OTB Cafe - Old Town Bagels — Restaurant in Owatonna

I had heard of this place through coworkers who had ordered food here previously. It seemed like it would be a cool spot to grab a bite for our family weekend.

We placed an online order so we could take it to go and eat at the park. This was my first time coming here, so I wasn’t completely sure how the process worked. Our order had an estimated completion time, and we arrived about 20 minutes early — which was 20 minutes after placing the order and driving across town.

Unfortunately, the experience with staff is what made the visit disappointing. The first person I spoke to was short with me and just told me to check the shelf, then come back if it wasn’t there. It wasn’t. Nobody updated me or acknowledged the order was being prepared. After a few minutes and several employees walking by, someone finally asked why I was waiting. I explained I was waiting on my to-go order. They checked the kitchen, and someone yelled out from the back to confirm the order and said they’d begin working on it — which was helpful.

As I continued waiting, another staff member came up to me with an attitude and sternly told me I was too early and that my order wouldn’t be ready for another 20 minutes. I said I was fine to wait, but she told me I couldn’t stand near the counter and had to sit by the pickup shelf and that I’d be notified when it was ready — which felt unnecessary. I sat down, played on my phone, and waited.

No one ever came to notify me when the order was ready. I just happened to notice a bag the size of my order placed on the shelf and grabbed it myself.

It’s unfortunate the customer service was so poor. Maybe it was just the weekend staff, who seemed younger, but it makes me reconsider coming back. We really enjoyed the food, and we’re happy to wait our turn — but the lack of communication and unfriendly attitude made the experience uncomfortable. Hopefully, the weekday crew is...

We were in town for a wedding on July 15th, 2023. We decided to opt out of the free breakfast at our hotel to try the nice little Bagel Shop just a few steps from our hotel. As cam inside the shop was buzzing with a nice cool atmosphere. We put our order in and found a table. 10-15 minutes go buy and we see multiple orders coming out that was behind ours. We went to the counter after 15 min to see if there was an issue and boy did things go down hill fast. They claimed they had no record of our order and wanted us to reorder and pay again!! We had a number they gave us for our order and table!! I told them we have a restaurant and use the Square POS system as well. It’s very simple to pull it back up just using your name. Once they figured out I was more knowledgeable than them, they just wanted to get us out of the shop asap. They offered us two options, a refund or they would reprint they order and we would have to wait for another 20 minutes. We decided to wait so we could give a complete review of the food, atmosphere, and service. Overall the food was pretty average, the breakfast special sandwich was the best. A lot of sweet options including a bunch of flavors of ice cream. Overall a nice atmosphere, decent food, but the service from our experience was terrible and we were not the only ones...

**Update 22July2022: From 4 to 1 star. Food was okay, definitely not worth the price increase and is smaller (shrinkflation apparently). Still took forever to get our order. The frappe I ordered was gross. The new look is way too modern/NYC style and don't like it at all. It had been over a year since there last, will probably never go there again. Not very likely to recommend. Which is a shame because OTB was once one of our favorite places in town.

*Update 4/19/2021 from 5 to 4 stars: While was (assuming still is) a place with good bagels, it’s expensive and the wait times are ridiculously long. Whether called in or ordered online or ordered in shoppe, the wait is terribly long.

So freaking good! So many great and flavorful choices of bagels and ways to eat them. Cream cheese is awesome and plenty of variety. Coffees good, too. Tomato soup is on point. Have never been disappointed. Always a win. Staff is...