Bagel Pantry — Restaurant in Metuchen

We always drove by this amazing place until recently we planned to stop by to have breakfast. Ever since we have had their food we cant wait to go back there over & over again. The old school brick charm of the exterior with patio seating makes you feel you are visiting a nice quaint locality in a small town. Its tucked in the quiet leafy neighborhood of Metuchen with its old school charm.. My go to bagel spot!! They have a free parking on the side which if you are lucky you might get, however, we always park on the back side at the parking lot & its pretty cheap - 50 cents for half an hour & plenty of parking !!

Once u enter the store you will get lost in the amazing aroma of freshly baked breads, gourmet muffins, cream cheese, bacons & sausages, sandwiches , salads & ofcourse coffee !! We ordered their everything bagel egg and cheese & bacon(pork/ sausage) sandwiches which is $5.75 and oh man its so filling you cant have it all at once & also their modest egg sandwich is just $2 & egg & cheese sandwich is $2.75!! The coffee have three sizes, we love it as they make it with milk and sugar !! They were crowded, still they turned out our order very quickly..the bagels tasted so fresh !!

All their gourmet bagels & breads are hand rolled & made fresh in the premises. Another interesting thing is they sell different gourmet muffins which we are yet to try and the various flavored cream cheeses are sold in three sized containers, salty and sweet (from jalapeno to strawberry) we have not ventured as yet in that area, would love to experiment more, also they serve varieties of salads, omelettes, specialty sandwiches , wraps & Deli meats & cheese !!

This being our new go to breakfast joint, definitely coming back to try everything one by one!! Love...

If I could give a higher rating for the service, I would!

[For context, I'm a visitor (to the US) passing through Metuchen and decided to stop by here as it was the earliest place open for food. I killed some time here and decided to keep an eye on the on-goings for the last 5 hours or so.]

First of all, what you'd expect: Bagels are fresh, spreads are delish, and their portions are sizeable! Of everything there's a wide selection of things made daily. Very typical and hallmarks for a great local place. Passed that, these guys working here (and especially what I assume to be the owner) are (and I can't stress this enough) kind, always busy at work and seemingly super appreciative of their regulars. They also do big orders in advance if you might need to order for a party of people!!!

As a coffee addict, they shine here, too, with a nice espresso machine, each of 'em knowing well how to make the drinks on their menu (usual espresso-based+milk coffees). Big cups for a good price.

Was able to set myself up with my laptop with no care in the world (especially a take-out place for locals), with more than enough seating for who would need it.

Lastly, and maybe least important for random customers, but was very wholesome to see: they're sponsors of some local children teams and use their open wall space for local event posters.

Honestly, overall they seem like an absolutely amazing place for anyone passing by, and even moreso a positive business in their community.

Thank you guys for the great breakfast and hang-out spot on a...

Update 7/8/23 They opened back up after several months (yrs?) of being closed. Busy, small parking lot as always on a busy Rt 27 road.

Ordered my usual pork roll (Taylor ham), egg, & cheese ~ $7. The bagel is still good - has the tough crust on the outside, probably one of the best bagels in Middlesex County, however the sandwich is just ok. It was a single fried egg, with 2 thin slices of pork roll and barely any cheese. I felt like I was eating a plain bagel.

Maybe just order your bagels to go and make your sandwiches at home yourself if you can.

Lines can be long but they move. The person that takes your order is the same person who makes the sandwich, which keeps it organized and minimizes incorrect orders. So it's a hit or miss if you have someone who is hygienically conscious or not.

I've been coming to this bagel place for many years. Always very busy. They closed for some time but looks like they are open again. Parking lot is small and gets very busy.

Gloves should be used when making the sandwiches and not reused when handling money or cleaning/sweeping.

Bagels are good especially when you get them fresh however the pork roll sandwiches come out very greasy and dark as if the grill hasn't been cleaned. Quality has been going down as they get...