Gotham Bagels - Gold Coast — Restaurant in Chicago

I wanted to try Gotham Bagels as I'm a bagel fanatic, but I couldn't justify paying $5 for a bagel with butter on it. No matter how good a bagel is, charging $3 for the bagel and then $2 for the butter is a stretch.

The Bagler is just a few blocks south and they charge $3.30 for a bagel with butter.

A short drive to Niles will get you to New York Bagel & Bialy where they sell incredible bagels for $1 a piece and seem to do great business (open 24/7 too).

Curious that the Madison, WI location of Gotham Bagels sells bagels for $1.30

I understand that Chicago rent is more, but on the TimeOut NYC list of the top 18 bagel shops (in NYC) nearly every single one sells a bagel for around $1.25 and a bagel with butter for just around $3 .. and NYC rent is always more than Chicago.

I understand you need a margin and profit ... but I imagine a lower cost would increase business and you'd end up making far more $$ in the long run.

I may visit one day, perhaps on a future visit to Madison.

Update: (changed 2 stars to 3 stars).

I have had the opportunity to try some Gotham bagels at the location near Michigan Ave/Mag Mile. These are pretty good (and big) bagels. They’re on the pricier side, so I wouldn’t go frequently. The coffee was ok..there were grinds in my drip coffee on two different visits, so they could use some work at that location. Service was...

Before today my review would have been closer to 5 stars but today was a mess. Walked about 6 blocks to get a dozen bagels and a sandwich, was standing at the counter to order but was told only online ordering Friday-Sunday. I said ok but can you just take my order since I’m standing right here. Nothing but a blank stare from the girl at the counter who normally does a good job. So, after getting no common sense at the counter, I was getting madder as I was walking back home, (no way I was spending five minutes putting the order in online while I was standing a foot from the person who could take my order), so I called and asked for the manager who I figured is behind teaching everyone this no common sense policy. She was fairly pleasant, told me they had served about 200 customers today (how does that even matter?) and said they would look at their no common sense policy. She asked what she could do to make things better, so I said how about free bagels for a year?? She of course didn’t go for it so she probably should have just offered me something without asking an upset customer what he wanted. The moral of the story folks is order online before you go over there Friday through Sunday, otherwise things will not go well and the bagel police will...

This was my 1st time patronizing Gotham Bagels on Dearborn Street, Chicago. The bagels are fresh and substantial with a nice crunch to them.

I also ordered a 1/2 pound container of “traditional” tuna salad which brings me to the reason for only giving a few stars. When I picked up the order, I asked the cashier if he could tell me when the tuna was made. He looked on the container which did not show the production date or expiration date. He then went to the kitchen to inquire about the date returning a few minutes later saying they think it was made sometime on the weekend which was not too reassuring.

When I got home, I tried a spoonful of tuna which had a strange taste and did not taste like traditional tuna should. I threw the tuna out wasting $9. Btw, the bagels were delicious. My recommendation is Gotham should put the date of production on the tuna container and for those who like the taste of traditional tuna fish, don’t buy this product from Gotham as you will be...