Seattle's Mt. Bagel: The 2025 Review
Situated in one of Seattle's steepest neighborhoods, Mt. Bagel remains worth the climb.
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Mt. Bagel did not originate in a quiet residential neighborhood in Madison Valley, but the extreme grade of the streets that run through it would make you think the name was related.
According to a 2013 breakdown by Seattle Bike Blog (based on 1969 data), the stretch of East Roy Street between 25th Avenue North and 26th Avenue North has a slope of 26.04%. That makes it the steepest paved street in Seattle. It also happens to be one block south of Mt. Bagel.
Two other nearby stretches (Helen Street between 24th and 26th & Ward Street between 25th & 26th) are also among the ten steepest streets in town. E Valley between 24th & 25th, where Mt. Bagel resides, missed the cut, but probably not by much.
To put it another way, this is arguably the steepest neighborhood in Seattle.
Understandably, most people who line up between Tuesday and Saturday for those highly sought-after bagels drive. As an avid walker who doesn’t live too far away, I usually make my way on foot. And I don’t weave the streets to find the easiest route. I hit those hills hard and I come back the way I got there.
For me, Mt. Bagel is a pilgrimage—a journey that I undertake, knowing it will require mental fortitude and physical endurance. In a way, I appreciate the ever-present line out front because it offers a respite. And when I’ve procured my bagels and cream cheese, I have to steel myself before beginning the ascent.
The march back up the hill to 23rd Street is onerous and demanding, but once you’ve traversed those vertical blocks and found horizontal land, there’s a sense of accomplishment.
You’ve earned those bulbous, blistered bagels.
It surprised me to realize it’s been almost two years since I last reviewed Mt. Bagel. I’ve written about how they’re thriving in a unique location. I’ve written about how I found my religion eating one of their sesame bagels. I’ve written about their delicious pizza-bagel kit. But I haven’t reviewed their humble bagel in a long time.
So I remedied that.
And if you want to know how I define a good bagel, you can find that here.
WHAT I ORDERED
Plain bagel as-is ($2.85)
Everything bagel as-is ($2.85)
Scallion cream cheese tub ($6.00)
THE EXPERIENCE
It is a testament to the staying power of Mt. Bagel’s hype and ability to deliver on it that when I arrived at 8:50 a.m. on a Wednesday, there was already a line of people waiting for them to open. Jobs be damned, the bagels come first.
I’ve said before that Toasted and Mt. Bagel are on opposite sides of the promotional coin, both thriving at what they do but in mostly opposite ways. Whereas the Toasted guys are social media mavens, Mt Bagel’s branding success comes from its simplicity—the hand-drawn logo, the basic menu, the custom drawings on every cream cheese container, the limited shop hours, the faceless social media presence, and the unassuming residential home base. They’ve built a cult of appreciation by simply letting the bagels speak for themselves.
UPON FIRST GLANCE
It should come as no surprise to anyone who has stood in the cramped retail space and stared at the metal stands of fresh bagels behind the counter that they looked fantastic. The piles of golden brown plains and seed-packed sesame, poppy, and everything bagels are precisely what you want to see when you walk into a bagel shop.
TOP
The top of the plain bagel was the goldenest of golden browns and blistered all over. A good size, even if a bit wonky in shape (a rounded pentagon?), it featured a tight, crinkled center. Soft to the touch, it pressed inward easily. The bagel itself was very light. I felt like I could skip it across water.
The everything bagel was slightly bigger than the plain and featured an oblong, almost triangular shape. The golden brown and very blistered bagel featured a long, tight center. The top was soft to the touch with a slight crinkle. There was a strong seed hand at work, providing ample coverage (including salt, AS GOD INTENDED).
BOTTOM
The bottom of the plain bagel was a light brown with a small golden brown ring in the center. It was soft to the touch and pressed inward easily. There was slight cornmeal present, but not a Cornmeal Ring of Doom (CRoD).
The bottom of the everything bagel was also very soft. The coloring was a mix of light brown and golden brown. There was a strong seed hand on the bottom as well, which is always appreciated. A slight presence of cornmeal, but no CRoD.
INSIDE/BITE
I could feel the air escaping from the plain bagel as it tore, revealing a pleasant, bagel-like smell from the interior. It offered a lovely chew, doughy but firm. It was a tough bite in the very best way, with a medium rebound afterward. While the interior was airy, there was a sense of weight present. Although there was a slight crinkle, I didn’t experience any textural crispiness while eating.
The everything bagel with scallion schmear also offered a tough bite in a good way. It was incredibly flavorful thanks to the salt, which brought out the depth of the seasoning. There was a medium rebound after the bite. The integrity of the bagel held well, and the schmear, still slightly cold, remained in place. The scallion cream cheese was full of scallion bits and packed a flavor punch. It was altogether gratifying to eat in full.
FINAL THOUGHTS
You and I knew going in that this was one of the best bagels in Seattle, and Mt. Bagel did not disappoint. Both bagels were eminently easy and enjoyable to eat. The plain required no schmear and certainly no toasting. The everything with scallion schmear was a flavor bomb. Airy and bulbous might not be the traditional look and feel, but there’s no arguing with the results. My personal preference would be to achieve a slightly crispier exterior, but the bagels remain elite regardless.
Is It Good Enough For The Goys?
Is It Good Enough For Northeastern Jews?
This isn’t the classic New York-style bagel, but it’s very much in the vein of the modern spherical style that makes for a fantastic hand-held experience, schmear or no schmear. It’s off the beaten path, but it’s a required stop for any bagel aficionado in Seattle. Just make sure you wear sneakers.
While there are many similarities between the two, the crispy factor is what keeps Hey Bagel at the top of my rankings. And the classic NY-style orbs at Bagel Oasis remain a personal fave. However, I’m going to officially move Mt. Bagel up to the No. 3 spot (from No. 4), as I feel they’ve earned it due to their consistency and quality.
MY SEATTLE BAGEL RANKINGS SO FAR (6/27/25)
Freshborn Bagels (Ballard) - 1st visit
Little Rachel’s (Lake City) - 1st visit
Toasted Bagels & Coffee (South Lake Union) - 1st visit
Toasted Bagels & Coffee (U District) - 1st visit
Loxsmith Bagels (West Seattle) - 1st visit
Golden Wheat Bakery (Central District) - 1st visit
Rubinstein Bagels (South Lake Union) - 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
Bagelbop (Pike Place Market) - 1st visit
Tous les Jours (Capitol Hill) - 1st visit
My full bagel rankings can be found here.
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A friend and I ran from the university to Mt. Bagel a couple months ago for morning bagels. Terrible climb, would do again.
God, that climb kills me. As a car-free individual living on the west side of Cap Hill, I get the classic "uphill both ways" experience. At least when I take the light rail to Bagel Oasis or Hey Bagel, I don't have to take a shower when I get home.