The Forge Bagel Co. — Restaurant in Winnipeg

One would think that this is just a bagel shop.

In reality, I see it as something more.

The huge line of customers down the block this morning made me slow down. Who lines up for a bagel? They had people directing traffic. The line went down the block and then looped back. There were, I dunno 200 people in line? I should have took a picture. You see that for iPhone launches, not bagels!

I parked down the street and walked over.

This is clearly a labour of love and they want to show it. It’s completely obvious. They have a dedicated outside window looking right into their bakery. You can see exactly how these are prepared. Where have you ever seen that? I watched for a few minutes. Very interesting.

You can see the careful concentration, the deft ballet of chefs in full regalia clearly working under pressure and with the joy of making something unique in that immaculately clean kitchen.

I figured I’d wait for the rush to end and come back later.

Two hours later, the line was even longer.

Something special was happening here.

I came back a while later with my wife this time and it had tapered off to the shortest line I had seen thus far, so I made my move.

The people walking out the door with their bags had huge grins on their faces. Clearly, they knew they had scored. I was anxious to find out myself! I wanna bagel!

When we finally got in after about 30 or 45 minutes in some nippy wind, the warmth and smell of the roasted coffee on our faces was heavenly. My wife whispered “that smells sooo good!”

We had finally made it.

There weren’t many bagels left.

I can’t imagine how many went out the door over the course of the day.

Many of the bins were empty apart from what looked like stray roasted jalapeno rings and poppy seeds, but there still were some bagels.

The crew in the back was working away but clearly they had put out some big numbers and were getting tired.

I overheard one of the staff talking in one corner presumably with some friends, about how they had to ration how many bagels people could get, so that everyone could get some. Smart move.

Some early people were trying to buy dozens of them. Perhaps to scalp them to the crowds outside behind them?

So we ordered our bagels (an Everything style I believe) and got a couple of their special “Lifts” spreads to go onto them and compare between us.

The menu board reads like something out of a Michelin restaurant, exotic and tempting. Lots of options there for sure and it says more are to come. There was a LOT of thought put into this place.

I loved the coffee menus. Very reasonably priced for sure. Great décor.

The flow of people was a bit bumpy inside, but I expect they will figure that out.

We ordered a couple of their hand-crafted coffees and stood, while their baristas put the Espresso machine through its melody of grinding, hissing and frothing.

My wife spotted a table opening, so she grabbed it.

I walked over to her a couple of minutes later, with beautiful, steaming, ceramic cups of fragrant coffee in my hands and sat down. We took a sip. Pretty much perfection.

A couple of minutes later, the server brought a board with our bagels on it.

We looked at each other, picked up a bagel half and bit...

My daughter and I were there at 830am on opening day, and there was already about 60 people in front of us! After waiting in line for just over 2 hrs, we finally made it inside and let me tell you, it was worth the wait! We both tried the Everthing In bagels, 1 with the plain cream cheese lift, and the other with the French Onion with Garlic lift (so we could share). She got a macchiato with a shot of caramel, and I had an English Breakfast tea to enjoy inside (lovely ambience too, with Glen stopping to ask how everything was and he was so kind and sweet). We had to take a 6 pack of bagels home, and both LOVE the tote bags we were given with our purchases. PLEASE open another location over in the Headingley/Charleswood area, so we can enjoy all of the deliciousness on a very regular basis! Huge congrats to the whole team, especially those working tirelessly in the kitchen! Trying to keep up with demand is going to be difficult 😁, but what a...

Just checked out the newly opened Forge Bagel! I had the Blistered Onion bagel with the Wild Salmon Lox w. Dill lift - delicious! I also had an iced matcha latte which was perfectly made - not everywhere gets matcha right but this exceeded my expectations. The lineup was to the door (which was great to see for a new local business) but I was able to find parking easily and everything moved quickly. The vibes were fun, friendly and professional. Everything was moving smoothly even on their third day open. It was accessible with my baby stroller. I will be coming back to try their...