The bagel shop that made me
Eli's Hot Bagels remains the standard by which I measure all bagels.
Welcome to It’s A Shanda, one Northeastern Jew’s quest to find a decent bagel in Seattle (and beyond). If you’re already subscribed, I hope you’ll consider upgrading to a paid subscription! Thank you for reading.
When I think of Eli’s Hot Bagels, I have two competing memories from my teenage days.
One takes place on a classic overcast New Jersey fall morning. I’m in my Sunday best. A worn-too-long Mets baseball cap with a frayed bill. A Big Johnson t-shirt I had no business wearing in public but this was the mid-90s. Umbro shorts, despite not playing soccer in years. Ratty flip-flops that required me to use my toes to hold them in place because the rubber piece connecting the strap to the shoe was falling apart.
I’ve just arrived at Eli’s Hot Bagels in Matawan, NJ. Or maybe it was in Aberdeen, NJ. It was always a little confusing as to which was which, and sometimes it seemed like you could be in both towns at once.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to It's a Shanda to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.