Bagel Schmagel — Restaurant in New York

I come here often enough, and I feel like the quality of service has gone to the lowest possible and then some. I normally swap between them and bagel boy, but am now reconsidering to drop this place completely. Decided to stop in and grab a quick bagel with butter and an iced coffee with oat milk. The girl working behind the counter, beyond incompetent. Now, when I ask for light ice and the coffee on the lighter side, that means less ice and more milk. The girl (long black hair- feel the need to point this out so if the owner reads this, they can properly address) fills ice in the cup to the top. I see her and correct her saying 1/4th of that. She spills out a little so the cup is filled 75%. I’m standing there annoyed, saying 25% of the cup, less ice. She begins to get annoyed but refuses to spill out the ice. I finally leave it at 50% and tell her on the lighter side, she fills the coffee to the top. Once again, on the lighter side (I’m saying slightly louder), she turns around, looks at me like a deer in headlights, and says “but we normally fill it to the top and put a splash of milk”. You are charging me extra for the oat milk and are telling me, only a splash? No, I tell her again on the lighter side. She looks all confused and grabs another girl from the back (brown hair, wearing a red cap that says Brooklyn with large hoops earrings) who comes out and argues that the oat milk is very light and it’s going to look this dark. I reiterate that I watched her fill the cup to the top, she did not add extra milk to make it light. Finally after going back and forth, they get it right to no lack of visual frustration from both women. The girl with the long black hair kept making comments and laughing, while staring in my direction. What kind of service is this??? The service at bagel boy would have NEVER been this disrespectful. After finally getting my bagel and coffee, my total for 2 small items came out to $9.77. Are you serious?? So prices have gone up, service is atrocious, and the quality of their atmosphere is beyond unwanting. NEVER AGAIN! I’m all about supporting local, but not when you run your business like this. I called it for Catrina’s and I’m calling it again. It’s only a matter of time before this place takes the boot as well. What happened to the lovely, kind, blonde haired young lady that worked here? She use to make my coffee perfectly, never any issues, and NEVER any attitude. When I mentioned her, the 2 disrespectful girls were quick to dismiss it and say no one has ever worked here with blonde hair. As if I’m new to this establishment? Do better Bagel...

I am befuddled that this store remains in business with their unwavering track record of poor customer service.

I believe in giving places and people the benefit of the doubt, so I refrained from judging the store based on my first encounter. Everyone can have a bad day, and I understand that.

During my first visit to their Bayridge location, the store was empty, and I was the only customer. The woman at the cashier was joking around and chatting with the deli staff, leaving me standing at the counter for almost four minutes before she took my order, despite seeing me come in. When she finally acknowledged me, she simply looked at me without saying anything. I greeted her and asked if they had decaf coffee. She curtly said "no" and resumed her conversation with the deli staff. I was astonished by her dismissive attitude. "No" was the only word she had spoken to me so far. I wanted to order something from the deli, but she didn't give me the opportunity. When I finally interrupted her conversation to place an order, the deli staff pointed to a sign by the counter that said "order here," where I had been standing the entire time. By this point, I was understandably frustrated, but I still tried to give them the benefit of the doubt. When the cashier finally came over, she disdainfully repeated that they didn't have decaf coffee. I politely said it was fine and told her I wanted a sandwich. She then sarcastically remarked, "Oh, you want to place an order now." If she hadn't jumped back into her conversation, she would have known I wanted a sandwich. Despite the terrible experience, I left a tip, hoping it would encourage better service next time.

On my next visit, I ordered a sandwich with fried onions. The same cashier took my order and then informed me that they didn't have fried onions. I was speechless. She clarified that they had onions but not fried, so I asked if they could fry the onions. I couldn't understand why this simple request was so confusing or controversial. It felt like I was in one of those new-age restaurants that are deliberately contentious as part of the experience. This was the last straw for me.

On my way back, I ran into my neighbor walking her dog and shared my experience. She told me that she has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years and has never heard anyone say anything positive about the place. This only reinforced my initial bewilderment that this store remains in business. If I could give this place zero...

My husband ordered 2 bagels, 1 with cream cheese, the other with lox. When he got home, I found they had made both with cream cheese.

I called 6 times, no answer.

So I went to the restaurant to fix the mistake. The staff refused to simply give me a new bagel with lox.

Instead, I had to call my husband, who got out of the shower to look up his credit card order, gave them the total, and then they charged me $7 for the lox.

What jerks. I will never go back.

OK wow, the obnoxious reply to my review proves my point. It was 6 phone calls, not 6 minutes. Next time, at least read the review before you reply to it.

I was standing next to my husband when he placed the order, so I heard him request a toasted pumpernickel bagel with butter and lox for me. What he received was an untoasted plain bagel with cream cheese. I don't like cream cheese, so this was frustrating.

I had called 6 times and received no answer, so I finally walked over and waited 20 minutes at the restaurant. The owner (who apparently replied to my review) wasn't present, and I later learned that the owner had been on vacation. (Confession - My husband did go back there once, the next week.)

Oh, and for the record, there was exactly 1 customer in the restaurant when I got there. (not 38 as he wrote) I actually waited 20+ minutes, while 3 other customers came and left before finally paying $7 for a whole new bagel. As far as I know, the original bagel went in the trash, which is too bad.

What was upsetting to me was being charged $7 for the lox. They should at least have discounted the new bagel because they made the error, not us. That means we paid for the bagel twice, but I was getting hangry and dizzy at that point so I paid. We were also about to drive out of town, which is why we had ordered takeout. This whole kerfuffle made us 30+ minutes late because I had to walk to the restaurant from home, wait while I explained repeatedly, called my husband, etc. etc. ... get a whole new order, and then walk back. I really like Bagel Schmagel's food, but it's hard to fix an order when nobody answers the phone.

What a rude, ignorant reply from...