Lighthouse Bagels — Restaurant in Corolla

This native New Yorker had to try the NY bagel shop when in Corolla. I had saw a TikTok featuring this place weeks ago and knew I wanted to try it. So after catching the sunrise we headed over to the bagel shop around 7am and there was already a line outside. That’s a good sign in my book! The line was long but it moved swiftly. Lots of staff on deck with pleasant attitudes greeting and helping the customers. I was waited on by a man training another young man. He was friendly and efficient and obviously invested in the training of the individual. Now to the important part of the visit. The bagels! Fresh and delicious and absolutely reminiscent of what I’d find back home in Long Island, NY. The cream cheese is homemade and delicious and they really are generous with the smear…. Which if you know anything about NY bagel shops…. They go heavy on the cream and without request. We tried an egg everything bagel and Sriracha everything Bagel, bacon egg and cheese sandwiches. They did not disappoint. We also had to try a cream cheese bagel and had onion and the beer pretzel bagel. Both also yummy. I do wish I had my normal favorite of the salt bagel but the reviews hyped the beer pretzel, so I had to try. Pretty tasty. Overall the place was fast, fresh and delicious. The service was awesome and I would...

UPDATE: Contacted the Currituck Health Department, which indicated that they have received multiple complaints about Lighthouse Bagels and have reminded them about the mask mandate. Health department explained that they do not have enforcement authority, only police do. And police have indicated that they refuse to enforce the mandate. So, it appears that Lighthouse is knowingly violating the mask mandate knowing that no one will call them on it. So let this help you decide whether you want to eat there or not.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: Employees not wearing face masks and NOT staying behind plexiglass panels. No excuse for this level of ignorance at this point in a pandemic.

But let’s put that aside for just a moment. My family went in and ordered five sandwiches. They gave us only four of them and one of the veggie sandwiches we ordered was piled high with meat. When I asked about our sandwich the fool behind the counter tried to argue with me that he already made one kind of that sandwich today.

To make it up to us, the cashier gave us a free piece of coffee cake by handing it to us with no mask on. I have never before shouted “What the F is wrong with you?” at an employee of a bagel shop before and hope never to...

Sadly, this place isn’t worth the 1 star rating (can’t give zero stars). DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS PLACE. The place typically has a long line and offers you to place your order ahead of time. The website says not to place your order until you see the estimated wait time but will not show you the wait time until after payment is taken. I placed an order for 1 bagel at 10:30am on Saturday and after the payment was processed, it told me my bagel would be ready for pickup the following day. I waited 35 minutes and then asked the cashier if he had any idea how long it would take. He proceeded to tell me that it was my fault that I ordered online and should go wait in the line and order again at the front. I told him that I had already paid but he brushed it off and called someone else’s name for pickup. I then watched another customer come up and say the same thing and get the same answer from the cashier. It seems that this is a typical scenario for them. Overall not a huge issue considering the bagel was only 5$, but I would highly recommend ordering from any other bagel shop.

Update: here is a photo of the bagel that I...