Gotham Bagels — Restaurant in Madison

I have been a regular here for years. This place is delicious and reasonably priced, though they are often quite busy and it can be difficult to find parking and long lines once you get in if you try to go during the breakfast or lunch rush. They have lots of interesting flavors of cream cheese and even make their own mozzarella balls! I took off one star because of some recent frustrations that have . 1. The pricing is not consistent. If you order any kind of build your own, or add something to a menue item, the price is different day to day based on who rings you up. This is only a minor annoyance. 2. They have an online ordering system that is supposed to increase efficiency- order and pay online, then swing through at a designated pick up time for your order. In theory, it saves time for the customer and relieves congestion in the store. But, they make you pick up your order from the same cashier taking regular orders, so you still have to wait in the long lines while everyone orders and pays, just so you can finally get to the front and say, that bagle sandwich to go behind you is mine. Trust me, if you ordered eggs, they are cold by now. (And, you still had to plug the meter to accommodate that long wait in line, if you were lucky enough to snag a legal parking spot in the first place). IMO there should be a separate online ordering pick up line and the cashier should just pop over and hand someone their sandwich before taking another 5 min ordering and payment process from the regular line. One time when there was a really long line, and I saw the owner standing around near the cook and grill, I went up to ask him where to pick up my online order and instead of grabbing my sandwich and handing it to me, he pointed to the long line and made me wait in it. Stupid. Recently I overheard another man in there complaining that he placed an online order the day before, paid, showed up to pick up, and they had closed that entire day. Be careful with the online ordering- you have been warned! 3. Finally, as a combo of the previous two frustrations, a few weeks ago, I placed an online to go order, rang it all up in their online system, paid, and then showed up without my purse as I had already paid and (I didnt want rain on my nice purse), and the cashier demanded another dollar from me, saying the online system didnt charge me for my egg. Seriously? I'm pretty that is illegal bait and switch pricing. You offered me a sand which online for one price, I paid, and now that I am here to pick up you demand more money???They seriously made me run out into the rain to grab my purse and return with the dollar before they would give me my (again, now cold) egg sandwich. Any decent business would have eaten that dollar, used it as a learning experience to correct their online ring up system, and moved on. To recap, delicious bagels and cream cheese, but I'm starting to question whether they care about their customers at all, and so I have been going less and...

Best bagels in town by a mile or three, one of the best places to get breakfast or lunch downtown in general. Very creative sandwiches, rotating specials, they have a deli case with all kinds of Italian specialties. Expect a long line during obvious times like Saturday farmers market. The line always moves quickly but sometimes ive seen it stretch out the door because its that popular. While the entire menu is great my review is focused on my personal favorite, the breakfast sandwich. I havent found a better one anywhere in Madison. Its simple but every element of it is phenomenal, excellent taste and high quality ingredients and it speaks volumes about the quality of their entire menu. Starting with the ability to choose any bagel you like, which is great but obviously you'll choose the super egg everything because thats the best. Some places have mediocre everything bagels (cough::einstein::cough) but Gotham really nailed the spice mix, Ive never found a tastier everything bagel, just on its own its mind blowing. Back to the breakfast sandwich: you can choose either bacon or ham, I prefer bacon but theyre both outstanding because the meats come from the Heritage Tavern or whatever its called across the street where the chef specializes in expertly smoked meats, even owns the farm that supplies the restaurant I think. The bacon slices are thick and juicy, not like the wimpy bacon thats so thin you can see through it. And the ham has an incredible smokiness to it and its cut thicker than typical deli sandwich meat ham and they give you a really nice pile of it on the sandwich. You get a big healthy slice of cheddar cheese which is amazing because of course it is, its Wisconsin its the law. And last but not least the egg. The menu doesnt list the name of the farm or what the hen who laid it ate for breakfast because we're not portlandia but you can just tell its a good egg. Trust me, I know what cheap eggs taste like Ive lived in college dorm, they use great eggs at Gotham. The best part is they cook the egg so the yolk is still a little runny, I love it but if that aint your thing just ask them to cook it over hard or well done or whatever. Its one of those amazing restaurants that really probably shouldnt exist in a city like this but somehow does because, thats just Madison, its always been that way. Ive never been to New York so I cant speak to the authenticity factor of their bagels but Ive had coworkers bring bagels into the office from every other place in Madison and every time Im always left disappointed and wishing theyd been from Gotham. If you cant make it downtown I know there are more than a few coffeeshops whose bagels come from Gotham so you can get them there too, but you really should come downtown because only there can you literally get them fresh out...

I normally love Gotham bagels. Whenever I go to the Saturday farmer's market, I stop here on my way out to get a super egg everything bagel with jalapeno garlic cream cheese. It's the most delicious treat. So today, I was with my kids and my mom at the Wednesday market and they wanted to go get bagels. When my friend found out we were going she requested that I pick some up for her too. All of us love the super egg everything flavor best. When I went up to order I asked for a dozen super egg everything bagels. The man (manager? same guy who almost always takes my order) said no. I asked why. He said there's only a max of four of any one type of bagel. (Why??) I explained I was getting some for two different families and we all love that flavor best, so if I got two dozen packs could I get more than four of the one kind we all wanted?? He said no and then walked away. A different woman started gathering the bagels for me. Then the guy came back and said, "I shouldn't even let you have a dozen bagels. You can only have a dozen bagels if you call the night before." Why in the world would this be their policy? I used to work at Panera and just about every single person that comes in orders a dozen at a time. Is he telling me that seriously nobody comes in the day of and wants a dozen bagels?? He was incredibly rude throughout the entire transaction. After I got my food (filled with a lot of bagel flavors I didn't really want), my mom went up a second time and ordered more super egg everything bagels for me. The man then told her that he sees how we work, trying to cheat the system. It was so rude to paying customers that wanted to buy a lot of bagels and cream cheese. We were the only people in the restaurant at the time. It was around 11:00, well past their morning rush. I looked at the menu and boards on the wall and later on the website and nowhere did it say you could only get four of one flavor. And though a dozen bagels was only listed on their catering menu, I find it very hard to believe that it's super uncommon that people would want a dozen at a time. My kids were later talking about how mean the man was to me and my mom and I were greatly disappointed in our service. Despite how much I love that bagel and cream cheese, I definitely do not plan on going back...