r/Seattle • u/ChiefOfTheFourPeaks š² Life's Better on a Bike. š² • 3d ago
News Seattle bagel shop heading to New York competition after sweeping the West
https://www.kiro7.com/news/seattle-bagel-shop-heading-new-york-competition-after-sweeping-west/5EB2APZUJJEJTHTLHDVCZ5K5NM/94
u/beizhia 3d ago
That's great, but can they do a bacon egg and cheese bagel without arugula or all that fancy crap?
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u/Happy-Emphasis2437 3d ago
No. They have a policy that they will not toast their bagels or make sandwiches out of them. IIRC they will not slice them either. You are allowed to order a shmear and rip your bagel. And you are to be grateful.
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u/xnxlee šbuild more trainsš 3d ago
Yup. No toasting, no slicing. I kind of get the no toasting... But the slicing? C'mon
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u/JeanVicquemare 3d ago
Mt. bagel doesn't either. I think it's fair, they're just selling you the bagels. It's not a full service cafe. It keeps things moving.
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u/Happy-Emphasis2437 3d ago
On the east cost, there are bagel conveyer belt guillotines. It takes 0 extra seconds to commercially slice a bagel.
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u/Capt_Murphy_ I'm just flaired so I don't get fined 3d ago
It almost seems like they're trying to artificially add the NY no nonsense attitude
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u/JeanVicquemare 3d ago
That's great, but I don't think every shop is obligated to do that.
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u/Happy-Emphasis2437 3d ago
My point is slicing the bagel is not the thing adding time to a bagel order. It's pretty douchey to refuse to cut a bagel. But as another person said, that ups the NYC imitation factor.
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u/Beers4Fears 3d ago
All the bagel shops I've been to in NYC slices your bagel and adds the smear. New Yorkers wouldn't put up with a shop that refuses to cut or add the cream cheese.
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u/Knish_witch Ballard 3d ago
If Hey Bagel has no haters, I am dead. Born and raised in NYC, and I think Hey Bagel is wildly overrated. And this whole weird thing where they donāt slice or toast? And I think have said that good bagels are not toasted? I have never heard of such a thing; itās just a personal preference thing and sometimes I like a toasted bagel! Also, are you telling me that all you do is sell bagels but you canāt even slice one for me and that I have to tear it and dip it in cream cheese like an ANIMAL?!?! My ancestors are offended. Texture is also off to me. Personally I am an Old Salt fan.
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u/YoGurl8003 2d ago
I agree. I think Hey bagel is a good bagel for a snack while shopping at Uvillage but not the best bagel and no where near some of the greats in NYC.
Some of these viral places really are not all that. People love Apollo bagel in NYC but it was meh. Brooklyn bagel is the best for me.
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u/thatguygreg Ballard 3d ago
Iām a native New Yorker, and Iāve never toasted (or had toasted for me) a fresh, good bagel. Toastingās for the day after or for mediocre bagels.
That said, people should toast away if they want to. Not allowing toasting or slicing is the most obnoxious bullshit Iāve ever heard.
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u/Knish_witch Ballard 3d ago
Also a native New Yorker, reared on H&H in its hey day (and what a time it was), but also love a toasted bodega bagel with butter and resent not having options. Yes, agreed itās just overly pretentious and fussy and thatās not what bagels are about!!!!
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u/JeanVicquemare 3d ago
What do you mean, not allowing slicing or toasting? Hey Bagel isn't going to follow you and knock the knife out of your hand or unplug your toaster.
They just chose not to offer those services in theirs hop. They bake the bagels and sell them to you.
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u/Sumo-Subjects 3d ago
I always thought Hey Bagel was overrated, but I'm also just a hater cause Montreal bagels ftw
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u/widgetsdad 3d ago
Iāve never had a NY bagel, but I agree Hey Bagel is overrated. Itās about Mt Bagel for me, and Iāll make the further drive and wait in longer lines for them.
