Seattle's Hey Bagel: The 2025 Review
It's time to rip it and dip it, Seattle.
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 Sunday-ish, we also offer bonus posts each week. If you’re already subscribed, I hope you’ll consider upgrading to a paid subscription! Thank you for reading.
A lot can happen in four years. Just ask Andrew Rubinstein.
It was December 2020 when, following years of learning, experimenting, and perfecting a process, the first Rubinstein Bagels opened in South Lake Union. Success was immediate and you couldn’t find a “best bagels in Seattle” list without them on it. By 2021, they had a second location in Capitol Hill. And by the time 2022 rolled around, plans for a Redmond expansion were announced.
Meanwhile, Rubinstein would be the first to admit that he wasn’t thriving as the leader of a growing, multi-location business. That, along with family health issues, led to his departure from the company that bears his name in early 2023.
Citing a desire to slow down and get back to basics, Rubinstein debuted a new bagel pop-up, Hey Bagel, that summer. Early events were viral sensations, selling out in hours. Pre-orders would sell out quickly as well. It wasn’t until November that I finally snagged some bagels out of the back of Rubinstein’s SUV in an Issaquah parking lot. I quickly understood what the hype was all about.
For the next year, Hey Bagel built up a strong and steady following with pop-ups around Seattle and on the Eastside. The early success and positive feedback encouraged Rubinstein to consider a brick-and-mortar shop. While his early plans called for an Eastside location (something he’s said might still be in the card down the road), a space in University Village was too good to pass up. Announced in May 2024, Hey Bagel officially opened its doors on January 6, a little over four years to the day the original Rubinstein Bagels opened.
Again, a lot can happen in four years.
As a pop-up, Hey Bagel rocketed to the top of my rankings as the best bagel in Seattle. How much has changed in the year since that review? Let’s find out…
And if you want to know how I define a good bagel, you can find that here.
WHAT I ORDERED
Plain bagel as-is ($3.25)
Everything bagel as-is ($3.25)
Scallion cream cheese 8 oz. tub ($9.00)
THE EXPERIENCE
I rolled up to U Village at 7:50 a.m. on a Sunday. It was just me, the crows scouring the parking lot, and about a dozen people who’d beaten me to the punch and were already waiting to get some bagels. At 8:00 a.m., the doors opened and we were greeted by a plume of steam rising out of the oven and cascading across the ceiling like we were on the Universal Studios’ bagel tour. Bagels were removed from the oven and taken directly to the baskets on the counter. The show had begun.
The most important thing you notice when entering Hey Bagel is the dichotomy between the way it harkens back to tradition while also evolving how we think about bagel ordering.
One of the first things Rubinstein told me when he announced his shop was that there would be no toaster. The reasoning was less about rejecting it as a legitimate way to order a bagel and more about using a baking strategy that would make toasting obsolete. With a goal of consistently baking hot and fresh bagels throughout the day, there would be no need to toast them. It’s also a nod to traditional New York bagel shops that eschew toasters out of a sense that a good bagel doesn’t require one.
Meanwhile, those who have been paying attention to the bagel trends back east are probably familiar with PopUp Bagel, the much-hyped chain that has popularized the “rip and dip” or “tear and share” method of bagel orders. The idea is that you order your bagels with a tub of schmear so that you can dip a piece of the bagel in the cream cheese as you go, instead of the traditional spreading method.
It’s a lot to consider for a Seattle consumer who might be used to more classic bagel-ordering options. You have to grab your schmear tub first, then place your bagel order. It’ll probably take some people a couple of visits to get that down. But it does seem like if there’s any location where this method will make sense, it’s in U Village.
UPON FIRST GLANCE
The bagels that you would routinely get from Hey Bagel pop-ups were plump, blistery, and golden brown. Visually, everything looked exactly as you’d expect. The focus on trying to serve hot bagels means there are some very appealing wisps of steam coming off some of the bagel baskets, amplified by the baskets being right in your face when you’re ordering.
(I didn’t used to think I’d have to worry about whether or not my bagel would be warm when I went out on a weekend morning to get one, but I’m surrounded by shandas, so…)
TOP
The plain bagel, which was still warm by the time I got home, was a good size, bulbous in stature, and featured a very tight center. The coloring was a deep golden brown with a few dark spots and nubs across the top. It was also very blistery all around. The top was very crinkly and pressed in slightly when touched.
The everything bagel was also still warm. The sizing was on par with what one would expect and featured a very tight center. The bagel was plump and tall on top. I could see that the coloring was a nice golden brown with blisters peeking through. There was a strong seed hand at work with even distribution throughout. The top was soft to the touch with some crinkles courtesy of the seeds.
