day, he says, if there were 25 hours in a day he wouldn’t change a thing.