Bagels By the Book — Restaurant in Libertyville

As a serious foodie and a huge breakfast fan I writing this on behalf of my friends, family and the original Bagels by the book community. As the overall product is good I think some things need to be addressed. The bagels themselves are honestly pretty good, not as big as the originals and maybe slightly denser but over all good. The everything bagels seasoning is off and I’m assuming it’s due to different ratios of ingredients, there is not enough salt, garlic and onion and the bagel eats bland. The cream cheese is completely different, even the “original sweet” is no where close to the original. Idk if it was a mistake, old product or just a poor recipe but my blueberry bagel with original sweet cream cheese had a strong goat cheese taste and was really not to my liking. The biggest problem I have with the new bagels is the bacon….. please go back to boars head or at least some close. You might have a quality bacon but it tastes like nothing. The eggs are fine but I personally would whisk them longer so it’s a consistent taste and texture. There was a bit of color on my eggs which I personally don’t mind but a lot of people hate over cooked eggs. The cheese was fine also not the same definitely not as melty but that could be due to the physical construction of the sandwich (not folding the egg omelette onto the cheese). As another customer stated the plastic containers are not great, if not wrapping the sandwich in tin foil is for health reason I don’t believe a hot bagel sandwich in plastic is much better. Parchment? Parchment sandwich sleeves? Over all the sandwiches eats very bland, not enough seasoning on the everything bagel, no saltiness from the bacon and no real flavor from the eggs/cheese. If even 1 of the 3 components are seasoned it’ll bring the whole sandwich together. On a positive note the baked goods were delicious along with the lemonade. The interior definitely got a huge boost and my order came out wicked fast. Please don’t take this message as hate, I want nothing more than a delicious breakfast sandwich and wish nothing but the best for your business.

Update 12-3-21

Placed an online order today to see if last time was just a bad day. UNFORTUNATELY the bagel sandwich this time was even worse than last time. Also paid for a 12oz orange juice and didn’t receive...

Why I'm eating a Panera bagel right now, instead of the one 'by the book:'

I write this in January 2017, and I haven't carried cash on me in over two years. NFC (apple pay, etc), debit cards, credit cards, have become ubiquitous. You can use them in vending machines for products less than $1.00.

Yet for some archaic reason Bagels by the Book only accepts cards on orders $5.00 or more.

Is this some ploy to drive up revenues because Panera is next store and stealing all the business? I didn't want to go to Panera, I wanted to patronize my local business "Bagles by the Book" (honestly haven't been there in 10 years) but I only wanted a bagel, and I don't carry cash. To make a suggestion, to survive, to succeed, you need to get new customers, or bring back old ones. Seriously, the fees on credit card transactions are 2.5% + $0.30. Coffee shops all over take cards using Square, or Paypal, or any number of iPad based card readers for transactions much less than $5.00. If you can't afford credit or debit transactions for less than $5.00, then you're getting gouged on your processing; switch now to a better provider.

When I walked over to Panera to get my bagel with cream cheese (because I wanted one, and nothing else, but only had a card), it was packed, crowded, bustling, and easy to pay (apple, samsung, debit, credit, so easy!).

Ultimately, I felt bad, upset, and extremely irritated. I really wanted to get a bagel at Bagels by the book, but you've made it difficult to buy your food.

Updated 6/11/2023:

Went back because stuff changes. They accept credit and debit for everything now.

Great food. I love the bagels and the egg sandwiches they make. Coffee is powerful without being sludge and too strong.

Little pricy but still good. Beloved by community and glad it still exists.

Increased stars...

Have been there a few times before it closed down (for repairs/ or new management took over my assumption) great experience. After it reopened not so much. The food is great, the place is on my way to work so I stop once in a while as a treat. Went there a few times after it has reopened assuming under new ownership, the customer services is not as good as it use to be. Today was the worst experience I have ever had there. The girl put my order on the counter basically threw like trowing a ball to a dog to fetch. The bag tipped over and fell over on top of the trash can. I picked it up, and the girl pretended not to see what happened. I said "really" out loud and she still ignored me. I looked inside the bad and one of the bagel boxes was closed and the other bagel fell out of the box and was all over the bag. I asked the girl to remake the bagel that was messed up, and told her that the bag fell on top of the trash. The girl didn't even apologize, turned to the other worker who I am assuming is either a manager or owner. She also did not even bother to apologize, and just yelled to the back person to account for one lost bagel. They remade the bagel I did not look at what was inside of the box until I got to work. And when I did, it was the smallest bagel ever basically a mini bagel. Seems like it was a bagel that did not make it to the shelf for sale because it was half the size. I made me feel like it was my fault the bag fell and they replaced it with something they could not sell because of the size. So I paid for full size product, and had a horrible experience. So disappointed. yes food is great! However the customer service...