Can I get a good Bellingham bagel at... The Bagelry
How far north does a Seattlite have to drive to find a good bagel?
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 ensure I review any specific bagels (or want to let me know why I’m wrong), you can email me at seanmatthewkeeley@gmail.com.
Before we dig into this week’s bagel review, I wanted to make sure you know about Substack Notes, a new space where you can publish short-form posts and share ideas with other writers and readers on Substack. They rolled out the product this week to all writers and readers. It’s basically Twitter Without Elon Musk, so the best version of Twitter you’re gonna find right now. Hope to see you there to keep the bagel convo going…
In terms of Western Washington’s cities and their relationship to Seattle, Tacoma is the scrappy younger sibling with something to prove, Olympia is the politically active sibling you had to mute on social media because they just never stop posting, Everett is the sibling that’s no longer allowed in several neighborhood bars, and Bellingham is the hippie sibling who goes to festivals they’re a little too old to still be attending.
When it comes to Bellingham, unofficially known as “The City of Subdued Excitement,” it’s the kind of place you fully expect to find a really good vegan sandwich (R.I.P., Sage Against the Machine). It’s not, perhaps, where you’d expect to find a really good bagel. However, our excitement over potential bagel glory shouldn’t be subdued, especially since one of Seattle’s best bagel places has roots here.
As the story goes, Ken Ryan rode a freight train in 1975 from New York to the Northwest. After doing some apple picking in Eastern Washington, he hitchhiked his way to Skagit Valley, ultimately settling in Bellingham.
After the mill he worked at closed, his wife Marguerite urged him to follow his dream and open a business. While he didn’t specifically dream of making bagels, the idea of a shop provided a steady schedule that he was craving after working the graveyard shift. That dream was realized in 1984 as the couple opened The Bagelry.
When the bank wouldn’t loan money to a restaurant, the couple had to get creative in order to get started.
“I had to cut out the bagel machine [from the budget], so we hand-rolled bagels for the first 18 months,” Ryan told WhatcomTalk in 2014.
The Bagelry quickly gained a following in Bellingham thanks to their New York bagels, which was an important distinction from “New York-style bagels” for Ken.
“When I see New York-style this or New York-style that, it throws up a red flag for me,” he said. “We do things in a way that nobody can duplicate. If somebody opens up a bagel shop now, it’s just going to be different; they’re going to taste more like supermarket bagels.”
In 1988, Ken’s brother Peter moved out to the Pacific Northwest as well and opened Bagel Oasis in Seattle. “He taught me the fundamentals and here I am,” Peter said of his brother in a 1997 Seattle Times piece.
Meanwhile, while the bagel game was good for the Ryans, time marched on. In 2015, the couple sold the business to Aaron and Terra Seaton. The Seatons made it clear that they didn’t intend to make any changes to what had since become a Bellingham institution.
“It’s an historic part of downtown,” Aaron told the Bellingham Herald. “We feel like we’re custodians of The Bagelry.”
The Bagelry’s reputation is strong enough that there are plenty of people in Seattle who not only sing its praises but also make trips back to Bellingham to get their fix. Naturally, I had to know if the hype was real or if this was another case of nostalgic love for the hometown hero.
Given how much I love Bagel Oasis, the bar was pretty high for their sorta-sibling bagel shop, especially since they reportedly use the same recipe. Let’s find out if those damn hippies know how to make a mean bagel.
And if you want to know how I define a good bagel, you can find that here.
WHAT I ORDERED
Untoasted everything bagel with scallion cream cheese.
Untoasted plain bagel as-is.
Egg & cheese on a salt bagel.
THE EXPERIENCE
Do you know what’s an extremely underappreciated sign of a good bagel place? The aging mural with an assortment of random/famous people eating bagels. If you grew up in the Northeast, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
You walk into a bagel shop you’ve never been to before. You see the baskets. You see the containers brimming with schmears. The yellowing signage lets you know what the specials are. You see that the cold case is full of Dr. Brown’s, Arizona Iced Tea, and Yoo-hoo. You look over at the wall and see a faded mural that looks like it was drawn in 1987 and hasn’t been touched since.
THAT’S when you know you’re about to eat a good bagel.
Anyway, here’s what I saw when I walked into The Bagelry:
Hell yes.
UPON FIRST GLANCE
Looking at the bagels before placing my order, the bagels looked good albeit a little on the smaller side. Not Eltana small (thank god) but just enough that it was noticeable.
All of the available options were as I’d hope to find in a classic bagel shop. Along with the usual order, an egg and cheese on a salt bagel was needed in order to warm up on this chilly Western Washington spring day.
The staff was extremely nice and helpful, even as the place filled up with locals. They were not only super friendly but went out of their way to bring orders out. All in all, a very pleasant bagel shop experience.
