Can I find a good Olympia bagel at... 6th Borough Bagels

If you're going to claim "sixth borough status," you gotta bring the bagel bona fides

Welcome to It’s A Shanda, one Northeastern Jew’s quest to find a decent bagel in Seattle (and beyond). If you’re interested in taking this journey with me, make sure you subscribe so you never miss a review. If you want to make sure I review any specific bagels (or want to let me know why I’m wrong), you can email me at itsashanda@substack.com.

Manhattan. Brooklyn. Queens. The Bronx. Staten Island.

These five boroughs make up New York City in a literal sense, as well as how they all represent its overall character and vibe.

A lot of towns, cities, and regions want to be considered part of that cosmopolitan corridor, but the best they can hope for is in a metaphorical sense.

The sixth borough.

From a regional perspective, the Westchester County cities of Yonkers and Mount Vernon have tried to stake that claim. New York City alderman Elias H. Jacobs proposed in 1934 to make Yonkers the city’s literal sixth borough. Concerns over how it would impact real estate prices but the kibosh on that idea.

New Jersey's Hudson Waterfront has been considered a sixth borough of sorts at various points. Whether it’s Fort Lee on the other side of the George Washington Bridge, PATH train-connected Hoboken, or the rising office towers or Jersey City, there are a lot of potential picks.

Several Connecticut cities and entities have also tried to lay claim to the title. As Stamford and New Haven have grown, coupled with their large Italian and Jewish American populations, they’ve been discussed as unofficial sixth boroughs. The University of Connecticut has also used “The 6th Borough” as a slogan to showcase the dominance of its men’s and women’s basketball programs, much as it pains me as a Syracuse grad.

Several other places have been referred to as the sixth borough in various ways, including South Florida, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. I have to imagine Philadelphians absolutely loathe that designation.

The sixth borough is a title that seems unlikely to ever truly be claimed, from either a literal or metaphorical perspective. Still, it remains a notable signifier. By claiming sixth borough status, you’re claiming that what you represent is aligned with the energy and aura of New York City. More specifically, it signals that this place offers the same feelings and sensations you might get while strolling Sixth Avenue in Manhattan or sitting in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.

Or, perhaps, while eating a bagel.

Let’s finally visit 6th Borough Bagels in Olympia to see whether or not it captures the essence of what its name promises.

And if you want to know how I define a good bagel, you can find that here.

6thboroughbagels

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WHAT I ORDERED

• Plain bagel as-is ($2.50)

• Everything bagel with scallion cream cheese ($4.00)

THE EXPERIENCE

I tried to visit 6th Borough Bagels the weekend after they opened. That ended up being a terrible idea as they had lines that wrapped around the corner. I figured I’d wait a few weeks and head down when things cooled down. Plus, it gave them a chance to work out any kinks that invariably came up in the days after you open a new bagel shop.

I made my way down I-5 at 6:30 a.m. on a recent Sunday to make sure I could beat any line before it forms. Turns out, I didn’t have to worry about hordes of Olympians, though there was still a steady stream of customers after doors opened at 8:00 a.m.

The snug shop keeps things simple, though a lot of thought had clearly been put into the setup. Owner Kyle Shorin manned the register while a crew of slicers, schmearers, and sandwich-makers prepped each order. The vibe was extremely friendly and the uncomplicated decor reminded me of some East Coast storefronts.

I snagged my everything with scallion cream cheese and a bag of six bagels (including the requisite plain) and made a stop at a nearby park so I could sample the goods before getting back on the road.

UPON FIRST GLANCE

We love a well-wrapped bagel, don’t we folks?

Coloring tends to be the first thing I notice with new bagels and these ones appeared to be right on the money in that regard. They seemed a smidge smaller than the norm, but not in any way that I found discerning. While I’m not opposed to oblong bagels, which are often excellent, I appreciated the uniformity of these ones. They were simply good-looking bagels.

I liked that the flavor options keep things simple (plain, salt, sesame, poppyseed, everything, cinnamon raisin) and they leave the unique flavor profile to the schmears and sandwich spreads. It tells me that the focus is on quality instead of trying to get out over their skis with wacky flavor combos.

TOP

Ed. Note - I forgot to photograph the plain before I ate it so I’m using the salt.

The plain bagel was on the slightly smaller side of normal but had a very uniform shape and featured a medium-large center. The top was very blistered with an amber brown coloring. It was very soft to the touch and pushed inward easily.

The everything with scallion cream cheese arrived wrapped without a cut. It too was slightly on the smaller side with a medium center and a uniform roll. The coloring was a really nice dark golden brown. There was a strong seed hand at work here. As always, I’m a sucker for a black and white sesame seed mix. The top was firm but soft to the touch.

