Evaluating Seattle bagel prices and "value"

How much is too much for a 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.

It takes a lot to shock me. Somehow, Seattle bagel prices were able to do it.

I was horrified the first time I saw Loxsmith’s prices. To say nothing of the price of a Rubinstein egg and cheese on a bagel ($10!!!). Even the “cheap” places in Seattle seemed out of step with my understanding of the bagel economy.

I grew up getting a world-class bagel for $1.20. Even now you’d be hard-pressed to find many NYC bagel places charging more than $2 for a single bagel.

Sure I’ve found some good bagels here in Seattle, but what am I really getting for my dollar? And which bagel places actually feel “worth it?”

I decided to figure it out.

Thanks to a rigorous, peer-reviewed, scientific research process*, we here at It’s a Shanda Industries have accumulated and analyzed the data in order to provide you with the essential truth about where you can find the best bagel values in Seattle.

*literally none of that is true

Some caveats. First, let’s stick to Seattle-based bagel shops for this research. Second, we’ve only used brick-and-mortar establishments given the focus of what we’re trying to do. Third, we’re using the best price information available to us at the time of this research, so don’t get mad if you show up and it costs you $0.25 more than I said it was. I did my best!

Now that we’re clear on what we’re trying to accomplish, here’s what I did. I took all of the 19 Seattle-based bagel places It’s a Shanda has reviewed so far and created a “Quality Score” based on how much I enjoyed them. I then cross-referenced that against the price of a bagel (in a few different forms). I then created a bubble chart to show how each bagel shop performed in terms of overall value.

I begin, as all bagel data points must, with the humble plain bagel. It’s the most basic and essential thing to help us understand if a place makes really good bagels or just lame bread circles.

Seattle Plain Bagel Values

Ideally, you want your plain bagel to be in the upper-right quadrant, which is where you’ll find the bagels that offer the best balance between quality and price. It’s perhaps no surprise that we see Bagel Oasis ($2.50) and Old Salt ($2.50) up there battling for the top spot. Bagel Oasis wins out with a higher quality score but it’s a close one. Recent returnee Mt. Bagel ($2.75) also scores well in terms of value.

It’s perhaps a little surprising to see Bean & Bagel ($2.75), Zylberschtein's ($2.65), and Ben & Esther’s ($2.50) showing up in the top-right, but while they might not be on the level of the aforementioned bagels, they provide a decent value at their price point.

The upper-left quadrant is the plain bagels that are higher in quality but also higher in price. Obviously, Little Market ($3.00) and Oxbow ($3.00) are near the top of my list, but they don’t give you the same bang for the buck as some of the others. Loxsmith finds itself out there alone given its high prices ($3.75). Rubinstein, meanwhile, is about the closest thing we have to a median Seattle plain bagel value ($2.80).

The lower-right quadrant is where you’ll find the plain bagels that have a good price but lack the quality to match. Essentially, you’re getting what you pay for with the many bagel places here.

And then there’s the lower-left quadrant, which is where you see the least value and least quality come together. Good job, good effort, Kelly Cannoli ($3.30).

Now, offering a good value on a plain bagel is one thing, but a lot of people aren’t just going to get a bagel as is. So next up, we crunched the numbers on an everything bagel with scallion cream cheese (or the closest approximation to that). It’s fair to say that the values shifted fairly significantly.

Seattle Everything Bagel w/Scallion Cream Cheese Values

All of a sudden, we’re seeing bagel places in some very different spaces.

This time it’s Little Market and Old Salt battling it out for the best value. Both places come in with a price point of $4.50 and a pretty strong showing in the quality rankings, making them hard to beat. I hope you’re noticing Old Salt’s consistency, too.

That said, Mt. Bagel (approximately $4.75) is working hard to reclaim its crown and it’s impressive how they’re able to remain in the upper-right given the demand. Rubinstein ($4.80) also makes a decent showing in terms of value, which was surprising given the prices of some of their sandwiches. Credit is also due to Bean & Bagel ($5.00), Rachel’s ($4.75), and Macrina ($4.60) for landing in the value zone.

There’s a lot of competition in the upper left, where good quality meets high prices. It’s especially worth noting how Bagel Oasis went from the best value with their plain bagel to one of the worst values in terms of price. They add a whopping $4.00 for flavored cream cheese and that kicks their price up to Loxsmith levels ($6.50).

Down the lower right, Dingfelder’s ($4.60) is hanging out by itself, offering a good price but lacking the bagel bona fides of the aforementioned spots.

Finally, the lower left quadrant includes Eltana ($5.25), Blazing Bagels ($5.50), Kelly Cannoli ($5.50), and Bagelbop ($5.50) as four places where both quality and price fall short.

Now that we know where to find the best value on one bagel, what about where to get the best value on the classic order of a dozen?

Seattle Dozen Bagel Values

Let’s start by noting there are a bunch of caveats here. Some places let you order a dozen, some places automatically make it a baker’s dozen. Eltana even throws in two extra bagels. There are also some shops that don’t offer a dozen bagels as a menu item, so I had to finagle some numbers. But I think you still get the gist.

Hands down, the best value you’re gonna get in Seattle when ordering a dozen bagels is coming from Mt. Bagel ($22). They might not have reclaimed their overall crown yet but they’ve already made their case as one of the best bagel values in town.

There are actually quite a few places in that upper right quadrant worth noting, including Old Salt ($28), Loxsmith ($28), and Rubinstein ($28). Macrina has a cheap dozen ($24.45) though I’m guessing you get sleeves of bagels. Ben & Esther’s ($25) and Zylberschtein’s ($27.50) also come in on the value side.

While Bagel Oasis might give you the best value on a single bagel, they’re in the upper left here ($30), making them a little pricy compared to their rivals. They’re more in line with Oxbow ($30) and Little Market ($36), the latter of which I’m pretty sure doesn’t really do a dozen as an official order.

As for the lower right, the price is right at Eltana ($26) and Blazing Bagels ($26) if you’re willing to sacrifice. Maybe this is where you go when you’ve been tasked with buying bagels for the office breakfast.

And then, out there all by itself in the far reaches of the lower left quadrant, is Kelly Cannoli ($40). Look, if you’re picking up a dozen bagels from Kelly Cannoli, I hope god can help you because I sure can’t.

Learnings

It was quite the journey to get here but it feels like we’ve figured out some important information about where to spend your hard-earned money in order to get the most bang for your bagel.

In general, we have to give the gold star to Mt. Bagel and Old Salt as providing the best overall values across the board. Both places were in the upper right quadrant on all three charts and were near the top of the rankings as well.

We also learned that Little Market and Bagel Oasis have both strong suits and shortcomings in terms of value, so order accordingly.

As far as the places in Seattle providing poor value for the bagel consumer, well, I think that’s pretty clear and I’ll leave you to make your own assessments on that.

Thanks for actually reading this far. If you enjoyed my Seattle 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? Forward the link their way.