Bagel Bar East — Restaurant in North Miami

[Updated 3/16/2025] We ate here twice this week and each time we were very satisfied. The bagels here are always fresh and taste as if they were just made about 10 minutes ago(the crust, the chew, etc. all were very good) and this time we tried an omelet (very large and very good) and the whitefish salad...filled with whitefish, smelled great, and spiced perfectly...to note.. there are some places in South Florida which have whitefish and whitefish salad but more often than not the taste and smell makes you wonder if that product "moves much" in those places...here it seems obvious to me that this is a very good seller. On the second occasion we split a salad plate with very good egg salad and tuna salad, again with fresh bagels and a very tasty chive/scallion cream cheese. The owner was there and friendly, as always. The waiters were very good and, to note, the bus boy is an older man who has probably been there for more than 10 years and we enjoyed chatting with him. Bottom line is that I always love coming to eat here and when I rank the top 3 bagel places in North Dade/Broward I always rank this place first, followed by Mayor's and Grampa's...with Mo's just behind them.

We have been eating here for years (even through COVID) and the breakfasts are always great. In South Florida it will always be a challenge to find a good bagel, or a bagel that reminds you of a "N.Y.-style" bagel...Bagel Bar East has solved this problem. We have tried bagels at more places than we could ever count and Bagel Bar East bagels always are in the top 2 or 3 of the best bagels you can find here...the taste, the proper chew, the soft texture inside and the different flavors that are authentic. Their customized cream cheeses are overflowing with contents [their scallion cream cheese not only had the right fla or, but it had fresh pieces of scallion that were of a good size], their omelettes are always very good and large, and even the coffee tastes good. We always have a great breakfast there (and they recently started carrying Sable and Sturgeon...types of smoked fish that are increasingly difficult to find in South Florida) and they even expanded the menu so that it is even more difficult to decide what to eat. We will be...

Not that I had super high hopes but from the picture online, Bagel Bar seemed like a nice big stocked deli. There weren’t many bagel options and the schmears looked like an afterthought. Bagels were disappointing. Dry and flavorless...tasted like a mass produced bagel from the store. I watched them cut and toast a bunch of bagels and left them out for 30+ minutes to dry. I don’t really understand why a place would be called bagel bar if bagels are such a low priority.

Server had a ton of attitude and avoided checking on us. Our order took almost 40 minutes. We ordered two bacon egg and cheese bagels. We had to ask the cleaning people and even the host for boxes and service. Somehow it felt like it was our faults for the food and service lacking.

The matzo ball soup had very little flavor. Overall not terrible but also not worth paying for either. It tasted and looked exactly like Progresso soup but with less seasoning.

Bagel Bar has a ton of options and I liked that they carry Carnegie Deli beef. I can just order those direct so I don’t really see a need to come back unless the quality and service improve. There seemed to be a few other unhappy diners and the couple next to us left a big majority of their food after having the same reaction I had. I barely finished half before boxing the rest to go.

I know I’ve been spoiled by Russ and Daughters in NYC but I just felt like today was a big hot mess. Also the service could have saved the experience but that was ultimately lacking too. I woke up today craving a good bagel and I wanted to try a new place but I should have just stuck...

I’m only giving 3 stars because the food was good. Although I would rate 2.5 stars if I could. The biggest problem for me was the service and the size of the coffee that was served to us. The lady who sat us down seemed passive aggressive, we did bring our dog so we thought that she doesn’t like dogs or could be in a bad mood. The waiter that served us the entire time was very great though.

I ordered an iced coffee w/ almond milk expecting a medium cup with almond milk, but instead they served the milk separately. A huge cup of coffee that tasted watered down as well. My brother ordered an iced coffee w/ caramel and almond milk, even worse there was a rare hint of caramel and just still tasted water down and again in a big cup. It felt like a venti from Starbucks but for $3 and it wasn’t worth it. My aunt had ordered a smoothie, same thing big cup and watered down. She of course gave it back and asked for something.

The size served is so astonishing, how is it possible to serve it in a hug cup. I made two cups of coffee with what I was served. And we as a family, we came in a total of 6 and was served with plastic cups of water to go at the beginning. When everyone around us that were just a pair got served with cups, it could be that they don't have enough cups to give so I understand a bit.

All in all, I don’t see myself coming back at all. It was...