Empire Bagels — Restaurant in New York

Placed a catering order for a school event with Empire Bagels and it was such a hassle to 1. Place an order and 2. Get an invoice from them. It's a good thing I know Spanish because that was the only way I was able to even place a catering order (just saying if you needed to place a catering order, get someone who speaks Spanish). At first, the phone kept getting passed around from employee to employee, to someone who could understand that I wanted to place a catering order. After I got through to someone, they finally told me to call the next morning, to talk to the boss. I called the next morning and the boss wasn't there, I was told that catering orders should be placed the day before or 2 days before the event. I understood and agreed to call the following week.

I called and placed the order. The only receipt I received was the payment slip from the register. I needed an invoice from the shop for reimbursement from the college but no one could help me. I called the Monday after the event to try and get a hold of someone who could give me a detailed receipt with the quantity of bagels bought and the price and I spoke to the manager then, who said they could handwrite an invoice for me, since they couldn't generate one for me electronically (again, I asked for the owner and they said the boss wasn't there). I said I would ask my supervisor if that was okay to submit to the higher ups, and when I called again the next day to request the handwritten invoice, they recognized my voice and request and then they literally put the phone down on a table somewhere and never picked the phone back up. I was on the line thinking it got busy in there and waited patiently for 15 minutes and decided to hang up and call again. The call kept giving me the busy phone line sound, and I even tried calling from different phones. However, it seemed like they blocked all incoming calls. They didn't even give me a call back. I am so upset by the unprofessionalism that was shown to me. I'm sure their service in person is good, but I will never place a catering order...

An early morning in the Bronx in search of a perfect bagel. Today’s stop is Empire Bagel. This is a working mans bagel shop. It is literally a window where you order and that’s it. No place to keep warm. Nowhere to sit. Just a window. Its 6am and there’s already a line. I get to the front, order a garlic with sun dried tomato and a coffee with milk. For some reason all bagel shops in NYC put the milk and sugar in your coffee for you. A couple minutes later the man hands me a plastic bag and my coffee. The morning is cold and cup warms my fingers. I walk about a mile back to my truck through the neighborhood. The Bronx is something special. Still not ruined by the gentrification that pervades so many other areas in the city. It’s raw here. A bit edgy, while still feeling safe. Blue collar workers getting up for work. Construction crews readying themselves for the day and old ladies driving Buick’s running stop signs. It’s all part of the experience. I get back to my truck, reach into the bag, unwrap my bagel drive. It’s good I think, maybe not the best I’ve had, but it’s the journey that makes it...

Awesome place! So, so, so dope for the bronx to have a spot like this. I will say this it's not very known by most of the bronx but they are popular as there is ALWAYS a line. Great line up of fresh soft delicious warm and tasty bagels. I bought 4 dozen for a breakfast event I was hosting and the smell of fresh baked bagels was completely overwhelming in a good way obviously. They have rainbow bagels too and they aren't chewy at all I always thought I had to travel to Brooklyn for those so happy they make them fresh in the bronx as well, kids love these my son sure does. They also make mini bagels. Oh and they have different cream cheeses which is also delicious fresh herbs in the cream cheese and herbs. I will say this majority of the time by 10 they dont have many options for bagels left as they get a crowd super early so everything sells quick. The muffins are huge! And also freshly baked nice and warm and fluffy on the inside. Their everything bagel was delicious as well. Prices aren't bad either, good for the bronx for...