And the Mensch Madness 2025 Chompion is...

32 Western Washington bagel places entered, one leaves.. as chompion

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 Monday-ish, we also offer weekly bonus posts. If you’re already subscribed, I hope you’ll consider upgrading to a paid subscription! Thank you for reading.

Over a month ago, we began a humble journey to find the people’s choice for the best bagel in Western Washington. We started with 32 bagel shops and businesses. We whittled that down to 16, then eight, then four, then two, and eventually, we arrived at one.

The 2025 Mensch Madness chompion.

Thousands of votes got us to the final two, an epic showdown between 1-seed Hey Bagel and 1-seed Backyard Bagel. In the early goings, Backyard took a commanding lead. By Sunday, Hey had tied things up, and we entered the final voting day essentially tied 50-50. On Tuesday, the votes came in fast and furious for both bagel shops. But in the waning hours, one pulled ahead and stayed there, locking down the victory just in time.

Over 400 votes later, your 2025 Mensch Madness chompion is… Backyard Bagel!!!

backyardbagel

A post shared by @backyardbagel

“We’re so stoked! Huge thank you to everyone who voted - this means everything to our little bakery,” said Backyard Bagel owner Aaron Emas. “We never expected to be named Washington's favorite bagel shop, and we’re just so grateful for all the love and support from our amazing community.”

And a big thank you from me to everyone who read, voted, and shared Mensch Madness over the last month. Seeing so many people come out to support their favorite bagels and bagel businesses was great. It’s a Shanda has picked up a ton of new subscribers, and we hope you’ll stick around because we’re getting back to doing what we do best: overanalyzing the minutia of local bagels.

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? Please forward the link their way.