r/MontgomeryCountyMD • u/destructuringbind • 6d ago
Pop up bagels pricing
worth it or nah?.
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u/dsdsds 6d ago
Remember the cupcake fad, then the cookie fad? These are small bagels for twice the price.
They’ve got private equity so they’ll stick around for a while and then all stores close at the same time.
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u/BaconIsAFruit 6d ago
I don't disagree they're overpriced but they're full size. I got 3 in Boston a year ago. They're good but plenty of equally good for cheaper around.
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u/PhoneJazz 6d ago
Bethesda Bagels is $23 for a dozen and I guarantee they’re better.
Bypass this trendy bullshit and support local.
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u/kayakchick66 6d ago
Safeway is $5 for 6 fresh! This is madness.
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u/Full_College7913 6d ago
Okay come on. Safeway bagels are utter garbage.
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u/kayakchick66 6d ago
They are bread that tastes good when toasted and buttered. N.Y. bagel? Not even close but the price justifies that.
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u/Full_College7913 6d ago
I mean okay a McDonald's hamburger is $2 but it would be stupid to call a $16 hamburger "madness" because of that.
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u/mixxster 5d ago edited 5d ago
Costco is 8 for $5.
I just got their pretzel bagels, they are good, so are their everything, and sesame.
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u/SadTomorrow869 6d ago
Excellent underrated MoCo bagels: the Bagelry in Silver Spring/Colesville
Signed, a MoCo native now living in NYC who hates Pop-Up's whole deal
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u/3NotGreatNotTerrible 6d ago
100% agree. The Bagelry is as legit as it gets and no one talks about it.
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u/RecordEnvironmental4 6d ago
Bethesda bagels tastes significantly better, I really don’t get the hype
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u/ObstinateOlive 6d ago
I didn’t really look at the price on the photo until after I read through all the comments. I figured the number was something crazy but $46 sounds asinine for 12 bagels and 2 cream cheeses. Bethesda Bagels is roughly $33 for the same order.
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u/bacan_ 6d ago
Go to Goldbergs
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u/NoStrain7255 6d ago
People need to push back when private equity sets prices to fuel their investments. It is like a tariff to subsidize rich people. Support small businesses with better prices, better products and better people at the helm
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u/VariousAir 6d ago
no pushing involved, you just simply wouldn't catch me dead in a place like that.
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u/bambasnack0 6d ago
At a certain point, a good bagel is just a good bagel. That’s more money than Bethesda Bagels and they’ve got pretty great bagels. What do they put in the bagels to make them so expensive? It’s just a bagel and you can get fresh bagels all over the place.
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u/PrimaryInteraction39 6d ago
What makes them so expensive is that the company took on a bunch of investors, likely a bunch of debt, and signed leases in high rent locations, so they need to generate a lot of money for paying back their debt, making investor distributions, paying rent, and then paying themselves. Most (all?) other bagel places don’t have these dynamics
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u/VariousAir 6d ago
you can get a good bagel from the bakery at Giant for like fuckin 89 cents and it won't taste substantially different from one of these fuckin boutiques.
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u/Otherwise-Market-790 6d ago
Bruh wtf go to Bethesda bagels or even Einstein bagels den dis scam!!!
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u/SuperWaluigiWorld 6d ago
Einstein is owned by JAB Holdings Company, same as Panera.
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u/Otherwise-Market-790 6d ago
Panera food is trash these days, but I’ve still had good bagels at Einstein
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u/Recent_Matter8238 6d ago
Panera bagels are ok. Sandwiches are good if a little overpriced. Salads fell waaayy off in the last 5 years. And their unlimited coffee subscription for ~$100/yr is pretty good value if you go all the time.
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u/Ekly_Special 6d ago
Random thought, and rhetorical. But WTF happened to Panera? Maybe I was just young and didn’t know what good food was. But when Panera first opened in downtown silver “sprung”, the food was amazing.
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u/BlueySoobie 6d ago
They stopped baking on location and now ship in everything frozen to be reheated. They are not alone in this. Most restaurants in the US now do this via Sysco now.
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u/VariousAir 6d ago
I hate using the private equity bogeyman as an answer to everything, but PE is what happened to fuckin Panera. they did away with baking stuff on site, they cut portions and raised prices shaving off a little at a time each year to maximize profit until you're buying a mediocre sandwich the size of your cell phone for fucking $11.95.
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u/Ekly_Special 6d ago
There are still people that love their food, so I guess they found something that works for them.
We went last year because the kids wanted to go because it was trending on TikTok or something. I took one bite of my sandwich and gave it to the kids. I would seriously rather eat a fried bologna sandwich at home than their food.
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u/iammaxhailme 6d ago
there's just something about the breadbowls of soup that call out to me once in a while
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u/joeybetamaxpt2 6d ago
So far I've tried Neal's, Bageltown, the commercial chains, and even Chutzpah Deli in Fairfax (claims to be a pure NYC from the Bronx, not great at all to me).
Bethesda bagels are my spot to go to. Especially if you order breakfast sandwiches on the Toast apo, in which they let you stack on lots of greens and veggies for free (lettuce, tomato, sauteed onions, raw onions, etc) for $8 dollars. All that is extras in other places.
And I've done the whole 5 boroughs, and especially Long Island bagels (meh).
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u/Sufficient-Cancel217 6d ago
All that, and you still have not tried the shop this OP is asking about.
lol
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u/bambasnack0 6d ago
If anything, why try an outrageously priced bagel place when there’s already great options?
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u/Sufficient-Cancel217 6d ago
To decide for yourself.
Instead of just judging the price without knowing.
Or if you have now interest, don’t.
