The 2024 Shandies: The year in bagels

Let's take a look back at the highs, lows, bests, and worsts of Seattle-area bagels

Welcome to It’s A Shanda, one Northeastern Jew’s quest to find a decent bagel in Seattle (and beyond). Along with free bagel reviews every Sunday-ish, we also offer bonus posts each week. If you’re already subscribed, I hope you’ll consider upgrading to a paid subscription! Thank you for reading.

For better or worse, 2024 is coming to a close. It felt like the right time to take a look back at the year that was in bagels (here in Seattle and beyond). I took a look at everything I wrote this year and thought about my favorite and least favorite experiences. Below, you’ll find my categories for The Shandies, the ultimate Seattle bagel awards (the ONLY Seattle bagel awards for that matter).

Check out the “winners” below and share your own 2024 picks for the best in bagelry in the comments below.

Most-Read Post of 2024

While I’d love the answer to be an article I wrote about a Seattle bagel, my review of Pop-Up Bagels garnered more pageviews than any other, and by a solid margin. That makes sense given their popularity (with a little help from the Google SEO Gods). I wasn’t as sold on these trendy bagels as many others are, but I’ll try a different location next time and see how that goes. In the meantime, the big question is when will this venture capital-backed biz start making its way west?

Best Bagel News of 2024

This likely would have been the opening of Hey Bagel’s U Village shop (which is now set for January 6, 2025). In place of that, the news that the best bagel in Seattle (IMO) would be getting a permanent home itself still qualifies. Andrew Rubinstein’s highly successful pop-ups led to the logical conclusion of a brick-and-mortar store that fervored fans have been anticipating ever since. The wait is almost over…

Worst Bagel News of 2024

The recent news that NYC’s Absolute Bagel is gone was depressing. Hitting closer to home, however, I have to give this title to the closure of Little Market on Portage Bay. Arguably one of the best (and inarguably the crispiest) bagels in Seattle disappeared in May. I was left a little frustrated that they didn’t promote them as much as I thought they should have, but that also seems like a very tough location to make things work no matter what. Still a huge bummer.

Biggest Bagel Surprise of 2024

Longtime readers know my struggles with Rachel’s Bagels and Burritos. So I was as shocked as anyone that both my visits to Little Rachel’s in Lake City led to standout bagel experiences. The North Seattle outpost put up a strong everything with scallion cream cheese and is home to my favorite jalapeño cheddar bagel in town right now. I’m still trying to figure out what works up there that doesn’t work (for me) in Ballard.

Best Seattle Bagel I Ate in 2024

Credit: Hey Bagel

I ate some great Seattle bagels this year. The plain at Bagel Oasis was suburb as usual. The everything at Old Salt with plain cream cheese was perfectly balanced. Backyard Bagel’s plain lived up to my expectations. Sully Eats surprised me with their new and improved bagel. I still think about the jalapeño cheddar bagel at Little Rachel’s. I cherished the chewy goodness of the sesame from Mt. Bagel.

Ultimately, it was Hey Bagel’s sesame that sticks in my mind as the best of the bunch. Not only was the bagel itself an ideal balance of a chewy interior and crispy crust, but the toasty sesame seeds put it over the top, giving it that extra boost of flavor and texture.

Best ‘Near Seattle’ Bagel I Ate in 2024

2024 was a fun year for discovering the burgeoning Western Washington bagel scene outside of Seattle. Briny Bagels is just getting started on Bainbridge and already has lines out the door. The Cottage Bakery in Edmonds brought the thunder with its pretzel bagel. Port Angeles’ Atomic Bagels not only has great branding but solid bagels to back it up as well.

Ultimately, I have to give this nod to 6th Borough Bagels in Olympia. I referred to their plain bagel as ‘The Most New York-style bagel out here’ thanks to the texture and flavor balance. I’m looking forward to heading back there soon to sample their other flavors.

Worst Bagel I Ate in 2024

I know Whidbey Island Bagel Factory has its fans. Friend of the newsletter Zoe Kahn raves about their rosemary chive sea salt bagel with Marks Garden cream cheese.

But, man, I still have nightmares about the everything with cream cheese I got there in September. Admittedly, the conditions were not ideal, but the softness of the piping-hot bagel, coupled with a very “juicy” cream cheese, made for the most unpleasant eating experience of 2024. I said at the time ‘Let us never speak of this again,’ but this time I mean it.

Weirdest Bagel I Ate in 2024

While my reviews stick to the classics, there was plenty of room for experimentation along the way. Sometimes that brings with it unique flavor profiles and expansions on what it means to call something a bagel. Other times, it’s just plain weird.

The evolution of Rubinstein’s bagels has been odd to experience. The bagel banh mi sandwich at Yellow Bee was actually pretty good, if messy. I’m still not sure what to make of that thing Einstein Bros. is calling a bagel.

Nothing was ever going to top the bagels I ate in Japan, however. That said, the chocolate bagel I got from Rabbit Bagels was… weirdly good. They love to put schmears and spreads inside the dough of the bagel and, in this instance, the melted chocolate inside elevated the whole experience. Who knew?

Best Bagel I Ate in 2024, Period

I would love to rep Seattle in this category but the truth is that my September trip to New York City produced the best bagel bite of the year.

I had two NYC bagels on that trip, Absolute (R.I.P.) and Bagel Hole. While Absolute was definitely very good, Brooklyn-based Bagel Hole blew me away with the most balanced bagel of the year. With a crispy bite, dense chew, and that hard-to-explain perfect plain bagel flavor, it was like hitting reset on my taste buds, helping me recalibrate my expectations for what I should consider a good bagel.

2025 Seattle Bagel Prediction

loxsmithseattle

A post shared by @loxsmithseattle

2024 was a groundbreaking year for bagels in Seattle. Any Northeasterner who still scoffs about the Seattle bagel scene either doesn’t get out much or is an even bigger curmudgeon than me, which is saying something.

We also saw the quality of bagel shops outside of Seattle elevate as well, upping the regional reputation.

With all of this growth, we’ve seen several trends really stick out. Not every bagel shop does this, but many of them tend to keep their bagel menu contained (6-8 core flavors), focus on fancy or flavorful schmears (we live in the golden age of the kimchi-flavored cream cheese), and wow you with showstopper sandwiches.

Honey-infused schmears and sprigs of thyme will get you only so far, so something will have to evolve to elevate the menu and help you stand out from the crowd.

I think that thing is going to be bialys.

We’re already seeing quite a few bagel shops bust out the bialys, either as a consistent menu item or a seasonal special. We can quibble over whether or not the “smushed bagel” method qualifies as a bialy, but it seems like Białystok’s pride and joy is primed for its moment.

Whether classically dressed with onions or featuring unique ingredients like uni butter and gruyère, my guess is that you’ll see this become the new canvas on which Seattle’s bagel-makers paint their 2025 masterpieces.

What do you think?

Thanks for actually reading this far. If you enjoyed my bagel review and want to read more of them, make sure you’re subscribed to It’s A Shanda. Know someone in the Greater Seattle Area (or beyond) who would appreciate way-too-detailed reviews of local bagels? Please forward the link their way.