Can I find a good Whidbey Island bagel at... Whidbey Island Bagel Factory

We all know about factory bagels, but how about Factory bagels?

Sep 03, 2024

Welcome to It’s A Shanda, one Northeastern Jew’s quest to find a decent bagel in Seattle (and beyond). If you’re interested in taking this journey with me, make sure you subscribe so you never miss a review. If you want to make sure I review any specific bagels (or want to let me know why I’m wrong), you can email me at itsashanda@substack.com.

I always feel a little bad for Jacob Anthes.

After leaving Germany at 14, Anthes made his way to Seattle where he received an enticing offer.

“In the fall of 1880, in stopping at what was then the old Occidental Hotel in Seattle, I met the head waiter of the dining room,” Anthes later wrote. “He was looking for someone to hold down a homestead on Whidbey Island. This was a common practice in early days. The man’s name, as I remember, was Pat Quinn. After agreeing on terms and it promising new experiences for me, I agreed to take the job. A logger by the name of Christopher Anderson who was running a logging camp for Stetson and Post of Seattle in Useless Bay was also stopping at the same place. This land in question being about three miles from his camp, he was to point it out to me.”

Anthes settled on the east side of South Whidbey overlooking Saratoga Passage. At 15, he was too young to claim homestead rights, so he bought 120 acres for $100. He made money selling cordwood to passing steamships and selling vegetables to loggers. As he got older he continued to expand his land and, in 1890, bought 400 acres of land with the vision of turning it into a real town.

Anthes convinced Judge James Weston Langley of Seattle to form the Langley Land and Improvement Company, which got to work surveying and preparing the land. In 1891, the town of Langley was officially formed.

While it might have been named for someone else, Anthes and his wife Leafy continued to be a driving force behind the town. After the company built a dock, he built a nearby general store and post office, becoming the town’s first postmaster. In 1902, the Langley Land Company deeded the land back to Anthes and he led efforts to expand trails and roads connecting to nearby communities. He also built a new dock after the original one was damaged.

Today, when you visit Langley, you’ll probably drive or pass over Anthes Avenue, which runs parallel to popular 1st and 2nd streets. It’s a small consolation considering everything he put into the creation and growth of the town, while the rich guy who pitched in some money gets all the glory.

So it goes.

What does any of this have to do with bagels? Nothing. But since we’re talking about Whidbey Island, it reminded me of Anthes. I parked on that street a million times when I lived there and eventually the nagging question “What the heck is an Anthes?” led me to discover his story.

Island life is like that. History never feels that far away, at least compared to living in a city. And every place you visit has a story worth discovering (for better or worse).

Let’s discover the story with Whidbey Island Bagel Factory in Clinton, right next door to Langley.

And if you want to know how I define a good bagel, you can find that here.

Plain bagel as-is ($1.75)
Everything bagel with roasted garlic and chive cream cheese ($4.25)

THE EXPERIENCE

Back in the early days of this newsletter, I visited the WIBF in Mt. Vernon and left feeling very confused. I had heard from a lot of people that these were among the best bagels in the region, but I found them overly soft and flavorless. I’ve often wondered if I needed to head to the source to get the real deal.

I finally made my way there on Labor Day weekend and while I beat the crowd for the morning ferry, I did not beat the crowd to the WIBF shop in Clinton. There was a line out the door by the time I got there (10:15 a.m. or so) and they were clearly slammed. Good for them.

I’m pretty sure owner John Auburn took my order and he put on a show for everyone, high-fiving kids and keeping things super-friendly. After I placed my order I found out they had just run out of everythings so it would be a short wait. That was fine because I figured a hot and fresh bagel would make for the ideal review experience.

While I was waiting, I did a lot of looking around and people-watching. The wall of bagel flavors in front of me made me think about who their audience is. This wasn’t Bagel Nook 2.0 by any means, but I did take note of the bacon cheddar and banh mi bagels. Behind me, I overheard a customer explain to his friend that an everything bagel includes “pepper.” Something told me I wasn’t in Borough Park anymore.