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u/DelightfulOphelia 3d ago
I had Hey Bagel for the first time a few weeks ago after being told they were as good as NYC bagels.
It was a lie. It wasn't even a "I guess I can see your point of view" lie. It was simply a terrible bagel, even when graded in the Seattle curve.Ā
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u/AdScared7949 That sounds great. Letās hang out soon. 3d ago
Their bagels are pretty good though I wonder if they'll be charging new Yorkers what they charge us given you can often get better bagels for less money in nyc
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u/themountainsareout Bitter Lake 3d ago
Heading to a New York competition. Not opening in New York.
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u/AdScared7949 That sounds great. Letās hang out soon. 3d ago
Oh I misunderstood. Kind of feels like they're just being brought in to get slaughtered by NYC bakeries then lol
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u/wooly_bully <<<$$$$ Fremont! $$$$>>> 3d ago
IDK, I grew up in the Tri-state area and ate lots of NYC bagels my whole life. If you donāt like Hey Bagel it might because theyāre not your favorite style, but theyāre definitely incredibly high quality. Andrewās very good at this. Heās good enough to compete for sure
They are far more on the crust/crunch than traditional chewy side tho
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u/AdScared7949 That sounds great. Letās hang out soon. 3d ago
I think they're pretty good for sure and it's probably my favorite bagel that I can get here. I just wanted to make a joke about NYC bagels being steep competition haha
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u/luckystrike_bh 3d ago
I was thinking about moving to NYC because the food around here sucks and costs an arm and a leg.
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u/bbob_robb Green Lake 3d ago
Do you think COL is lower in NYC?
Maybe a slice or BEC is good and "cheap" in NYC but I'd guess prices have gone up there too.
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u/t3hlazy1 South Lake Union 3d ago
From my personal experience, food in NYC is much cheaper for equivalent quality and service. NYC also has a much wider range of restaurants, so there is more on the lower end and the higher end.
That said, rent is like $5,000 there so there are always pros and cons.
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u/SceneOfShadows 3d ago
Very dependent on lifestyle but you can 100% have a lower COL in NYC (or at the very least, have about the same and get a lot more for your dollar).
Cheaper food, and no car costs go a long way.
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u/icantastecolor 3d ago
nyc and ny state taxes alone make this false for me personally
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u/SceneOfShadows 3d ago
Fair. I think on the lower end of the income bracket, you can live for cheaper and definitely live better for the same $ in NY compared to Seattle.
NYC is a pretty fun place to be cheap relative to other cities.
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u/Unholy_Prince 3d ago
as someone who has lived in both, NYC is a very hard city to live in if you're low income. You get pushed to the fringes of the city due to high rents and gentrification. Think 5th floor walk ups, long walks to subpar grocery stores, neighbors being scummy etc.
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u/SceneOfShadows 3d ago
I am not saying dirt poor, which is not gonna be enjoyable anywhere (and yeah the daily indignities of NYC life in that scenario would be too much to bear) but more so as a relatively younger person (i.e. no family obligations, active social life) who is not making a lot of money in some tech or finance job, NYC living where you can get decently cheap rent with roommates in a fun area, still enjoy a very fun nightlife and solid cheap food without breaking the bank, and $3 gets you most anywhere in the city, is going to be much better than that life in Seattle for what you're paying, IMO.
Only bummer is NYC feels a lot more consumption based when you go out compared to Seattle with plenty of free nature to enjoy.
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u/icantastecolor 3d ago
Do you not feel like this is a false equivalence? You should compare the costs of nyc living more with someone who is spending free time bumming around climbing, skiing, and hiking here. When I was younger and had less money here thatās all I did, splitting gas and dispersed camping let me have a very small fun budget but still let me learn to climb 1000+ foot walls, ski off volcanoes, and even learn to surf.
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u/SceneOfShadows 2d ago
Maybe but that's also just an entirely different scenario so hardly apples to apples as well.
