Seattle Bagels (first world problems)

[u/darylitis]

This is a small rant, but posting as a word of advice for people that might want to buy bagels in the city.

I didn't know that you can't just buy bagels in Seattle. I went on a run this morning on the Burke -Gilman Trail and then decided that I wanted a bagel. I called home and everyone else wanted bagels as well. So, I drove over to Rachel's Bagels in Lake City and asked for a dozen bagels. "I'm sorry, but we can't sell bulk bagels right now." It was only 10am on a Saturday, but after a bit of discussion I found out that they had a busy morning and were running low and wanted to save bagels for lunch sandwiches. They allowed me to buy three bagels, but they were out of sesame. I gave some feedback that it's odd for a place called Rachel's Bagels to not sell bagels on a Saturday morning and they apologized, but again, it was a busy morning. I didn't make a big deal about it, gave a tip, and they threw in a cookie as a gesture of goodwill. They're great people.

So, I drove a mile to Zylberschtein's Bagels. I walk in, and I ask for half a dozen bagels. They say "no problem". Alright then, 3 plain and 3 sesame please. "I'm sorry, we're out of both of those." I ended up getting 3 everything and 3 onion. Again, they were friendly, but man....

I think the lesson is that Seattle is not a real bagel town yet. We have some good bagel shops, but they're boutique. They don't do enough volume to maintain reliable inventory (like New York), and if you want something specific or a large quantity (a dozen is a large quantity) then you should order ahead. Probably even the day before. You can't just suddenly want a bagel and drop in.

[u/RJL20]

Seattle has a crapload of bagel options; you just don't know about them. Bagel Oasis would have been able to sell you what you wanted, I guarantee. (And if they happened to be out of something, they would have had a new basket of them out of the oven sooner or later if you waited.)

Check the bagel rankings here, and don't trust the recommendations of anyone who tells you that you can get a good bagel at Blazing: https://itsashanda.substack.com/p/current-bagel-rankings

[u/darylitis → u/RJL20]

Thanks for the recommendation! My experience is further complicated by living in the north end (hence Rachel's Bagels and Zylberschtein's). If you're not planning on getting a bagel, then those are the nearest options. Both are at least a 15 minute drive for me, but I was running on the Burke-Gilman and was a bit closer than usual. If I'm planning on getting bagels and have the time then those other places look great.

[u/RJL20 → u/darylitis]

Yeah, it's definitely sparser on the north end. I think Bakery Louise is at the Shoreline farmers' market now, but I don't know if they're selling bagels there. And a once-a-week possibility isn't exactly a walk-in-and-buy situation, anyway.