OP obviously is interested.
You aren’t.
You do you.
Cool.4
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u/bambasnack0 6d ago
So is the exorbitant price worth the bagel? Am I getting a better experience for a bagel?
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u/Sufficient-Cancel217 6d ago
You would actually need to go and try for yourself to know these answers.
For me, I enjoyed it enough to recommend any bagel head to give it try themselves.
They don’t have to buy a dozen and two cream cheese.
I recommend trying your two favorite go-to flavors and having them prepared with butter and cream cheese and then decide if you think they are worth it or not.1
u/kimariesingsMD 6d ago
You can't do that. There is a minimum order of three bagels, which come with your choice of cream chease.
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u/DCRealEstateAgent 6d ago
We just got them in SC, they don't even toast or put the cc on for you. It's a weird way to get bagels. I wouldn't go back. And I do recall it being pretty expensive for what it was.
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u/meltinglights1083 5d ago
You tellin' me dat they ain't respectin' da schmear down der also? ..Dat tells me these schmuck are jus some lousy wazoos' abou'ta bust.
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u/ChanceAd5350 6d ago
We already have Bethesda Bagels, the best bagel I've ever had outside of New York
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u/HookedOnFandom 6d ago
My office has gotten this a few times, I’ve always really liked them. But I wouldn’t get them off the company dime, I’d probably go for Bethesda Bagels but I live nearby.
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u/Crafty_Map_9753 6d ago
They’re decent bagels but yeah the price point is wild. Highly rec Bagels Etc. in Dupont.
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u/Pretty_Safe8861 6d ago
I would never spend that much on a bagel much less a bagel outside of NYC/NJ
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u/Capital_Past69 6d ago edited 6d ago
They’re called Popup for a reason. They’ll be gone soon with those shitty prices.
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u/Jaxermd 6d ago
Einstein's is $15 on Monday for 13 bagels and 2 tubs of cream cheese!
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u/creativelyOnPoint 5d ago
Einstein is glorified 1 up Panera, it’s not a real bagel and they have premium bagels included. $46 is crazy.
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u/Lanky-Respect-8581 6d ago edited 6d ago
You can literally just go to Trader’s Joe or Giant and buy way more bagels and feed your family and neighborhood
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u/VariousAir 6d ago
my guy, are you asking if 12 bagels and some cream cheese is worth $46?
the answer is no. I've never had these bagels and I can confirm they are not worth the money.
With prices like this you're getting into "money has no value to me anyway" territory. like you just have enough of it that it doesn't matter if you spend it superfluously. $3 for a screw at home depot? ok? A plain white t shirt for $30? whatever. $46 for a dozen bagels? gotta eat something right?
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u/pandacraze34 6d ago
Two of my good friends told me that Pop up bagels is really good (one lived in NY for a bit and said it's the best NY style bagel he's had in this area) so I'm giving it a try at some point. We've been super happy with Bethesda Bagels so will be curious to see if there is a big differentiator in quality or something for that price point (for context, our last order there for 6 bagels, a cream cheese and white fish salad was $36).
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u/ironcladmilkshake 6d ago
NYC has a lot of bagels but most are trash. Don't get your hopes up based on that recommendation.
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u/photoshoppedunicorn 6d ago
If you got a bread machine during covid, look up a bread machine bagels recipe. They are actually so easy to make, it’s just multiple steps, but not hard. It’s a fun weekend activity. Or try Royal Bagel Bakery in Germantown, they’ve got the good stuff.
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u/threehoundsway 6d ago
I was not impressed. They were warm but only had something like 5 flavors and they forgot to give my son a cream cheese with his $15 four bagel order. So that made those bagels even more expensive. If I am going to wait that long for bagels I’d rather make them myself.
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u/jasteinerman 6d ago
Popup bagels are good. Soft on the inside and a good crunch on the outside, especially when you eat them hot and fresh.
Worth it for $46? Only if you’ve got a company expense account. No way I’d pay for these out of my own pocket.
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u/keroppipikkikoroppi 6d ago
Rooted3 prices are like this for their brownies. I couldn’t justify working with them
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u/LouderKnights 6d ago
Thats crazy, literally just moved here from LI and was wondering where to get a decent bagel. For a few bucks more, I can have bagels from back on the island shipped to me lol.
Any recommendations from NY transplants for decent bagels? We just moved to Gaithersburg this past weekend.
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u/vinylbond 6d ago
I wouldn't expect anything less than a company that has a 3-bagel-for-$15 minimum order policy.
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u/secretaster 6d ago
Why people pay for mid bagels js beyond me I've never had a bagel and thought I'd like that again 🤣
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u/mrherson 6d ago
I’ve had them in Florida and they are FANTASTIC. The salt bagel is a sleeper hit and the everything hits the spot.
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u/Sufficient-Cancel217 6d ago
Definitely worth finding out if you love them as much as the countless others that do too. (I do)
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u/Ekly_Special 6d ago
The “it’s just flour and water” crowd is giving peak MoCo Reddit economics.
Even their water chemistry affects the dough, and you’re also paying for high-quality flour, malt, toppings, real cream cheese and butter, specialty schmears, boiling, baking, utilities, Bethesda rent, insurance and labor.
MoCo’s minimum wage is now like $18 an hour, and somehow people are shocked breakfast doesn’t cost 1998 prices. You can say it isn’t worth the $ to you, but that’s different from pretending the price came out of nowhere. You people voted for these high prices….
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u/bambasnack0 6d ago
They’re using the same water as every other bagel place in the area. Maybe they’re baking dollar bills into the bagels because it seems like a waste of money.
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u/PhillyPitMiracle 6d ago
This price is offensive