BOTTOM

The bottom of the plain was extremely firm and even knockable. It was full of texture points that foreshadowed some serious crunch. It also featured a deep brown coloring and plenty of blistering. There was no Cornmeal Ring of Doom (CRoD) present.

The bottom of the everything bagel was also very firm and knockable. The deep golden brown color only added to the expectation of some crunch in my future. While it hadn’t been rolled in the everything seasoning, some of that had transferred to the bottom. Again, no CRoD noted.

INSIDE/BITE

The plain bagel offered a tough but crispy rip. Biting into it, I got a lot of that expected crunch thanks to the bottom exterior. I got a slight whisp of that iconic bagel-y smell, though more a hint than hitting me in the face. The interior was fluffy and airy. Combined with the crispy bottom, that created a chewy bite with lots of textural bits. It had a medium rebound after each bite as well. Overall, while I think there’s room for a little more balance, this was a very enjoyable bagel to eat.

The everything bagel offered a tough bite in a good way. Thanks to the very crunchy bottom, there was good structural integrity on the chew. The substantial block of cream cheese was cold and firm, so it held together and didn’t ooze out during bites.

A decent amount of flavor from the everything seasoning cut through the cream cheese thanks to the inclusion of salt (AS GOD INTENDED). I didn’t get much scallion flavor but the schmear did have a very balanced taste to it. There was none of that tang you often get with cheap cream cheese.

My only gripe is that the bagel was cold. Ideally, I’d love to come in on a Sunday morning and have a hot and fresh one waiting for me. But even as-is, the integrity of the bagel coupled with the flavors, made for a very enjoyable eating experience.

FINAL THOUGHTS

6thboroughbagels

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As I sat there eating the everything with scallion cream cheese, I was struck by the sense that it felt familiar. I was having a sense memory and, with each bite, it became clearer. It was reminding me of what felt like ordering a bagel with cream cheese back East. That might sound pedantic but I realized this was a sensation I don’t get very often when eating bagels in the Seattle region.

That’s not to say I don’t enjoy the bagels here, but this felt like the first time I was tapping into a true nostalgic sensation. The bagel’s texture, the substantive amount and feel of the schmear, and the balance of flavor all reminded me of one I might have gotten from a suburban New Jersey shop next to a nail salon.

There are quite a few good bagels being made in the PNW right now. I don’t think I would say this is the best of them all (though it would rank pretty high in Seattle). That said, I think this is The Most New York-style bagel out here.

Is It Good Enough For The Goys?

Olympia’s had a tough go of it with bagels over the years. They’ve seen a few places come and go. Adam’s Bagels was building a strong reputation before the owner sadly passed away. The other bagel spot in town just doesn’t have the juice.

No wonder the lines for Sixth Borough were so big. Not only was it filling a bagel desert, but it was doing so with a fantastic version. The Olympia goyim should be kvelling.

Is It Good Enough For Northeastern Jews?

When I spoke to Shorin a few months ago, he told me that he hears from a lot of East Coasters who say they hadn’t been able to find a good bagel out here until tasting his. To be completely honest, I hear that from a lot of bagelmakers so I wasn’t sure how much stock to put in it at the time. Now, however, I get it. There’s room for all kinds of baking styles, unique approaches, and elevated presentations. But sometimes you just want a bagel that reminds you of the one you ate growing up.

This is probably the one that’ll do it for you.

OUTSIDE SEATTLE BAGEL RANKINGS (8/20/24)

1. 6th Borough Bagels (Olympia)

2. The Bagelry (Bellingham)

3. Howdy Bagel (Tacoma)

4. The Cottage Bakery (Edmonds)

5. Shawn’s Cafe & Bakery (Mercer Island)

6. Coquette Bake Shop (Bainbridge Island)

7. Caffe Vino Olio (Vashon Island)

8. Rubinstein Bagels (Redmond)

9. Good Bagels Cafe (Anacortes)

10. Mustard Seed Baking Co. (Stanwood)

11. San Francisco Street Bakery (Olympia)

12. Blazing Bagels (Redmond)

13. Otherside Bagel Co. (Bellingham)

14. Whidbey Island Bagel Factory (Mt. Vernon)

15. Woodinville Bagel Bakery (Woodinville)

16. B’s Bagels & Butters (Gig Harbor)

17. Big Apple Bagels (Bellevue)

18. Bruchelle’s Bagel Bistro (Covington)

See my full rankings for Seattle and New York here.

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