TOP
The top of the everything bagel was a decent golden brown, though slightly on the lighter side. It did appear that the cook was a little uneven, favoring one side. However, that did create a lot of crispiness all over.
The seed hand was pretty light and made up mostly of sesame seeds (much lighter than Bagel Oasis, FWIW). No salt was detected either.
As for the plain bagel, the top looked very similar. That same golden brown on the lighter side. There appeared to be some crispness but it was also a little rubbery to the touch. There was also some good-looking bubbling around the edges that gave me hope.
BOTTOM
Both bagels were pretty strong on the cornmeal, which was a little disconcerting. The Bagel Oasis bagels had a little bit of cornmeal present but this appeared to be a very strong application.
The big difference between the two bagels was the feel of the bottoms (teehee). The plain bagel bottom was extremely firm and crispy while the everything bagel bottom was extremely soft. This would end up making for a very clear difference between the two once I bit in.
INSIDE/BITE
Thanks to a crispy top, fluffy interior, and crunchy bottom, the plain bagel was one of the most enjoyable bagels I’ve eaten on this entire journey. It was exactly the kind of experience I’m looking for when eating a bagel. And the fact that it didn’t require any toasting, schmears, or add-ons is a real testament to the power of a well-made bagel.
The interior had the bagel-y smell I was hoping for. The fluffy interior managed to be soft without having too much give. The firmness of the bottom really allowed the rest of the bagel to shine, offering a crispy bed for everything else to dance on during bites. Each bite also included little crunchy bits that were really enjoyable.
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of the everything bagel. Whereas the firm bottom helped make the plain, the soft bottom here completely messed up the integrity of the bagel and bite. While there was a little bit of crunch present from the top, it was bite-dependant thanks to that uneven cook.
The cream cheese application was solid and there was some slight scallion flavor. However, there was also a bit of an aftertaste I didn’t like.
The biggest problem was that while the initial bite was decent enough, the lack of texture turned everything into mush in my mouth pretty quickly. It made things so unenjoyable that I couldn’t finish the bagel.
FINAL THOUGHTS
What a kosher pickle we’re in.
One on hand, I would put that plain bagel up against just about any Seattle bagel I’ve eaten so far. On the other hand, that everything bagel was a memorably bad experience. I feel like I have to chalk up the difference between them to an issue with the way the bagels were cooked.
In the interest of fairness, I had a similar experience at Bagel Oasis, where one bagel was cooked really well and the other was underdone. I’ve since been back and have not had that issue again, so I may have simply gotten a bad version of an otherwise good bagel.
The salt bagel with egg and cheese didn’t help to break the tie as the flavor of the bagel itself was drowned out by the sandwich fillings. Not to mention that’s a messy sandwich to eat, so it’s hard to draw conclusions from the bagel itself.
Ultimately, my assumption has to be that the plain bagel is closer to the norm than the everything bagel. And regardless, it was good enough to make me want to return soon to find out.
Is It Good Enough For The Goys?
No disrespect but Bellingham has strong goy vibes (and I won’t be taking questions on that). However, that hasn’t stopped them from having a pretty great bagel place for almost 40 years, not to mention a burgeoning bagel scene. If The Bagelry is your starting point, you must be onto something.
Is It Good Enough For Northeastern Jews?
I will return to Bellingham soon to try out Otherside Bagel and determine who reigns supreme. But in the meantime, if I were bringing my family through town, I would have no problem stopping at The Bagelry to scratch the bagel itch. I feel the same way about Bagel Oasis in Seattle, so clearly the Ryan family knew what they were doing when they set up shop in Western Washington.
MY SEATTLE BAGEL RANKINGS SO FAR
OUTSIDE SEATTLE BAGEL RANKINGS
The Bagelry (Bellingham)
Howdy Bagel (Tacoma)
Whidbey Island Bagel Factory (Mt. Vernon, Whidbey Island)
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As a NYC Jew who just moved to Bellingham the Bagerly was my first stop. My first time was severely disappointing, but still good enough to go back. The second time the bagel was so bad I had to throw it out.
I wonder if you have a favorite NYC bagel to compare to, since I found the bagels in mount vernon, which I see you didn’t like, more closely resemble new, NYC bagels like Brooklyn bagel company or NYC Bagel and Coffee House, as opposed to old school NYC like Zabars. (Although in mt Vernon one bagel was amazing, the other completely raw)
What about Good Bagels in Anacortes? The bros claim they got their training in Ithaca, NY - my home for almost 30 years. I'm not going to claim Ithaca Bakery/Collegetown Bagels is the end-all/be-all, but it is decent. Now I want to know if the Good Bagels are good bagels. (I actually like Blazing, btw. Plus I live close by. I was not wowed by Bagel Oasis.)