Seattle bagels vs. Portland bagels: Who ya got?

The passive-aggresive PNW neighbor war moves into the schmear zone

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Credit: Portlandia

I suppose there’s only so long that you can write about Seattle bagels before you have to acknowledge our friends and neighbors to the south, who have a bagel scene all their own.

I hadn’t paid too much attention to the Rose City’s round bread offerings until I came across a recap of the first-ever Portland Bagel-Off.

Put on by Jacob & Sons Deli, it featured some (but not all) of the city’s top bagel shops, vying for the chance to win the hearts, minds, and bellies of Portland. Based on 266 votes, Bentley’s Bagels was named the people’s choice while Henry Higgins Boiled Bagels was the judges’ pick. It was noted later that two other local favorites (Spielman Bagels & Coffee and cult bagel shop Honey Bagel) hadn’t participated due to a miscommunication. They were replaced in the contest by Einstein Bros. and Costco. Gross.

It was also noted that Ess-a-bagel bagels were flown in from New York City but no one liked them, as if the fact that people didn’t like the unfrozen two-day-old bagels meant anything. West Coast bagel people love trying to pull that trick.

As I started to understand who the big players were in Portland’s bagel scene, I also started to notice a very specific trend. “Boiled bagels” is a whole thing. It’s right there in the name of Henry Higgins Boiled Bagels. Puddletown is a small chain “specializing in boiled bagels.” The first thing you see on Speilman’s website is a basketball of bagels coming out of the boil. Willamette Week even got five rabbis to specifically rank “every boiled bagel in Portland.”

I don’t really have anything particularly noteworthy to say about it, just wanted to point out the specificity. It’s like their version of the “Hot & Fresh Bagels” signs you see in East Coast shops.

I would have been working under the assumption they were all boiled had it not been called out so much. More than anything, I’d love to know the history of why that became so important to mention. Who was steaming bagels back in old-timey Portland that caused everyone else to say “How dare you, sir!”

Now that I’ve eaten just about every bagel in the Greater Seattle Area, it’s fair to look southward and consider incorporating some of Portland’s finest (and not so finest) into the mix as well. In fact, my first Portland bagel review is coming up next (Bernstein Bagels). It might be a little while before I have a chance to get down there and sample some more, but here’s what I’ve got on my list for now:

• Henry Higgins

• Bowery Bagels

• Spielman

• Kenny & Zuke’s

• Honey Bagel

• Puddletown

• Ben & Esther’s PDX

It seems like there’s been a lot of turnover in the bagel scene recently as a few other notable names that I would have considered no longer appear to be in business. So it goes in the bagel world. If you know of any other Portland-area bagel shops or pop-ups I should put on my list, let me know. And I’d also love to hear your thoughts on the best (and worst) bagels in town.

Oh and if you know any bagel fans based in Western Oregon, this might be the time to send them a link to the newsletter. 🙏 🥯

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