BOTTOM
The plain’s bottom offered a nice coloring, with a dark brown interior ring and a lighter brown exterior ring. It was firm to the touch but pressed in a little bit. There was no Cornmeal Ring of Doom (CRoD) present.
The bottom of the everything bagel was fully seeded, which we love to see. It was firm but soft to the touch, pushing inward with a little pressure. There was no CRoD present.
INSIDE/BITE
The plain bagel offered a tough but pleasant rip. A light sourdough smell emanated from the interior, which looked very fluffy. The bite offered some nice crinkles, a dense but cushiony interior, and an enjoyable eatability. There was a medium rebound on the bite as well. Feathery but substantial, it was an ideal bagel for eating on its own without any schmear. If there was any noticeable difference between this and the previous review, it would be a little less crunch.
With the everything bagel, I went with the suggested “rip and dip” method. I tore a piece, which came off with a tough yet light feel. The bite, which was very doughy in a good way, was delightful. I didn’t get too much crispness from the bagel itself but did get that texture from the copious amount of seasoning (which included salt, AS GOD INTENDED). The garlic also popped for a nice flavor boost.
The scallion schmear was cold, sturdy, and tasty. The scallion flavor really came through and there were bits of onion in every bite (though I was sure to be very tactical in my schmear application). The cream cheese consistency was spot-on for this kind of order.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Regarding the “rip and dip” method, I could totally imagine grabbing a bagel and cream cheese container to walk around U Village, dipping as I go (before ducking into Marine Layer to pay way too much for a t-shirt). While Hey Bagel is emulating PopUp Bagel, I think this is an upgrade and idealized version, as PopUp’s bagel has a cakey quality and their cream cheese isn’t very good.
I remember thinking to myself when I reviewed Brooklyn’s Bagel Hole that sometimes you don’t know what you’re missing until you finally get it. And there really is something to getting a warm bagel that makes you realize how often you settle for a cold one. It really does make such a difference.
I will admit that I think the two bagels I ate for this review were a little less crispy than the ones I’d been munching on for the prior year from Hey Bagel. In my order of half-dozen, there were also some bagels where the sizing was a lot bigger than their norm. It was opening week with a new kitchen and new staff, so like any good bagel place, they’re working out the kinks and some grace is in order.
But even with that said, I devoured both bagels and my ranking doesn’t change. I’m excited to get back soon for another batch (along with whatever unique bialy or specialty flavor is on the menu that day).
Is It Good Enough For The Goys?
I do not support the notion of a surveillance state. That said, I am considering asking the Seattle City Council to monitor people who choose to go to the nearby Blazing Bagels and Einstein Bros. so that they can be questioned and potentially charged with a misdemeanor of some kind.
Is It Good Enough For Northeastern Jews?
MY SEATTLE BAGEL RANKINGS SO FAR (1/14/25)
Hey Bagel (University Village) - 1st visit
Little Rachel’s (Lake City) - 1st visit
Toasted (U District) - 1st visit
Loxsmith Bagels (West Seattle) - 1st visit
Golden Wheat Bakery (Central District) - 1st visit
Rubinstein Bagels (Eastlake) - 1st visit
Rachel's Bagels & Burritos (Ballard) - 1st visit, 2nd visit, 3rd visit
Macrina Bakery (Capitol Hill) - 1st visit
Cafe Argento (Capitol Hill) - 1st visit
Eltana (Wallingford) - 1st visit
Westman’s (U District) - 1st visit
Einstein Bros. Bagels (U Village) - 1st visit
Dingfelder’s (Capitol Hill) - 1st visit
Cafe Solstice (U District) - 1st visit
Kelly’s Cannoli (Magnolia) - 1st visit
Bagelbop (Pike Place Market) - 1st visit
You can find my full rankings here.
Thanks for actually reading this far. If you enjoyed my 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 this link their way.
Right on, your impressions exactly match my own. Let me add two things: you know how when you visit New Orleans, you get beignets and sit on a bench and eat them and there’s a dusting of powdered sugar around all the benches, especially near Cafe du Monde? Well, I’m predicting that the benches around Hey Bagel are going to soon have a dusting of seeds everywhere, because people (like me) aren’t going to be able to wait to rip and dip their bagels. Second, I’m starting to notice a particular hallmark of the Sean Keely bagel review that I think needs a proper name. In this review, it’s the suggestion that we surveil people who are crazy enough to buy second-rate bagels. Basically, it’s a wacky, off-the-wall idea floated right into the middle of an otherwise “normal” bagel review. In software, we might call it an Easter Egg, but Sean, I’m counting on you to have a Yiddish term. (Or maybe I’m just a schlemiel.)
I had a caramelized onion and cheese bialy straight out of the oven the other day (never even made it into the basket), and it was _amazing_.