The Bronx Bagel Buggy — Restaurant in Chamblee

I think they have the potential to be a great little neighborhood bagel spot. Their bagels are pretty good - like 7/10 (though there are other spots further up 400 for more authentic NY bagels). The store is very cute and the owners and staff couldn’t be nicer. I loved how they shouted customers names out when orders were ready (reminded me of home).

I went Sunday morning at 11am, and left with a half dozen bagels at 1pm. (just the bagels, nothing done to them). I didn’t mind waiting in the line outside as it really wasn’t that long and is to be expected with a new local spot, it was more of the chaos inside that I think needs work. I people watched for an hour and observed a lot. I grew up in northern NJ, so I’m no stranger to how bagel spots and local delis should operate. If this place can get their operations in order, they’ll kill it. Usually you have 1-2 “runners” with the cashier to help fulfill the faster, less time-intensive tickets. If they were able to clear the customers that just want a half dozen or dozen bagels to go with a tub of schmear (nothing fancy), they’d be able to better focus on the ones that ordered toasted bagels & sandwiches. They also need atleast 1 more person in sandwiches, though the woman that was in it was ON IT. She was a machine!

They were also heavily reliant on a bagel slicer that kept getting jammed or hacksawed the bagels, causing them to go through more bagels than they had available. They had one person solely on coffee that ended up not being utilized as often too.

The prep galley was also pretty squished for max workflow, and the bagels being up high instead of in a case made it hard for the customers to see what flavors were left and the toppings like everything and onion kept falling on one of the owners. They had a lot of other things going on like pastry’s and such too which took up a ton of counter room, but they mainly were going through the bagels so maybe not necessary.

Again, I think it’s first-time shop design issues and just figuring out a rhythm and workflow to handle the traffic. But the bagels were pretty good and the staff couldn’t have been nicer even with the demanding crowd. I highly suggest they visit BB’s up on 12 and observe their workflow because if they adapted that, they’d be crushing it. Will be back in a few months to see how...

The good: The bagels were amazing. I just moved here from Brooklyn and haven’t had a good bagel (or pizza) since I landed in ATL. Until today. I can confidently say, these Bronx Bagel Buggy bagels smacked!! I ordered a plain bagel to establish a baseline, a BEC on a bagel, and a jalapeño cheddar bagel with chive cream cheese for my first experience, and they were all just as good as anything I’ve had in New York. Bravo.

The bad: I arrived with my 3yr old daughter at 9:31am and we received our order at 10:49am. It took 78 minutes to get our food. For this reason (even though the bagels were superb) I will not go back. Standing in line 78 minutes is unacceptable. Even if they work really hard to cut the wait in half to 39 minutes, it’s still absurd.

Suggestions: hire people that know how (and want) to HUSTLE. The staff fulfilling tickets was apathetic, slow, inefficient, and it’s unbecoming to your business. Focus on speed and communication with people waiting. Even if things are slow, communicate with the line and set some expectations. Let people know if something is running behind, or inventory is low, or about how much longer it will be. Focus on execution; You need to play error free ball, no mistakes. Coffee orders need to come out FAST and accurately, redoing coffee orders costs lots of time. Focus on accuracy; You can’t sell an entire line full of people a “rosemary salted bagel” and then realize you’ve run out after taking all the orders. Need tighter comms between the front and back of the house. It seemed like ownership is very much happy and excited that they have a line out the door, and that they’re busy, but not serious about their customers experience. FYI nobody thinks it’s cute, endearing, or charming that your business is chaotic and overwhelmed. Get...

Updated (2/22/25): We ordered online at 9:15 am on Saturday, 2/22/25. Steven, one of the owners, was in and out of the kitchen dropping off online orders and he was so welcoming and friendly! We really appreciated it. He even went back to check on our order for us. The line wasn’t as long that early. Not much seating inside, and a few tables outside.

I always get a toasted everything bagel with raspberry jalapeño cream cheese. Always delicious and packed with cream cheese. Their bagels and cream cheese are just so good.

I recommend ordering online to avoid the line.

Updated (3/3/24): Great bagels, but they need to figure out the line, which is 45 minutes to an hour, or even longer during peak hours. Their customer service is severely lacking, and they’re going to start losing customers, even though their product is very good. They know how to make great bagels, but they don’t know how to run a business, and until they get that figured out, we won’t be back.

Original (12/21/23): We got 4 dozen bagels ($24 per baker’s dozen) for an event on Sunday, 12/10/23. The bagels were super fresh and amaaaazing. They had the perfect crunch on the outside, but were soft and warm on the inside. We got plain, everything, sesame, asiago, and poppy. They were all delicious. We also got 8 8-ounce tubs of cream cheese ($8.50 each). We got plain, scallion, cinnamon pecan, and raspberry jalapeño. The unique flavors were a huge hit! We would 100% get BBB bagels and cream cheese for an event again!

I also went to the soft opening on Thursday, 12/21/23. I got a toasted everything bagel ($2.50) with lox cream cheese ($2.50). It was tasty! I also got a chocolate chip cookie ($4.09), which was fine.

I definitely recommend Bronx Bagel Buggy! So great to have such delicious bagels in...