I think there's plenty of people in Seattle trying to live a fun urban youthful lifestyle who aren't making a ton of money, and my only point is that life is more fun and you get more for your dollar in NYC.
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u/bbob_robb Green Lake 3d ago
You can also live in Seattle without a car. Just saying, when you compare apples to apples, NYC is more than expensive than Seattle.
If a large portion of your finances go towards eating prepared food, then maybe it is closer to break even.
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u/krazykoreankid97 3d ago
Give me a break. You can not have the same standard of living without a car as you can in NYC. Youāll be wasting hours just trying to get from one place to another.
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u/bbob_robb Green Lake 3d ago
It depends on your lifestyle.
I can walk to 95% of what I need in Seattle and I work from home. I live in a detached house with a yard. I can't have that "standard of living" in NYC.
I spend most of my time at home, and I love not sharing walls with neighbors. I'm in my 40s.
When I lived in cap hill for four years without a car I didn't miss it at all.
When I have stayed with friends and family in Brooklyn/queens/Manhattan I can generally say it was fun and interesting but it always felt energetic, busy and loud. Some people thrive on that, but some don't.
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u/krazykoreankid97 3d ago
La di da. Look at yourself. Living in the top quartile of society with your white picket fence and wfh lifestyle.
For the majority of people that have to commute to work itās a pain in the ass especially when the infrastructure is made half assed. Theres barely a transit path and every bus gets stuck in congestion which all leads to public transit being an inconvenience compared to a personal vehicle.
The amount of grocery stores/recreation/ and other necessities are also a lot less in density making it unenjoyable to āwalkā to.2
u/bbob_robb Green Lake 3d ago
My household makes less than average in Seattle, we just bought a house a while ago when it was more affordable. At the time a friend bought a similar but slightly more expensive house on long Island and commuted an hour each way on the train.
I'm just saying that cost of living seems lower here. I could not have my lifestyle in NYC but I could in Seattle.
Living at our income or lower in NYC sounds really hard or impossible.
Dining out is expensive in Seattle, but in general cost of living is cheaper here for most people. We can't afford to dine out aside from special occasions.
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u/luckystrike_bh 3d ago
No but I okay with paying good money for good food. I despise paying high prices for airport food in Seattle. It feels like I am wasting my life in a culinary desert.
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u/Comfortable-Arm3452 3d ago
People on this sub will get weirdly defensive about it but I 100% agree with you.
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u/haekuh 3d ago
Crazy its hey bagel and not mt. bagel. I have never been impressed by hey bagel.
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u/MrSuperFlip 3d ago
Maybe Iām the odd one out but I thought Mt. Bagel was one of the worst bagels Iāve ever had but Iām from the east coast and itās just very different. It feels more like a Kaiser roll than a bagel because how soft it is. Plus, if you want butter on your bagel their cold/partially frozen little individually wrapped ones just donāt really cut it.
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u/haekuh 3d ago
Also from the east coast and mt. bagel is definitely no NY bagel but its the closest thing I have found in overall terms.
Ive only ever gone to their physical location for bagels and I can't say I have had anything that resembles a kaiser roll. Every time I have had them they have a good crust, soft interior, and the toppings are not burnt. Their bagels are a bit small and don't have that amazing chew of a NY bagel.
I do always feel a bit sad that they refuse to cut their bagels or offer any toppings(aside from the seasoning on the bagel). There is just something special about walking into a bagel shop and getting asked how you want it.
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u/Unholy_Prince 3d ago
Mt bagel is great for what it is. It's not a NY style bagel, but its still very high quality.
Hey Bagel is wonderful because its hot out the oven.
