Second Schmears: Revisiting Grateful Bread
Were these bagels "Fire on the Mountain" or did they give me "Cumberland Blues?"
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It’s been over a year since I visited Wedgewood’s Grateful Dead-inspired bakery. Much like their namesake, I wasn’t a huge fan the first time around, but I figured they deserved another shot.
Last time I visited Grateful Bread, the Jerry Garcia cut-out was outside, greeting customers as the morning line snaked out the front door. This time, he was situated in the vestibule to keep warm. Thankfully, they weren’t quite as busy at the moment I arrived so I could go right inside (the line quickly stacked up behind me).
On my previous visit, the beige-colored bagels weren’t visually appealing and didn’t make up for it with any texture or crispness. The herb and garlic cream cheese, with whole chunks of uncooked garlic, remains one of the most unpleasant things I’ve eaten on this journey. Lesson learned, I would go with the plain schmear this time.
I haven’t made it out to their Duvall outpost yet, but I wanted to give the Seattle bakery another shot to see if things had improved. While I rated them No. 12 at the time, they’ve slipped down to No. 19 as many other solid bagels have entered the chat. Let’s find out if they deserve to move back up.
And if you want to know how I define a good bagel, you can find that here.
WHAT I ORDERED
Everything bagel with plain cream cheese ($5.15)
Plain bagel as-is ($2.25)
As with all previous Second Schmear reviews, we keep things relatively simple this time around. I’ll review this version of the visit and compare it to the first trip to find out what might have changed.
This time, the top of the plain bagel was a light brown with lots of bubbling, a stark contrast to the beige version I got last time. It was soft to the touch with slight crinkles, which was also a little bit of an improvement from the prior one. With an oblong shape, it also appeared to be a tighter roll than the old version.
The everything bagel was a bit more similar to that beige color, although it looked improved from last year’s version. I also loved the seeding upgrade. The seed hand was strong, much more balanced, and featured flecks of salt, AS GOD INTENDED. The seeds also stayed on sturdily even as I cut the bagel in half, which I appreciated. This bagel was an even tighter roll than the plain but was very soft all around.
The bottom of the plain bagel was very soft. I didn’t detect any Cornmeal Ring of Doom (CRoD), which is par for the course. The everything bagel’s strong seeding was relegated to the top as the bottom was pretty pristine. It was also very soft.
The plain bagel offered a soft rip that felt a little more bready than bagel-y. It was a chewy bite lacking any crunch and I detected a slight sourdough smell. The interior had a medium rebound after the bite. While it lacked much flavor, I found it to be relatively inoffensive.
Thanks to its size and the generous schmear slab in the middle, the everything bagel required a big bite. I didn’t get any intriguing texture or crunch, as expected, but I did appreciate the flavor from the seeds (thanks in large part to the salt). The interior of the bagel offered a medium rebound after the bite. The bagel got less interesting as I ate it and I think it would have benefitted from a little more time in the oven. That said, the cream cheese was a marked improvement from last time, though I did detect a slight tang.
WHAT I SAID LAST TIME
“It seems like there are many ways where Grateful Bread is a true local institution and I bet many of their bready offerings live up to the hype. The bagels, however, did not. I’d probably have to go back at some point and try a bagel with plain cream cheese because that herb and garlic spread was so upsetting. But even then, I’m not sure I’ll be in a rush to head back to Grateful Bread.”
WHAT I THOUGHT THIS TIME
I’m glad I followed through and came back for the plain cream cheese because that did improve my sentiments about Grateful Bread. That said, while I think that the experience was slightly better this time around, I’m probably not any closer to considering more return visits. I think their bagels have potential but they tend to under-bake, which is hard to come back from. For what it’s worth, I do like the new and improved everything seasoning mix and I appreciated the big block of sturdy schmear I got this time.
I’m going to leave Grateful Bread exactly where it is in the rankings because I’m not sure I can justify moving it past Westman’s, Rachel’s, and Macrina Bakery. Interestingly, the 14-20 range has revealed itself to be a collection of neighborhood haunts with a loyal fanbase. It’s also home to a lot of bagel places that dominated the Seattle bagel scene before the arrival of the post-pandemic shops and artisan pop-ups, but have fallen behind (IMHO) the pack. It’s a subset of the Seattle bagel scene I’ll want to keep exploring to see how (if) they evolve to keep up.
MY SEATTLE BAGEL RANKINGS SO FAR (2/11/24)
Old Salt (Fremont]
Old Salt (Ballard)
Loxsmith (West Seattle)
Loxsmith (Beacon Hill)
Westman’s (Capitol Hill)
Westman’s (U District)
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