5 national bagel shops I really want to visit
Too many bagels, too little time...
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, we also offer bonus posts (like this one) each week. If you’re already subscribed, I hope you’ll consider upgrading to a paid subscription! Thank you for reading.
I’ve been asked on several occasions if I ever thought I’d be running a weekly newsletter dedicated to the Seattle bagel scene. In many ways, the answer is no. And yet, in some ways, I can see how all roads were always leading here.
I’m the same guy who used to keep a Google Sheet documenting every bagel place I visited in Chicago complete with scores across several categories (Bro Bagel is the best bagel in Chicago, FYI).
There seems to be a new bagel place in the Seattle area every month (I just discovered a new one, actually), so there is no shortage of regional bagels to eat, review, and review again.
But I’ve always got my eye on what’s happening around the country. Ours is not the only city in America where bagels are booming, and some shops have risen to the ranks of the most popular in the nation (or Instagram, at least).
I’m officially at the point where, whenever I plan a trip, I take a look at the place I’m going to see if there are some bagels I can sample. I’m not at the point where I plan vacations specifically for the bagels (yet) but there are a handful of places that I’ve got at the top of my list if and when the opportunity strikes.
In no particular order, here are the five bagel places around the country that I am most looking forward to trying and adding to my review collection. (And if you happen to know of a must-try place that I didn’t mention, please share in the comments!)
Courage Bagels (Los Angeles)
If you’re up to speed in the bagel world, you probably already know about Courage Bagels. They’ve taken LA by storm and have become something of a standard-bearer for the modern bagel shop that puts a premium on elevating the quality of the finished product.
I’ve heard from several people that their bagels live up to the hype, though so do their lines (and you know how excited I get about those).
I will have to do my best to temper my expectations about how “LA” the experience will be. While perusing their IG account, I came across this quote:
“New Yorkers want to tell you how a bagel should taste but LA gave us the space to tell you how a bagel could taste.”
I’m not gonna lie, my immediate, involuntary response was:
Look, I’m sure it’s gonna be really good, but I’m already making a mental note of the excuses that come slathered in avocado and fish roe, LA.
PopUp Bagels (New York City)
Speaking of bagel places that have quickly gained a reputation for their long lines, PopUp Bagels has already become something of an institution in New York City. If you’ve ever seen video or photos on social media of an absurd line outside of an NYC bagel shop, it’s probably PopUp.
Their whole schtick is that you have to buy at least three bagels and a tub of cream cheese or butter. I’ve heard from a few people that the bagels don’t live up to the hype and it’s more about the Instagram photo and schmears, but we’ll see.
Again, I can’t deny that I will probably go into the experience with a chip on my shoulder. I’ve seen the owner be described as a “disruptor” on several occasions, which fills me with a bubbling rage that could boil a thousand bagels.
They’ve already started expanding and are up to 12 locations across New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, so the quality is probably already dipping, but I need to check them off the list all the same.
Boichik Bagels (Bay Area)
I’ve been hearing about Boichik for a while now. The Bay Area bagel chain has slowly been expanding in that region and is heading to LA soon. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them head this way eventually. By all accounts, they’re very good bagels.
Longtime readers might remember the time a San Francisco writer compared Boichick bagels to frozen and toasted bagels from NY’s Ess-a-bagel to prove the California version was better and it sent me into a mental frenzy.
FUN FACT: Boichick’s founder and owner is Emily Winston. I went to high school with Emily and she was our valedictorian. I always knew she’d do great things, I just didn’t know those great things would be bagel-related.
Absolute Bagels (New York City)
As you might remember, I was supposed to visit Absolute as part of my NYC bagel extravaganza last year. However, I left them too long and showed up too late on a Saturday morning. The line was already so long and I was flying out of JFK. Anyone who knows the perils of that situation knows that I couldn’t risk it. But they are at the top of my list the next time I’m in town (which might be sooner than later…).
My working theory is that Absolute is as good as people think PopUp is. But will it be better than my BO’s Bagels experience? That’s the big question.
Bentley’s Bagels (Portland)
I’ve already visited Bernstein’s Bagels, considered by many as the best bagel in Portland (it’s pretty solid!). But I have to get back to the Rose City soon to try out their other offerings.
Of the ones I have to visit, Bentley’s is the one that stands out to me. They’re the only other Portland bagels I’ve seen photos of and thought “That looks pretty good.”
Obviously, my Pacific Northwest city bias is in full effect. I feel like Seattle’s got Portland beat on the bagel front but I am genuinely curious to see what else they’ve got going on down there.
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.