Beans & Bagels — Restaurant in Frederick

My wife, friend, and I have been here twice and each time have had really good food, but not so great service. The first visit, my friend ordered a bagel with no cream cheese. His back came out slathered in it. My wife also ordered something and it came out wrong (don't recall what it was).

Months later (today), we tried it again. A different person took our order. He was apathetic and had no customer service skill. Perhaps because he might've been a cook primarily? But I think even a cook would have some professional tact. He made no eye contact with my wife, tapped a few things on the screen, then made this face akin to "Are you gonna order or what?" My wife placed her order a, multi-grain bread with plain cream cheese because they were out of bagels. He also made a weird face at that. I ordered a sausage & egg croissant sandwich. He asked me twice if I wanted cheese. I said NO cheese and shook my head. My friend ordered a platter that included over hard eggs. While we waited, we observed new customers walking in. One lady asked if they had any more bagels left (it was lunchtime, they were almost sold out completely). The owner, who was prepping drinks, gave a snarky response. This seems to be his attitude towards everyone. He acted snarkily the last time we visited, too.

Our orders came out. My friend's eggs were over easy (they remade it, at least). My sandwich had cheese. I was too hungry to ask for a remake. My wife's cream cheese order tasted like salmon, which means there was cross contamination (thankfully she doesn't have an allergy).

The food is delicious--provided it's your correct order and wasn't touching another food product. The customer service is overall lacking. The two other cooks who brought out orders were very nice and apologized for my friend's incorrect order. It's a shame because it's a pretty cool little eatery with a huge menu and great price point. I can't say we'll be back, though. Not for a long while at least.

Edit 02/28/2022: On our second visit, I also ordered a decaf drink as I'm sensitive to caffeine. It was not decaf after all. I did not sleep until after 6am the next day....

I really wish I could recommend Beans & Bagels. Unfortunately, I can’t. Neither my girlfriend nor I had a positive experience. We had breakfast at 10:30AM on a Sunday. The restaurant was busy but not crazy busy. Outdoor dining was full as was the front dining room, however, there were three empty tables in the back section. When we arrived there were four people waiting for takeout and three in line to order. Okay, so maybe it was crazy busy for this relatively small restaurant/coffee shop. So what led to our poor experience?

the first employee/owner I came in contact with to place our order was grumpy and unwelcoming, as was the server/food runner. Neither wanted to be there and their lack of enthusiasm showed. as to the food, the meal was a reflection of the cooks lack of passion for creating great food. The eggs were overcooked, the hash browns were undercooked, to the point of being inedible. They were basically raw potatoes on the inside, but nicely browned on the outside. Strange. They had little seasoning and even less taste. The bacon was limp, fatty, paper thin and wet with grease. The highlight of the meal was the rye toast. as to the decor, they say a picture paints a thousand words. See the photo of the dilapidated vinyl bench seat attached. I’m not sure what was worse, the food or sitting in the hot restaurant on top of sticky electrical tape. Based on the condition of this piece of furniture, I’d say the owner of this restaurant has just given up. Not...

My wife and I wanted to try something new. Therefore, we decided to try this place out because of the positive reviews we were reading online. However, after eating here, I have to admit that I feel that the positive reviews are only coming from people who are so excited about downtown Frederick that they forget to remove their rose-colored glasses to see this place for what it really is… and that is a mediocre brunch cafe’. First, I ordered a breakfast combo that included 2 scrambled eggs, home fries, pancakes and sausage. The eggs were unsalted, the home fries were grocery store frozen potatoes and the pancakes were not anything to brag about. And second, the attitude that the owner gave my wife while she was trying to order made her feel so uncomfortable to the point where I had to finish her order for her. To further elaborate, my wife was rushed during her order when she was trying to decide on which bagel to get. The owner asked in an aggressive tone “are you still thinking of what bagel you want!” I understand that most who read this will be quick to accuse me of being a “ Karen,” and to that I say by all means try this place out for yourself. But, just keep this review in the back of your mind during your experience, and you decide for yourself. Just remember to remove your rose-colored glasses before stepping through the door, because I guarantee that even you can make a better version of breakfast at home when compared...