OTR Bagel Bar — Restaurant in Cincinnati

I went in around 12:30 on a Thursday. I understand the high prices due to location, but have high expectations when paying a premium. I got a half dozen for $10, the selection was pretty limited but not crazy surprising for being after noon. I just don’t know who would ever want a cheeto dust bagel or a fruity pebbles bagel, which is probably why they were some of the remaining options.

When I went to pay, he asked me if I had cash because their machine was on the fritz, but I said no and it worked fine. Maybe trying to save some $ on fees by asking for cash?

Anyways, had my first of those bagels today. For one, some of the six are rock hard. The poppyseed that I had today was hard but did soften up some after toasting. But overall, not good. The bagel is hard on the outside and dry on the inside. No chewiness, no crunchiness, it’s just disappointing.

Oh and I had to try to ignore the flies in the bagel case since I was already ordering by the time I noticed them.

I absolutely love bagels. They are one of the best breads in my opinion. I have had lots of bagels from around the country and this is probably one of the worst. The staleness is likened to a lenders bagel from Walmart. Einstein bagels are far better than these and that says a lot. But I still have five more to try and we’ll see. I’ll update this review if I get better results from the remaining bagels.

I likely won’t go back. Especially for $20/dozen!

(Video of a day old bagel which had...

My family and I used to travel 3 hours, every Sunday, for these bagels. They were without a doubt the best bagels we’ve ever tried... but then things started to go down hill. For starters, we would never pay the same price for our orders (that were always the exact same sandwiches)... on some days we’d pay 24, others 22, then on some only 15 dollars. Sometimes ingredients (such as schemers or bacon) would be missing. We never questioned as to why because we thought the bagels were worth it, despite the dry service. The only friendly server was an older man (whom I assume was the owner) that always charged us 15 for our sandwiches. Unfortunately, this past Sunday was the last straw for us. We placed our pick up orders the day before making the three hour drive to Findlay market... when we arrived, we found the shop closed. We never received an apology NOR did we receive a refund. We paid nearly 30 dollars ahead of time for sandwiches we /never/ received. That...

First, your excitement will be quickly abated as you are greeted by the dozen or so flies that frequent this establishment. Second, the cashier didn't know what bagels were still in stock and couldn't be bothered to move the 2 feet to look at what was available. Third, after taking my wife and I's order they waited about 15 minutes to tell us they were out of cream cheese. So we changed the order to a cheaper option to accommodate. We were not offered the difference in price. After waiting 30+ minutes we decided to cancel the order and ask for a refund. The staff decided it was a great business practice to argue with us and try to deny the refund. We again asked for a refund and we're finally issued it. The absolute best thing I witnessed was the staff drop a packaged bagel on the floor and still serve it to a customer. 0/10...