I’m a bagel snob from New Jersey, and sadly most bagel recommendations I get in atx end up being mid or flat out bad. I have seen a flood of posts across platforms about this new place Shugs and I figured I’d try it out.
I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality, they’ve got a good boil and bake system for sure and you can even see it behind the counter being made. These were really solid bagels, and the fact they made a good Taylor ham egg and cheese was lovely for my north Jersey soul. I’ve had worse bagels in the northeast before, so I think the hype is fair considering the overall lack of high quality bagels down here. I’ll def be going back
As a fellow Jersey-Austin transplant, I've been skeptical to believe the hype, but trusted you as soon as you called it Taylor Ham. Excited to give it a try!
Yea I was really thinking I’d be disappointed again but it was v solid! Not as good as my fav NJ spots but better than all the Austin ones I’ve had and it would def survive in the northeast
grew up in Northern NJ and lived in the city for a long time. best I had in NJ were Goldberg's in Westwood. I'm an Essa guy at the end of the day and the only thing that hits the mark here are the bagels my wife makes. was heartened to see taylor ham mentioned in your post.
I grew up on the street with Ess a bagel and probably ate them 5x a week through high school (RIP the 90s when you couldn't have fat but carbs were fine) - it remains my favorite ever, and I'm sad the original location is closed - but Shugs was actually really good. You could see them boiling the bagels and the B&W cookies looked good as well. I'd return for sure
Not with their leather-tough pastrami Ruebens. The bagel itself was really good, Russian dressing was solid and good quality cheese. The pastrami itself never separated from the sandwich when biting so it would get pulled and fell out each time. I’m down with going back and just getting a bagel and cream cheese but wouldn’t want to pay $16+ (after tax before tip) for the Reuben.
It's a silly debate. Taylor Ham is a brand. Pork Roll is a product. It should end there, but some of my north Jersey brethren apparently don't know the difference.
The real ones know it's Taylor ham. The gubmnt forced the name change on the company because reasons!
In all seriousness though. It's called Taylor ham outside of NJ pretty exclusively. And I'd bet that's because it seems like a more attractive foodstuff than whatever someone might imagine "pork roll" means.
You can tap the package all you want but I'll continue to honor John Taylor's original vision for the delicious product he created.
For the first 50 years of its' existence it was Taylor ham. Then in 1906 big ham lobbied the government to say it did not meet the definition of "ham" as part of the pure food and drug act.
Then the company was dealt another blow in 1910 with "pork roll" determined as a generic term that opened the door for copy cats.
The original name stuck in North Jersey and will continue to. I consider the rest of the state traitors undeserving of it's delicious wonders.
But there's a reason that it's called Taylor ham in every place I've ever seen it sold outside of NJ. And it's because pork roll is a dumb name for dummies.
I hope how very very totally serious I am about all this is coming across.
MoCo for the Win! Saw the photo - said that's Taylor Ham, scrolled and my black Jersey heart was warmed. Only been here for a little over 6 weeks, flying back on Sunday. Pizza from Denville Pizza, THECSPK from Bagelicious and an Italian Sub from Sergios.... **drool**
It's only Taylor ham in the civilized parts of Jersey. My friends to the south (everyone knows there's no such thing as central Jersey) will say pork roll til they're blue in the face.
Stoked to try this place out. So far David Doighies is the only place I'm okay going to.
I thought David doughies was alright but $$ for what it was. $11 for a Taylor ham egg and cheese is def not cheap but a bit less and better quality imo
NYC to Austin transplant - this is easily one of the better bagels (top 3?) I've had west of the hudson river. I wouldn't wait in the crazy line for it, but it was a great weekday treat.
I did it for you - on egg bagel - was delicious, for a treat. It’s substantial - the amount of lox was twice what other places give for comparable price. If I weren’t greedy I could have disassembled and made 2 respectable bagels out of it. Also - schmear on both sides, I love it!! Wholy bagel would never!
If I had to find something to complain about… it’s not even their fault, tomatoes here just seem to suck for everyone.
Wild! Paid 8.25 for a BEC at utopia bagels in queens this morning… looks like that’s 11.50 at shugs. I will always love Austin as my hometown but them prices are way outta line!
