Time 4 Bagels Cafe — Restaurant in Gainesville

This is a locally owned, small business. I really hope they succeed, so that’s why I gave 5 stars because I do not want to affect their rating. I do have some constructive pointers. We ordered 3 sandwiches from here. 1 egg & cheese, 1 egg, bacon, and cheese, and 1 caprese. We spent $30 on the sandwiches.

I would like to give some pointers to the business so hopefully they can incorporate improved recipes. Please, please, please season your food! Add acidity! Add umami! Salt and pepper go a long way. You need well rounded flavors on each sandwich offering. The flavors for the sandwiches are lacking complexity and are tasting very bland. Bread has the tendency to taste bland sometimes anyways, so you may have to try harder to season each individual component in the bagel sandwiches.

My egg and cheese had no salt or pepper on it. I was shocked at the lack of flavor. I had to take apart my whole sandwich to season it. All the textures were right, but the flavor that comes with a classic egg and cheese was nonexistent. Toasting the bagel with a bit of butter would help.

For the Caprese sandwich, consider brushing the balsamic on both halves of the bagel so that there’s acidity in each bite. Adding pesto to each half of the bagel would be even better and would add a lot of flavor. I was surprised that the avocado in the Caprese wasn’t seasoned. It was just raw, unseasoned avocado with tomato and mozzarella cheese. No salt, no pepper, no seasoning anywhere to be found.

You could also consider adding pesto, removing the avocado, and making it a toasted bagel sandwich. The mozzarella cheese would become melty, the bagel would be a crunchy texture, the pesto would add flavor, complexity, and richness, and the tomato would be more acidic from being heated. You could also try adding sun dried tomatoes.

Continuing on the Caprese - since there are a lot of elements of fat (fresh mozzarella, avocado), you need more acidity to balance it out and create a satisfying bite. I was disappointed that there wasn’t much balsamic at all on the sandwich. I certainly did not taste it in each bite. But you also need to just simply season your food with salt and pepper as well.

Each sandwich we ate lacked an immense amount of flavor that could be improved with simple seasonings. We were really shocked and disappointed at how much flavor was lacking in all 3 sandwiches, especially for nearly $10/sandwich. The food left us deeply unsatisfied.

The zaatar bagel itself was actually getting somewhere though, and I’m happy to see them incorporating other flavors! It just needs more zaatar seasoning.

The garlic and onion bagel was seasoned well in terms of having enough onion and garlic. It just needed salt.

Overall, 3 of us tried each sandwich we ordered and all of us agreed that it severely lacked flavor and seasoning.

I plan to come back to try a simple toasted bagel with cream cheese since I tried the sandwiches last time. I will probably try the rosemary or the everything bagel.

Service and atmosphere were fantastic, and presentation of the wrapped sandwiches was awesome! They have a good selection of chips at the register. Employees were nice and attentive. You could tell everything...

I called a bunch of times before coming in, and they didn’t have their voicemail setup. I wanted to place a takeout order, or at least see if they still had bagels. Someone finally picked up and informed me they don’t have the staff for takeout, which is fine. But setting up voicemail may help people know that so they don’t keep calling. Maybe even mention it on the website under the phone number. Or take the phone number down until you can start using it.

When I got to the counter, I stood for several minutes while three employees chatted with their backs to me. When one turned around and saw me there, she quickly turned back around and kept talking. I’ve worked in bagel shops before, and that’s definitely a big no-no. Things need to move quickly.

The gentleman taking orders was at the register. I didn’t realize, as typically NJ bagel delis take bagel counter orders and then you check out while they get started. No big deal, that’s on me, but a sign showing where to order would help. Employees directing you (or acknowledging you) would be even more helpful.

It was 11:30ish and they only had sesame and salt available. I imagine the inventory issue will fade once they get more established and dial that in. So no big deal, but I’d check their social media if you’re coming any time after opening until they do.

The bagels are pretty good. Mine (sesame with butter) was a bit underbaked, but it was still soft and delicious. I don’t think it was 100% butter, so I’d ask if that matters to you. It didn’t to me. Very tasty!

I do plan on going back. Hopefully they’ll dial some of the small things in, as they tend to add up. I’ll update my review as I do.

I’m desperately wanting a good bagel place in town, so...

Edit: Came by to see you today, Scott. But of course you’re closed. You said 7 days a week yeah?

Don’t try to come at me saying you saw security video of me berating anyone. I told your son to “do better” because advertising on google of a 2pm closing time and being out of bagels before noon is DIABOLICAL! I knew he was your son and not a random employee because I’ve supported you guys before and had conversations with your son and wife.

If your son isn’t capable enough to handle an upset customer, then maybe be there yourself or hire a new manager.

But, if you don’t see CONSTRUCTIVE criticism in a complaint about running out of bagels at a bagel joint before noon and being told to “do better”, then not only are you a terrible business operator but also not bright.

Original: Decent bagels, but they advertise they’re open until 2pm, but run out of bagels before noon. They’re too worried to lose money on wasted bagels, that they lose money on not serving customers for 2+ hours.

Honeymoon period is over. They’ve been open for months now, figure it out!

I mentioned their bagels are decent, but not good enough for it to be a crapshoot if they’re going to have any left or not hours...