Mensch Madness 2025: The Fakakta Four

We've arrived at the big showdown between the Seattle area's biggest bagel players.

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UPDATE: Voting is now closed for the Fakakta Four. Thanks to everyone who voted! Substack’s poll system will keep the polls open for a week, but the official results have been tallied. Voting for the next round begins Thursday.

Mensch Madness 2025, the quest to determine the very best bagel in Western Washington, has finally reached the Fakakta Four.

In the last round, we saw some truly epic tussles between Seattle-area bagel titans. But now we’ve finally arrived at our destiny, pitting the best-of-the-best (as per your voting) against one another for the right to advance to the championship round.

It’s time to see which Western Washington bagel shops will compete to be your best bagel of Western Washington. Remember, voting will be open through Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. PST. (Substack is a bit lacking in the poll end-time customization department, so I’m manually recording the winners even though the polls remain open.)

Emerging from the Hey Bagel region is… Hey Bagel. It’s been an absolutely dominant run in the tournament as they’ve won by 79%, 73%, and 72%. Much like the lines outside their University Village shop, there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight for their overwhelming support.

Hoping to take down that Seattle bagel behemoth is Tacoma’s own Howdy Bagel, the only non-No. 1 seed to advance to the Fakakta Four. Theirs has been more of a survive-and-advance performance, but this artisan bagel sandwich shop also knows a thing or two about long lines and loyal customers.

Which much-hyped bagel shop advances to the championship?

Meanwhile, Mt. Bagel survived a challenge from Old Salt to emerge victorious from their bracket. They might keep it simple on the menu, but there’s nothing simple about the love that so many Seattleites have for this local bagel legend.

Their challenger is Backyard Bagel, which had an impressive run through the bracket. The bagel business formerly known as Aaron’s Bagels has quickly established itself as Fremont’s go-to stop for schmears and sandwiches. They’ve come a long way in a short amount of time, but do they have the drive to go just a little bit further?

Note: I had to restart the Mt. Bagel/Backyard Bagel poll due to a backend error. I recorded the previous votes and will combine them after the polls close.

Remember, you’ve got until Tuesday, April 1, at 11:59 p.m. PST to cast your votes. The winners of this round will be announced next Thursday, and then the championship (chompionship?) will begin!

And by all means, if you want to make a case about why certain bagel places should get someone’s vote, sound off in the comments!

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