Gotham Bagels — Restaurant in Lake View Township

I saw the Gotham sign looming large over the Diversey/Lincoln intersection while making a right turn to Coffee Lab Roasters before an early Sunday morning workout. I never did like Gino's East Pizza so this is a welcome replacement.

Coffee Lab just wouldn't do... Too stark, too busy, felt like tension in there so I left.

Staff at Gotham was friendly and welcoming right off the bat. I asked Mustache Guy for a sample of the coffee (I always do this my first time at a coffee shop to ensure I like the coffee before I order a cup), he poured me like half a cup before I said "Woah I just wanted a taste!" Very generous!!! The staff was smiling, joking with each other, people obviously really like working here and they seem like a hard working crew.

I found an egg everything bagel on the menu which is a nice departure from what I'm used to. I don't think New York Bagel & Bialy or Kauffman's offer that. I was excited to say the least!

One everything egg bagel with chive cream cheese por favor.

At first glance this bagel was a beauty! Sitting in a corner of the shop drenched in morning sunshine this bagel was a thing to beheld. A mountain of fresh chivey cream cheese sandwiched between two fluffy golden brown bagel halves, dark yellow color from the egg yolks I was drooling for that first bite of my morning breakfast and yes this was a full breakfast sized bagel.

Note to self: There is enough creamy cheese on this bagel for two bagels!

The bagel was soft and chewy with a slight crisp to the bite. Rich and flavorful from the egg and the chives were fresh, really fresh... They must move a lot of this cream cheese as it was plentiful and exploding with flavor. For me, this was the perfect compliment to an excellent bagel execution.

As another reviewer mentioned there was definitely a spark of salt at the first bite and I was slightly taken aback. Not nearly as strong as I might expect on a soft pretzel, but definitely saltier than any other everything bagel I've ever had. That said, this is an EVERYTHING bagel... And technically salt is a thing.. After the first bite caught me a little off guard, I gained a great deal of respect for the choice of topping, upon deeper reflection I have zero objections.

So far y'all have teed up a nearly perfect bagel experience...

And this is where I take off .51 stars.

I almost hate to do it, but here goes...

The music was too loud for a Sunday morning and the space was a little chilly. One of the employees opened a window right in front of where I was sitting and might have asked if that was ok with me. Clearly these guys are hot in the back and hardcore hustling to get their hefty local Sunday morning rush out the door. People were seated outside so it could be that I'm more sensitive to the cold than others.

I would blame the engineering of the space more than the employees for these issues. If one could segment the audio and the HVAC to keep it loud and cool in the back and a bit warmer and quieter in the front that would be more ideal. This is not worthy of a one star deduction by itself, but there was a very correctable issue with the bagel.

I wanted a bagel that was toasted dark and crispy. Not burnt, but browned for sure. I would call that a medium toast, I did try to describe what I wanted to the woman taking my order, I guess it wasn't communicated well enough?

But in a busy shop trying to get customers orders out the door another 1 - 2 minutes of toasting is a tall order. This bagel got one pass in the toaster and it needed two. This is the same level of toast the average customer probably wants and is not what I was asking for. When I eat a bagel I like to eat it open faced with a crunchy bite to the bagel flesh, I'm not looking for a sandwich. To be fair, I wrestled with Beans and Bagels (Now Spoken Cafe) for years over this very issue.

Edit: Returned the following week to find the A/C on with 50f temperatures outside. Top 40s pop music too loud and a bagel that is not toasted but fried on a griddle. I might come back but I'll take my...

Editing my comment after the company responded: Interesting that you say that because, the manager had NO gloves on, bare hands touching all the bagels; I wish I would have taken a picture. Also, I watched him the whole time and he did not wash his hands (I was standing in front of the counter/cashier and could see to the back of the kitchen where they have the bagel cutter, that is where he grabbed three bagels and tossed them with his bare hands into the bagel cutter machine). I wish they would have said, “Hey! Thanks for letting us know, we will look into to this because that’s not cool!” Instead of telling me that they have a process that clearly their people aren’t following.

Original Rating: So, I’ve been here once before and the bagel I had was so damn good I was dreaming of it for weeks (I had their beach with a pistachio latte).. However… I returned today and while waiting in line, the manager (I think he was the manager) greeted a couple with a puppy and gave the puppy a couple of treats out of his hand, played with the dog, carelessly wiped his hands with what seemed like a napkin, and then went about his day touching the bagels he was serving the customers. I was horrified and walked right out.. I’m really bummed because their bagels are damn good.. but I can’t eat at a place I’m questioning the cleanliness...

The bagels and sandwiches were good, although a little salty/tough, likely due to the kitchen trying to rush the orders out since two sandwiches took over an hour. Portions on the corned beef were a little sparse for the price-something probably seen across all Chicago bagel shops. Eager to give this another try and update my review, but will be waiting until the restaurant is able to figure out supply/demand/wait times (went to order today but online orders are closed since the kitchen has reached capacity at 11:30 on a Saturday-also can only order through online)

Update: went back again recently and the sandwich was great. Portions were bigger, less than 15 min wait from time to order, bagel was nice texture. Potential update to 5 once I give it a try in peak/weekend hours. Thank you!

Further update: bagels have improved, service has not nor have they quite figured out how to handle busier times. Can only recommend ordering at non peak times and avoid weekend orders. Bagels 4.5* but not being able to get even an unsliced bagel at 11 on a Sunday makes it a very niche...