Barb City Bagels — Restaurant in DeKalb Township

I ordered a sun dried tomato bagel with cream cheese and a coffee. They give you a coffee cup and you pick your roast (or cold) and add cream, sweetener, or flavoring as desired. I wanted to mix dark and medium roast, but both were out. I informed the counter staff and they collected the 2 empty air pots and began brewing the fresh coffee into them. Why weren't there back up pots ready to go as soon as the first ones ran out ? I began to eat my bagel and realized that it was whole wheat, not sun dried tomato. I went up to the counter and looked at the bins that held bagels. Whole wheat and sun dried tomato shared a bin, one on the left side, the other on the right. I told the worker that I had been given the wrong bagel and would continue eating it (I hate wasting food) but could I have an adjustment ? She offered me a dollar which I accepted. After 20 or so minutes had passed, the coffee had not finished brewing. So I asked about it. "It takes a long time." was the reply. I was flummoxed and irritated but I did not launch into a tirade: "I worked in food service for 25 years and have brewed numerous pots of coffee. It doesn't take twenty minutes. Why don't you start brewing a back up pot before the first one runs out ? Is the machine long overdue for de-liming ? This would result in a restricted water flow ?" The coffee finally appeared--I'm not exaggerating--after 45 minutes. I don't know what to tell you. If you go, check their work and if you have limited time, make sure the coffee is available before you order. Management should get a handle on employee training, buying more equipment, and regular equipment...

I loved this place while I was staying in Dekalb. I got some really good bagel sandwiches here. I enjoyed all the varieties of bagels and cream cheese they had. The bagels were always fresh and soft. While there’s no really unusual flavours, there’s a pretty wide selection. They also do pastries like muffins and scones, and drinks. I also really liked the blueberry knot and sunrise muffin I tried! The bagel knots come gratuitously topped with cream cheese icing, which looked a little excessive, but I actually didn’t think it was too much once I spread it a little. The chai was a little sweet for me, but it still had a nice flavour. FYI the mix they use has milk powder in it, so while you can change the type of milk they add to it, you can’t make it dairy free (the staff was helpful to let me know about this when I ordered it with almond milk). The decaf coffee could have been stronger but was fine. They have a few different flavours of regular brew. The only thing I didn’t like was the peach smoothie; it just tasted like syrup. The staff was great every time I visited. I really appreciated that they accepted the personal cup I brought for my cold drinks. Lots of comfortable seating in the shop. Big windows let in lots of light, and you can grab a newspaper to read while...

First off the bagels are great, the service is sub-par at best. I have to repeat my order every time I'm ordering my one bagel with one topping, its not too intense of an order. I have to repeat my order every time I'm ordering my one bagel with one topping, its not too intense of an order. See, isn't that annoying? When there are a lot of customers there is no sense of urgency, I know its only a bagel I'm after but come on man. The place has a great location right downtown but it is not the cleanest by far. First thing that has to go is that horrible fish tank that hasn't been fully cleaned since...? If it rained that day or the day before expect to get dripped on, don"t worry its probably cleaner than that fish tank. Ceiling tiles are obviously stained from rain water and totally missing by the bathrooms. There are literally buckets on the tables that you eat on collecting the water. I hope you like everything bagels because the counter gets cleaned when the fish tank does and every order that happened in the last hour is now on your bagel. This was the last straw for...