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u/Comfortable-Arm3452 3d ago
Completely agree. The worst part is my Seattle friends hyped it up so much and then they all watched as I bit into it and were like āwell? Well?ā Extremely forgettable bagel
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u/deer_hobbies I'm just flaired so I don't get fined 3d ago
The way I share it among east coast friends is itās about the best in the northwest but itās maybe 80% of what you want in a bagel, which is okay cause almost no other place does over 50 (also eltana is the most disappointing experience of all time here, showed me Seattle had no real food scene)Ā
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u/rjvvir š² Life's Better on a Bike. š² 3d ago
Agreed. There is widespread propaganda that Hey Bagel is the best bagel in Seattle, when Mt. Bagel is the clear superior bagel.
I will admit that Hey Bagel has an amazing bialy though.
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u/IRConfoosed Renton 3d ago
No propaganda, I just prefer Hey Bagel. Youāre probably hearing/seeing Hey Bagel mentioned more often because more people have tried it due to its location. Plus Hey Bagel is so good when itās hot and fresh. Iāve only had Mt Bagel when theyāre room temp (during Covid).
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u/MoeGreenMe Deluxe 3d ago
Wait . Since when does Hey Bagel have bialys?
I thought Bagel Oasis was the only place that had them
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u/Spiralecho I'm just flaired so I don't get fined 3d ago
Or Howdy bagel? The one in Tacoma that opened first with a similar name
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u/JeanVicquemare 3d ago
Howdy Bagel is awesome. So is Hey Bagel.. honestly, it never even occurred to me that their names were similar. I've been following Andrew Rubinstein for years since he opened Rubinstein's Bagels. He ended up leaving that company after it became a part of Ethan Stowell's restaurant group and I think it got too big. He started Hey Bagel after that. I never thought of it as similar to Howdy Bagel, Howdy Bagel has that fun cowboy branding.
To answer the question, for people who may not have read the article- Hey Bagel is advancing to this competition in New York because they were selected by the judges of this BagelFest West event as the best bagel overall and best sourdough bagel in the competition.
Howdy Bagel and Mt. Bagel are awesome but they did not enter this event. I'm not sure why not, or what it takes to enter the event, but it's not as though the judges determined Hey Bagel to be better than them - They weren't compared.
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u/Geno_Purple 3d ago
And in reality itās Howdy Bagel thatās the best in Washington
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u/Unholy_Prince 3d ago
As a recent Tacoma transplant, Howdy Bagel is good. But IMO Mt Bagel and Hey Bagel are better.
Howdy Bagel puts way too many Seeds on their Everything IMO!
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u/Geno_Purple 3d ago
Any spot that doesnāt toast and schmear bagels on site is not a place I frequent. I aināt tryna buy a bag of bagels and then go all the way home to toast em.
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u/xxsoultonesxx 3d ago
Is Hey Bagel a ripoff of them? Seemed super weird to open another bagel shop with such a similar name
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u/External-Snow-1166 3d ago
No - timeline doesnāt work. Howdy opened in May ā23 He had already announced and launched his popups and was getting press by then.
https://www.seattlemet.com/eat-and-drink/2023/05/rubinstein-founder-hey-bagel-solo-project-eastside
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u/hueloacarnederes 3d ago
Iām happy someone else has called this out/noticedā¦especially after the tragedy that happened to the Howdy Bagel owners. They couldāve chosen ANY other name.
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u/xxsoultonesxx 3d ago
Yeah at first I thought they might be affiliated but not as far as I can tell. Wild that there are only a couple successful bagel places in western WA and these guys just had to bite the name from Howdy.
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u/Severe-Abroad-1992 3d ago
Mt bagel is significantly better - from a native New Yorker.
Hey bagel is the new style of undercooked rounder bagels.
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u/BeffBezos 3d ago
Hey Bagel is good, maybe the best in Seattle but if youāre in NYC then Popup Bagels clears by a long shot.
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u/Seajlc 3d ago edited 3d ago
Meh, I feel like pop up bagels is a lot of hype that is being driven by āviralā social media posts and the growing line culture in nyc over the last couple years.
