Johnny's Bagels & Deli — Restaurant in Bethlehem

Went to Johnny's today for the first time after months of glancing at the menu online and passing "we should go's" back and forth. We come from a town with an iconic bagel shop which is so loved if you don't show up right at 6 when they open you are already 10th in line. Today is my birthday and we were off and up early enough to give Johnny's a try so we placed our order by phone and took a walk on down to Main.

First and foremost the food was pretty good. I got a wrap with grilled chicken and all sorts of warm tasty veggies. It came with thick and crunchy Tortilla chips as well as a beloved pickle. The Mrs. Ordered a lovely salad with big clusters of nuts, Bleu cheese and slices of apples (which would have been nice diced but, hey, that's showbiz). We also ordered homefries which were far less appealing. They were undercooked, underseasoned, oily and simply very basic. As I write this they're sitting in a pan in my air fryer as I tried to revive them but forgot they existed. That being said about the food, the in store experience was less than great and is the main reason this review is 3 stars. After waiting in line looking at all of the goodies on the counter on the way we arrived at the register. The cashier was pleasant enough and grabbed the bag with our items, listing them off. We let her know we also ordered 2 drinks in which she told us (after placing this order on the phone through an employee) "Oh yeah, I know those are on the menu but we don't do those. We don't have the stuff to make all of that."

Okay.

So we begin to pay for the food we were allowed to have. As my partner approaches the credit machine a man comes out from the back and calls out 2 orders. He then places 2 plates of food directly in front of her on the counter for the patrons to deliberate whom the food belonged to all while being intimately close to the both of us and interrupting our transaction. We continued to pay and took off.

Overall would try again but with high hopes and low...

So at first glance this bagel and deli seemed like a standard bagel and deli shop and it wasn't our first pick. We had actually been craving the flying egg that is across the street from this shop but they had a 30 min wait. We were expecting to get some breakfast and be on our merry way, and when we heard the salsa music we figured not bad we might be in store for a decent breakfast. I guess it's true that it's your own race that does you wrong. We were received with subpar hospitality and coming from the hospitality industry, I have a standard scale for customer service and care. We were upcharged for our order and mistreated through our ordering process. We paid for our order with cash, and then he told us he forgot to charge us for something else. Which wouldn't have been a big issue if he hadn't not been so rude to us. We didn't even get a standard "You're Welcome after we both thanked him for taking our order. We sat down and waited for our food and noticed that the treatment changed with all of the other customers. His demeanor changed and he used the politeness that was obviously misplaced when we order. So that's the hospitality side. Now to the food!! The food was decent, everything was cooked in a timely fashion and the condiments are available there and up for grabs, however the home fries were undercooked which is weird cause if your going to charge for it and be extra about it, you could at least make sure they are properly cooked. Either way, the food was decent nothing to rave about. All In all this place gets a 2. I would be petty and go lower, but I understand mom and pop businesses and I'm not trying to ruin it with a bad review, just voicing what I received as a first time customer, who will gladly not be back. I'll reserve my time and dining experience for the flying egg and next time we will wait the 30 mins for...

What a shop...what a curious little shop...I entered as a guest of a friend, brought in to celebrate my recent college graduation a month plus late. No matter...my buddy encouraged me to get a bagel and a nice warm drink to thaw the toes and face from the residue of Winter, lingering 'round the Lehigh way...

I interacted with the gentlemen behind the counter and found out they had several cream cheese options for the daily, fresh-made bagels they served with smiles and toppings. I chose the everything. Thinking on the memory of a former pastry which I no longer could have, I requested the jalapeño cream cheese.

I sat in a squashy, red sofa next to the window with my buddy and took a bite of the bagel......onion..creamy..spicy..savory..seeds......flavor after flavor, sensation after sensation...the jalapeño had been sauteed so much so that it's essence had been evenly distributed throughout the cream cheese, the latte had a froth of whipped topping floating like an island in a sea of tempered chai; dressed in chocolate syrup, and adorned generously with pepperings of fresh nutmeg.

In so weary a valley, in towns so divided by ambition and greed, in the crux of selfishness borne of pride...there, just a block, skip, and a step over...sits a shop...a most curious, warm little shop......just a shop......that serves love...(thank you Mohammed and Abdul for the bagels and cream cheese ... inshallah, I'll be back soon,...