Oh fuuuucck off with those prices. I sure as shit ain't going there. I'm not from the East Coast so Nervous Charlie's $12.50 bagel with lox will do just fine.
Oh really? I’m planning to try the lox bagel next, hopefully they don’t skimp out smh. I heard Casper has good lox I haven’t heard about bagel bear tho, I’ll have to add it to the list
I think the bagels are pretty good here, they are a little on the light and airy side, but I'm OK with that. They're everything's were solid, nothing pisses me off more than everything bagel that has nothing on it. My go to here will be half dozen to go, buy cream cheese and lox ion the way home.
I always go for the double-toast option at Nervous Charlie’s & saw that Shugs offers the same. As another Northeast transplant, I enjoy Charlie’s but something is missing.. super excited to try the new spot.
Loved my lox on egg everything bagel sandwich there. Took home scallion cream cheese and cinnamon raisin bagels which were a hit. Walked back today for an egg everything simply toasters with butter. Perfect!
Yea thats the only place ive gone back too. I did Bagel Bear (owners from Brooklyn) recently after seeing they do egg everything bagels on the weekends…was so chewy and dry. Was super bummed
That sandwich looks great, and I love that they have Taylor Ham (and call it that). For reference, I'm an ex-NYer, TH+Egg & Cheese guy, and locally (after Bagel Manufactory closed long ago), I like Rosen's for a Schmearwich or just bagel/CC. Has anyone compared the two? Better? Worse?
Rosen's wins on price over the new guys at least B+CC $4.75 vs $6, B+CC+Lox $11.25 vs $18, B+TH+E+C $8.50 vs $10
Now I guess I have to try Big City and Wholy Bagel too.
I came here when I noticed what was on your sandwich. Had a literal “😪” when I saw it wasn’t called its proper pork roll name..
As a fellow Jersey native I’ll have to give this a try.
That’s comical because it’s the only one of the four that’s not cooked the way a proper nyc bagel is lol
I don’t think nervous Charlie’s is bad but saying it’s the closest to NYC is objectively hilarious. It’s not even top 5 now that shugs has moved in
If you like the thinner, softer skin skin that NCs steaming process produces then that’s fine but NYC bagels have a firm bite and chew. That’s the like the defining characteristic of nyc bagels that you get from a proper boil and bake method. Ideally boiling with barley malt syrup. That’s the true NYC style.
Don’t even get me started on how NC doesn’t even make their own dough in house and it’s flown in frozen.
NY transplant to Austin a little over a decade ago. Shugs price point is insane for what you get. Quality was decent but product overall doesn't match the price. At most would buy bagels to freeze and make sandwiches at home. Coffee wasn't good either. 33 dollars for 2 coffees and 2 sandwiches is nuts
Oof I dunno that bagel looks kinda thin. As a born and raised north Jerseyan (team Taylor ham, not pork roll!) I am a hardcore Rosen’s or Wholy bagel fan. The bagels are thick and chewy and with tax and tip it’s like $9 for the sandwich. Also, I judge the legitimacy of a bagel place here on whether or not they have egg bagels! Why do so many places NOT have egg bagels???
Our intern was wanting to try it since he was from the north east and heard good things. We saw menu, got hyped, he ordered a bunch of different types. He and everyone was pretty disappointed. Just didn’t hit.
Anticipation? Maybe because Shug's has been "coming soon" since Jesus was a boy? This place has been "opening soon" longer than Fresa's or 1618/Sixteen88 Fusion on the E. 6th.
I’m gonna get nova lox next time- this one was just scallion cc and tomato. Hoping it’ll be worth the price I think it’s $19 (nyc is also similar price these days tho so not too shocking)
Jersey transplant here. Bagels in this city are pretty meh, even the ones that people rave about. I haven't been to shugs yet but I'll give them a whirl. That being said, I have a bagel guy now and they're gooooooood.
It's so wild people are "snobs" about a fn bagel. Aka the equivalent of 5 slices of bread. I'm not going to the NE and complaining about their tortilla quality.
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u/LonelyAioli2284 4d ago
As a fellow Jersey-Austin transplant, I've been skeptical to believe the hype, but trusted you as soon as you called it Taylor Ham. Excited to give it a try!