Everything Bagels — Restaurant in Durham

Aside from having great bagels, the owner stands behind her product and business. An order I placed got lost in the shuffle on a Saturday morning and, as a result, they ran out of the bagels I ordered in advance. The owner got on the phonee when I arrived to pick up and had discovered the mixup; Jennifer not only owned it, but also gifted me some various flavored cream cheeses AND offered to drive the bagels they ran out of to my house the next day (I politely refused her offer, but it spoke volumes about her business ethic and showed she really cares about doing the right thing)!

Now to the bagels: the everything bagels (regular and seaweed) are exemplary; the everything seasoning is baked onto the outside of the bagel so there is minimal loss (not a large amount of seasoning on the bottom of the bag, it stays on the bagel). Black Lime & Salt bagels are incredible, a great mix of salty that complements lox and capers wonderfully, as well as just plain cream cheese. The Spiced Fig bagels are seasoned with the right mixture of spices which makes this one a real treat with a sweeter topping (think honey cream cheese), also pairs well with cream cheese and fresh figs (when in season). The Turmeric Rye bagels have an edge that would not be for everyone, but I found these to be delicious, and the combination of these two flavors is (surprisingly) wonderful.

The cream cheese flavors I had were really good; the pepper jack had a nice spicy bite, but not overpowering, with incredible flavor and complexity. The EXTRA HOT cream cheese should be banned in the lower 48 states and most of the free world; it is very good but, even for a chilehead like me, it was spicy to the point I had to dilute it with regular cream cheese (as much as one can dilute habaneros). For those who are either brave enough or stupid enough (and that is oftentimes a fine line), have at it and let your endorphins run with the wind!!!

All in all, great bagels and my favorite place to get...

The bagel is a simple food but one that is very hard to master. I wanted to like this place, I miss my bagels in NY & Jersey.

I get the concept here upscale experience in a food court atmosphere. That’s where they lost me. The service was ok, the staff were ok but they were more interested in catching up with each other.

The bagel selection was very limited, they were dry and didn’t have that must chew in a bagel. The positive I will give on the everything bagel, looked very good had plenty of seasoning on top and bottom but the texture was off, the veggie cream cheese was different - was ok but again trying to hard to upscale.

I think so much emphasis was spent on an idea of what was felt to be upscale. The mark was missed.

Simple ingredients done right is gourmet, I will say that again. You don’t have to be over the top to make a great dish. Less time on the concept more time on getting it right.

I will keep hunting for a great bagel...

We were from out of town, saw this place on the durham food hall website. We were intrigued by the multiple flavors and combinations on their menu. Weren't going to go there until dinner, but because of everything bagels we made a point of showing up before they closed at 2pm on a Sunday. Astounding experience... let me explain: food= out the park homerun; prices= totally get your monies worth; service= again, another out the park homerun! The staff was extremely informative and helpful, allowed us to taste samples of different flavors before making our purchase decisions and super friendly to boot!!! To be fair, the only reason that we listed their price point at 20 to 30 dollars a person was because we loved their food so much and bought extra food to put in our coolers to drive out of state back home. A Regular meal if you live there and aren't buying extra would easily be 10 to 15 bucks. 1000%...