Empire Bagels — Restaurant in North Port

If I could give zero stars I would. I always noticed the smoky and uncleanliness of the shop, and the not so great bagels, the longgg waits for even someone to come out to the counter, but unfortunately its the only bagel shop around… as I can see from past reviews I am not the only one who noticed the rude employees who don't even say hi or thanks EVER and I have been there about four or five times. I will tell everyone my experience that I had recently when they stared at me with rude faces when I politely let them know we were unsatisfied with our 12$ bagel (not including our tip we left). We noticed there were no onions so my husband kindly let them know .. a girl comes out and gives us the tiniest four onions possible..they probably just scraped them up. I hateeee complaining and I could not of said it any nicer but I went back up to the counter and told two girls “hey look were dissatisfied the onions were so tiny were just letting you know they were forgotten to begin with..” they stared at me like I just insulted them.. then one of them OFFERED to make another for us. I said sure .. although honestly didn’t bc wed have to wait another 20 or so. So we waited ten more mins for the cook to come to tell us the manager decided NOT to remake another for us because we ate most of it while waiting for the right one (loudly in front of other customers) Okay, thats fine we never even wanted another, honestly just wanted someone to know the bagel wasn't right. After i told the cook we waited this whole time with my 7 month old i was going to leave a bad review he sarcastically tells us to have a great day. So i ask for the manager who not to any surprise was the girl who OFFERED to remake it. She said “i am” I said whyd u have us wait again then? She said she “called her manager” . 😂 who's the manager??? Now I'm confused but i let her know as well ill be leaving a bad review bc no one here has manners, and yall made our 12$ bagel wrong, she mocks me about how we ate the other bagel and then yells “EMBARRASSING” as I'm walking away. we were there for a total of 45 minutes in a disgusting and unwelcoming atmosphere and the only thing embarrassing is this place cant own up to a mistake and too broke to give onions on a bagel in the first place or hire adequate workers who have ANY...

Excellent bagels. The cream cheese might seem expensive for the size of container but if you’re a big lover of cream cheese you gotta try it. The maple bacon cream cheese is ridiculously delicious. Totally worth every penny. Some say the bagel prices are high, I disagree. Under 2$ for a fresh bagel that’s made in house is very fair considering the cost of everything else today.

Great bagels. Great cream cheese. Great breakfast sandwiches. Fair pricing. Local family owned business. What else do you need??

Update on the review - I’ve been getting bagels from here for last couple of years it seems. THEY NEVER EVER ANSWER THE PHONE. I have called dozens of times, and not a single time was the phone answered, picked up, nothing. Just today I came in, and asked why they never pick up the phone and they claim the phone did not ring, I called right then and there thinking maybe google has the wrong number ? Nope, the phone right there by the register rang while I was standing there, and I showed them my call log, and they still pretended that the phone did not ring 30 min ago…. Because of this ridiculousness I am taking a star...

I have been getting bagels here since the day they opened. Usually buying a dozen at a time. But today might be the last straw. As good as they surely are they are becoming not worth the money. At $1.50 for each bagel I could not believe how small they were! Tiny and the smallest I have ever gotten there. Listen I realize they that they are quite expensive for a little round piece of bread and I will pay it but GIVE ME SOMETHING FOR IT! Too expensive for what you are giving will eventually put you out of business as more people start to feel ripped off for the price. If you give me a nice decent sized bagel at least I will feel like I got some value there. Seriously guys. I drive18 miles each way to get to your store to buy your bagels. So after all the gas it takes me to get there paying $1.50 for a tiny bagel is not going to happen much longer. Loose enough customers for the same reason and you wont have to worry about...