Benchwarmers Bagels — Restaurant in Raleigh

Update: After not having gone here for a month because the service I mentioned below left a bad taste in my mouth, I went back today. They remembered me and gave me my order quickly. I went out to the patio to transfer my sandwiches to a clear container for work and I was disgusted to find bacon on my egg & cheese. That was not on my order at all as I do not eat pork in any form. I felt like it was intentional as retaliation for my review, even though I actually gave them 4 stars for the food. However, I am downgrading that now and have no plans to return to eat here in the foreseeable future. I love the bagels, cream cheese and coffee/tea here. I have tried their pizza and hated it but some people like it. I read some reviews that the seeds on the bagels were burnt but I haven't experienced that here.

I will say, the service is hit or miss. I have had numerous encounters with staff here that are willfully rude and do not even try to say my name remotely correctly. One staff member looked straight at me and said, "what's your name? Solomon?" Excuse me do I look like a Solomon. I'm a brown female why would I have a male name. Sure I could but she didn't even look at the spelling of my name. I get it, y'all are busy, but if you can't be bothered to try to say people's names correctly then maybe you should give everyone an order number instead. It just gives me racist vibes like "oh we can only say white people's names here." I work downtown so I started coming here more often so I will say they are slowly learning my name but it has been a slow, grueling process. Also, they are still rude. I sometimes get a smize from the people there instead of just grunts. I went to Morning Times a few times instead (like this morning) and they were very pleasant and when I said my name they repeated to make sure they were saying it right. Totally different vibe you can't compare. And it's the service that will make or...

Every time you walk up to the counter of benchwarmers you are greeted with a big smile from those behind the counter! I am a regular customer here not only because of the yummy bagels that they work so hard to make but also because of the kindness of all the staff that work there! They put detail in every latte and bagel they create! I never see them lose their smiles even when they have the line wrapped around transfer food hall! They have so many people who work tirelessly behind the scenes to create the perfect bagel and also use a lot of local places businesses for their products! The manager Emily was FABULOUS! I asked her questions about what would be good on a bagel that I wanted to add something to and she talked to me about different options even though she was so busy!! Not a lot of managers who take the time to talk to the customer but I always see Emily working the register and filling orders on busy days! I also got to talk to Patrick who creates a lot of the syrups for the lattes and also the fun weekend teas himself!! Benchwarmers is my favorite go-to place in Raleigh!!! Do not miss out on an opportunity to eat here and getting to know the staff! They truly are wonderful!

My go to bagel includes: the #1 avocado bagel and add bacon or sausage!

My go-to latte : vanilla latte with the...

We've been going to Benchwarmer's since they opened up several years ago, and it is one of our favorite spots in Raleigh!

I always recommend getting one of their amazing and fun bagel sandwiches as opposed to just a bagel with cream cheese (even though these are still great; try the maitre d'hotel cream cheese!).

Look for their weekend specials as they are usually interesting and delicious. My favorite constant sandwhich on their menu is the #5 with smoked fish spread, pickled veggies, potatoe chips, and roe on a za'atar and sea salt bagel. The za'atar is hands down their best bagel and it is criminally underrated!

Their coffee/espresso is great and their rotating 5th Quarter Cappuccino is my go-to. If you get there early enough, definitely get a Cardamom Bun or two; they are sooo good.

A couple of disclaimers: These are not New York style bagels so don't expect that, but they are still delicious.

There is almost always a line to order on weekend mornings, so make sure you plan accordingly (took about 25 minutes to order and receive my bagels around 11:30am on a Sat). They are definitely worth the wait!

They do sicilian style pizza on Thurs-Sat night and they are super good. It may seem expensive, but it ends up being a lot more pizza than you'd think. Again, try the...