UPON FIRST GLANCE

While I was waiting for the everything bagel, I took note of the plain and how soft it was. We’ll get into the specifics in a second but it seemed like a lot of the issues I remembered from Mt. Vernon appeared to be waiting for me here as well. A quick glance at the bagel also seemed to showcase bagels with a variety of bakes and colors. I noted more beige than brown.

TOP

The plain bagel was a long, rectangular shape featuring a slit-like center. The top was very shiny and very soft to the touch. It was also a little oily, which was odd. There was a sheen of some kind of oil over the whole bagel. The coloring was blotchy, with areas ranging from beige to light brown to solid brown.

The everything bagel, meanwhile, was an honest-to-goodness triangle. I’d never seen that before. The overall size was a little smaller though there was a small-medium center There was a heavy seed hand at work here, though it was extremely poppy seed forward. There were a lot of burnt bits that might have been garlic or onion but it was hard to tell. The top was still very soft to the touch.

BOTTOM

The bottom of the plain bagel was extremely soft and also very oily. I’ve had plenty of bagels with soft bottoms but this was too soft. It felt more like a roll than a bagel. Also, it was crisscrossed with griddle marks for some reason. There was no Cormeal Ring of Doom (CRoD).

The bottom of the everything bagel did have a little firmness and was overall very different from the plain bottom. It was still somewhat soft to the touch. No CRoD here either. You can tell on this side that the bagel cut is a little wonky.

INSIDE/BITE

The plain bagel offered an extremely soft rip. In fact, I would say that the rip and the bite both felt like a roll and not a bagel. I think it was underbaked as well. There was no texture to be found in any bite. Ultimately, it felt like eating very thick bread.

I’ve eaten plenty of gloopy cream cheese that oozes out the sides of the bagel while you eat. I’d never eaten what I would describe as “juicy” cream cheese before. It’s as unpleasant as it sounds. The very hot bagel and very soft schmear were a very bad mix. As for the bagel itself, the only flavor I got from the seasoning was “burnt” and the lack of texture made for a doughy chew. Combined with the liquified cream cheese, it all made for a very unappetizing bite.

Let us never speak of it again.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I don’t know if the Labor Day Weekend rush really impacted quality or if this is how WIBF rolls, but this was one of those experiences that made me rethink my life choices. I was perplexed as to what was going on with the oil and griddle marks on the plain bagel. Meanwhile, the everything bagel with cream cheese was one of the most disagreeable things I’ve ever eaten.

With three locations, WIBF seems to be doing just fine. They’ve got a stranglehold on the Island and Skagit counties’ bagel market. The staff all seemed extremely friendly and welcoming. I wish them well. But I don’t think I’ll ever go back.

Is It Good Enough For The Goys?

As I alluded to earlier, I think this is prime goyish bagel action. A kitschy vibe, wacky flavors, and sandwich-friendly soft bagels. As I said in the Mt. Vernon location review, it’s an ideal place for those who “enjoy bagel sandwiches and then equate the overall bagel sandwich experience to mean that they loved the bagel itself.”

Is It Good Enough For Northeastern Jews?

OUTSIDE SEATTLE BAGEL RANKINGS (9/2/24)

6th Borough Bagels (Olympia)
The Bagelry (Bellingham)
Howdy Bagel (Tacoma)
The Cottage Bakery (Edmonds)
Shawn’s Cafe & Bakery (Mercer Island)
Coquette Bake Shop (Bainbridge Island)
Caffe Vino Olio (Vashon Island)
Rubinstein Bagels (Redmond)
Good Bagels Cafe (Anacortes)
Mustard Seed Baking Co. (Stanwood)
San Francisco Street Bakery (Olympia)
Blazing Bagels (Redmond)
Otherside Bagel Co. (Bellingham)
Whidbey Island Bagel Factory (Mt. Vernon)
Woodinville Bagel Bakery (Woodinville)
B’s Bagels & Butters (Gig Harbor)
Whidbey Island Bagel Factory (Clinton)
Big Apple Bagels (Bellevue)
Bruchelle’s Bagel Bistro (Covington)

You can find my full bagel rankings here.

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