Bagels In The Boro — Restaurant in Rockaway

Great place for a breakfast treat. I had an everything bagel with veggie cream cheese. It was pretty good!!

If that's the case...why the 1 star rating?

This review reflects my previous experience. I was a bit hesitant to write a bad review because the food quality is pretty good. However, the customer service and attitude I was given was more than I could tolerate.

A while back.....I would come in once a week in the morning to grab a quick bagel (or sandwich) for breakfast while I was on my way to work on route 46.

There are two bagel places (literally 200ft) across from each other. The only reason I chose Bagels in the Boro is because I saw a Yelp deal (a check in offer). You check in and you get a free small coffee (self served) with a purchase of any breakfast item.

So...what's the problem?

Well, after my 3rd check in (in a month), the owner/manager (an Asian gentleman) who rang me up asked me "have you used this check in before?". I replied "yes". "Oh, ok" was his reply.

The following week, I stopped by again and ordered a bacon egg & cheese on a bagel. I hit the checked in button on the Yelp app and showed him the check in. This time he said "you already used this last time". He then proceeded to look at my phone and tapped "check in now" with his own finger. Ummmm.....excuse me. Please don't touch my phone. If you would like me to confirm the check in, you could ask me to tap the "check in now" button myself. He probably thinks I didn't fully check in last time and will keep doing it to get a free coffee.

After he touched my phone, he said "you shouldn't be able to use this coupon more than once. It's a one time offer".

I replied: From my experience, with most Yelp check in offers....we are able to get that offer each time we check in.

He said "I don't know, all I know is that I paid a lot of money and I'm getting nothing in return".

I replied: Well, that's between you and Yelp. Maybe you can call your Yelp sales representative to edit the offer. However, you do know there's another breakfast/bagel place directly across the street from you, right??? The only reason I decided to get breakfast from you instead of your competitor across the street is because of this check in offer you elected to give your customers. Besides, how many people check in on a daily basis? Five? Ten? That's only 10 cups of coffee. How much does that really cost you? These are ten people that you attracted by offering free coffee. These are also ten people who can write a great review or a horrible review about your business on Yelp.

He begins to get upset because he assumed I just threatened him and said "this is a one time offer. I will not honor this deal over and over again to the same customer. I paid a lot of money for this deal and it wasn't worth it. And now I have to give away free coffee".

That was the last time I ever step foot in Bagels in the Borough. It made me feel horrible as a person. As if I was there to "cheat" him or to be sneaky and trick him into giving me free coffee. I do not believe I took advantage of him. However, he made me feel bad as I walked out of the store that time. As if I did something wrong and was a tiny bit ashamed of myself of "cheating" him out of a small cup of coffee. I don't ever want to experience that again.

Aside from that, the food is pretty good. The wait time is pretty long. There seems to be two people working. The Asian man (owner/manager) and a short Latina. The young lady is always in the front by herself. When it gets really busy the owner/manager runs out to assist. Way...

The food wasn't inedible, but if a bagel shop can't make a sausage, egg, and cheese.... they deserve 2 stars. We've been trying all the local bagel stores and this is the clear loser so far.

Bagels: I'd give the bagels themselves a B-. They lacked the good chew and 'crust' of a real NJ bagel. And they only had about 10 bagels left at noon.

Timing: It took us about 30 minutes to get 2 bagels and a sandwich.

Food: I ordered a sausage, egg, and cheese on an everything bagel - the classic breakfast sandwich. They didn't toast the bagel, the sausage was very homogenous processed mcdonalds-y type sausage, and there was no cheese. NO CHEESE. A tragedy. I had to microwave it at home with my own shredded cheese. Ugh. the suffering. My friend got a reuben on toasted rye, which arrived on untoasted bread. By the time we got home, it was pretty soggy and falling apart. The pastrami was decent though. Supposed to come with a side, but didn't. so. cool. The everything bagel with veggie cream cheese was average, but also not toasted as requested.

Oh, and I asked for ketchup. and they gave me..... Mcdonald's ketchup packets? y'all can't even buy your own ketchup?

and not for nothing, about 4 of the 6 people in there were straight up not wearing masks. They weren't eating, and 2 were seemingly high and coughing openly. In a pandemic.

Sorry, y'all. we won't be returning. At least not until you...

Are you kidding?? A bagel with Taylor ham and herself and a 12 Oz coffee for $9.10 ...that most ridiculous priced placed I have ever been too. A bagel maybe $2.00, Taylor ham about $2.00 worth, cheese $.50 cents and a coffee $2.00...$6.50 tops...never again...STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE. COMPLETE RIP-OFF. OVERPRICED And now the owner is complaining...it was a 12oz coffee and the Taylor ham was microwaved...LETS GET SOMETHING STRAIGHT..I DONT WRITE BAD REVIEWS AS A JOB, I WRITE REVIEWS SO PEOPLE KNOW WHAT THEY ARE GETTING AND HONESTY AT YOUR PLACE...THERE GETTING GARBAGE. THATS YOUR FAULT FOR USING A MICROWAVE AND OVERCHARGING. HOPEFULLY PEOPLE GO TO A BETTER PLACE...