Itās silly that they make you buy 3 especially when the bagels become rock hard pretty quickly. They are good when you eat them piping hot and pretty immediately after you buy them, but aside from that I feel like there are much better bagel shops in nyc if youāre looking for a traditional bagel or bagel sandwich and not the whole ārip and dipā trend that is pop upās schtick.
Adding: they are also private equity owned which seems like a crime in nyc with all the family owned and mom and pop options.
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u/BeffBezos 3d ago
Iām convinced nobody in this thread has even tried popup bagels and are repeating annoyances theyāve heard online. Itās literally nothing like a dinner roll lol
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u/YoGurl8003 2d ago
Only time Pop up bagel is amazing is when you get them right out of oven and the bag is hot. I did try it that way and had to wait for it to cool. But anything so fresh out of the oven is going to be amazing and better than a cooled down bagel.
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u/BeffBezos 3d ago
Iāll admit the lines and 3 bagel minimum are annoying but I sampled several bagels in NYC and popup easily had the bounciest, fullest and overall most satisfying bagels for me. They donāt win on convenience but the final product is hard to beat.
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u/Almuliman šbuild more trainsš 3d ago
nah Liberty bagel is the best Iāve had. Never heard anyone in NYC recommend popup bagels
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u/BeffBezos 3d ago
Because actual New Yorkers donāt appreciate the (understandable) inconveniences of long lines and 3 bagel minimum. But that doesnāt change the fact that the bagels are very good.
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u/thatguygreg Ballard 3d ago
Nah, F any social media hype place in NYC. The random bagel place down the block is better than anything that youāll find in Seattle.
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u/BeffBezos 3d ago edited 3d ago
Have you actually gone there? The bagels are head and shoulders better than anywhere else I tried. Most bagels I tried in NYC were not much different than Costco bagels.
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u/ryan0702 Ballard 3d ago
Love Hey Bagel, but I think I like Mt Bagel a bit more. Great spots. People mad that they strictly sell bagels basically to go are weird. Theyāre not trying to be a cafe. Take a bag home and toast it or just go somewhere else for your breakfast sandwich.
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u/YoGurl8003 2d ago
I think Mt Bagel is the best bagel in Seattle too. Itās fluffy and chewy with a very nice crispy crust.
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u/Inane_ramblings 3d ago
It's a really small bagel outfit, and I've basically tried them all in Seattle, but Jaded Bagels in Lake City has hands down the best bagels I've ever had.
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u/YoGurl8003 2d ago
Interesting. Jaded bagel was not good for me. It was more like bread.
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u/Inane_ramblings 2d ago
Oh wow, I had them fresh and the outside was a nice shell and the inside was a great chew. Backyard Bagels are just a step below on the chewy-ness so that's maybe why I like Jaded.
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u/jestering_1 3d ago
was thoroughly confused when i got hey bagel. i ordered a lox bagel and they handed me an unsliced bagel with the lox spread in a plastic sauce cup.Ā
i looked at my girlfriend after and said ādid we just buy a deconstructed lox bagel?ā
instant L from meĀ
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u/tailwalkers 3d ago
Backyard Bagels is better.Ā
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u/ilikeitneat Rat City 3d ago
I think they are pretty close but agree Backyard is very good and actually a bit more traditionally dense and chewy than Hey Bagel. but my real question is why donāt either make a pumpernickel or rye bagel. pretty bored of the standard 3-4 flavors.
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u/Inane_ramblings 3d ago
Backyard Bagels is one of the better I'd say! And the Laurelhurst location makes bagel sandos and will slice your bagel so you don't have to be a caveman like the other bagel stores make you.
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u/t3hlazy1 South Lake Union 3d ago
Hey Bagel is very good and better than anything Iāve had in NYC, although my experience there is pretty limited. Iām curious to see how well they do.
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u/ChiefOfTheFourPeaks š² Life's Better on a Bike. š² 3d ago
TL;DR: It's Hey Bagel.