Goldstein’s Bagels & Bialys — Restaurant in Idaho

On 2/20/23,  I visited Goldstein’s for the first time. I love a great bagel and know from first-hand experience, how labor-intensive they are to make. When I was about 14 years old and living in Africa, I read a number of books by Chaim Potok. I was so curious about this thing I kept reading about called a bagel, that I tried making them myself from my mom’s Joy of Cooking cookbook. They were not the best bagels I ever had, but it did give me an appreciation for how much work goes into them.

Even though it was a holiday and I went around 11:20 AM, this place was hopping. There’s metered parking in front of and around the building.  I was excited to see what they had in their cold case because I knew that they had items like whitefish and egg salad. I have heard their white fish is delicious, but I didn’t try it. For me an easy breakfast is half of a bagel, spread with great homemade egg salad.  I was eager to try the egg salad at Goldsteins, but it looked dried out and unappetizing. I like the Goldstein’s’s has so many different salmon options, and great deli meats to choose from, including pastrami and chopped liver.

I like that Goldstein’s has some uniquely flavored cream cheeses, such as Szechuan Crisp, Lemon Dill, Honey Pistachio, and Lox.

I love that Goldsteins has some unique, hard-to-find bagel flavors such as Egg and Pumpernickel, Black Lava Salt, and Garlic.

For my first visit, I ordered half a dozen bagels, 5 Plain and 1 Cinnamon Raisin ($10). I also got a piece of Apricot Rugelach ($1.75).

I was disappointed with my Cinnamon Raisin bagel. It was the least flavorful version of this bagel that I’ve ever had. My bagel had just the tiniest sliver of one raisin in it. I didn’t bother eating the second half of it.

I liked my Plain bagels better.  I do think they need to work on their consistency because of my five plain bagels, one of them was a naturally dark. I didn’t enjoy that one very much, but I enjoyed the nice crunch on the exterior of the lighter colored plain bagels.  I think they need to do a little bit of work on their bagel recipe. The flavor/texture/density isn’t quite up to the standard that I would expect in a New York bagel. Even so, it was a decent bagel, and I will be back to check out some of their other flavors, as well as to try their plain bagels again. I’m sure that like a lot of new businesses, they are experiencing growing pains and struggling to hire and maintain workers.

The Apricot Rugelach was a little sweet for my tastes, but I enjoyed it. I have heard they make very good Babka. They also have Black and White cookies and Hamantaschen. They also have some gluten-free options.

I need to clarify that of the three bagels I’ve tried so far, only one of them had a crunchy exterior and that was one of the lighter colored plain bagels that I put in my freezer and defrosted a few days later. I think that this goes back to the need for Goldsteins to do some quality control. I want to give them some slack because they are a new business, and as anyone who works in the food industry knows, it is very difficult to hire, train and maintain good staff these days. I do think Goldsteins has the potential to be an excellent bagel shop once they work out the kinks. If they need a bagel tester, I’m volunteering for the job. I live nearby and will work for free.

Recommended! — at Goldstein’s...

I would give no stars if there was an option as I never received my order.

I have frequented Goldstein's on multiple occasions and have always been pleased, which is why I keep returning. However, today's experience was different and left me questioning if my lack of service was related to my race.

I arrived at around 7 am when there was only one other patron waiting for their order. My boyfriend and I were the only ones ordering at that time, and I placed my order for dine-in first. My boyfriend received his sandwich promptly, but I continue to wait as he ate. Ten minutes later, two girls came in, placed their orders, received them, and started eating while I was still waiting for mine.

I went to check on my order and found three staff members chatting instead of preparing orders. When I inquired about my order, I was told it was coming, with excuse that a big online order had come in. I continued to wait, and by the time the two girls finished eating, I asked for a refund. At this point, there was an order sitting in the window, but the cashier checked and confirmed it wasn't mine. She then assured me that my order would be ready soon and asked if I was sure I didn't want to wait for it, despite it still not being ready. I was there for a total of 30 minutes.

As a former quick-service restaurant owner and manager, I know that:

Orders should be fulfilled in the order they are received. Using a large online order as an excuse for delays is unacceptable. Acknowledgement of an order when the other in a party is fulfilled should be given. When asked for a refund, the response must be prompt and accurate. At least eight other walk-ins after I placed my order received their orders and left before mine was ready.

I question whether this was a race issue because I was the only non-white person present and the only one who continued to experience delays in service, more accurately never received my order. As a business owner, I believe that offering compensation for the trouble would be a professional approach to resolving the issue. It is important for businesses to ensure all customers feel valued and...

I would love to give Goldsteins more than 2 stars but unfortunately, for their sake, I need to be critical.

The space is gorgeous, it was carefully curated and welcoming to all. I really love the wine and aperitif selection and the overall aesthetic makes it a place I want to find myself for lunch regularly.

However, the most important factor that would have kept me coming back time and again is missing completely from this place: good bagels.

My first impression on their opening day was disappointing to say the least. I waited in line excited to get my hands on a delicious and well made bagel with their beautiful assortment of creative shmears but was left wanting. I tried the classic and an everything and found myself taking a bite out of a tough yet airy piece of bread. The small bagel was riddled with large holes throughout showing me they were not properly proofed and the remaining content was tough and chewy. The shmear selection was impressive and had a variety of interesting flavours which seemed to be an attempt at masking their lacklustre bagel quality.

For my friends with similar opinions they also note the huge lack of a single truly sweet option like a well made cinnamon raisin bagel with a sweet cream shmear with nuts. The option they have seems like an afterthought at best.

I went back 2 more times hoping to give them a second/third chance but each time the bagels remained disappointing and the menu seemed to keep shrinking.

The bialys are not even worth mentioning.

My picture shows an impressive breakfast sandwich with a paper thin layer of a bagel. Not okay.

With other bagel shops around town that charge half the price for bagels that never disappoint it doesn't make sense to go out of my way for this place. I am left with a decision to leave this review in the hopes that they find a better recipe or hire a new baker. If they got the bagels right I would return, but until then I will join everyone else that has ventured there at least once and...