Great American Bagel — Restaurant in San Jose

Picture this. You’ve flown halfway or more across the world, skipping through the skies to a faraway place, a place of legends, of technology, of freedom, of opportunity. You’ve taken maybe two, three, four separate flights so far, each in pursuit of your final destination: San Jose, capital of the technology world; hundreds of legendary American Institutions call this incredible place their home. You shuffle off the plane as the dawn light pierces through the majestic glass windows of SJC. You gawk around in awe, at the towering headquarters of trillion dollar companies, at the flickering lights advertising the latest breakthroughs in AI for beer or computer networks for nurses, or something. Your stomach rumbles as you slowly shuffle onwards, head turning this way or that, each new sight of this technological mecca a delight to the senses. You lower your head for a brief moment, and you spy it - a small, humble shop advertising the Great American Bagel. This must be the place! In the great Land of Opportunity, this must be THE Great American Bagel! In your home, you’ve heard whispers of the great bagel, a heavenly concoction of diverse textures and flavors.

We must imagine this scene in order to understand the enormity of expectation, the incredible weight of the entire American Mythos, pressing down on this Great American Bagel. It is inevitable that this bagel couldn’t possibly fulfill its promise.

And yet, nothing could possibly prepare you for the disappointment that awaits. You take your first bite and are instantly repulsed. Insipid, dry, stale, tasteless, lukewarm bread, separating a greasy, overly salty, gummy cream “cheese”, squeezing out the sides like a teenage pimple on an unwashed face. They called it an “everything” bagel, but “nothing” is a far more accurate way to describe the toppings that dot the barren surface. You’d be better off eating the paper it came wrapped in.

At least the guy I ordered from was...

For a place named Great American Bagel Bakery, my bagel was very disappointing. Anyone who names themselves bagel bakery, I expect to actually make their bagels fresh. The everything bagel tray was empty. I asked if they were out and she said no, they had them. I ordered one with cream cheese. Basic and standard. She pulled it out of a bag, so I’m guessing they don’t bake them themselves. It honestly tasted worse than a store bought package of bagels. I watched her toast it, but it was lukewarm and didn’t seem to actually have been toasted. The bagel was dense, kind of dry, and lacking flavor. No better than what I could have gotten anywhere else in the airport from other restaurants who don’t have “bagel bakery” in their name. Honestly a Starbucks bagel would have been a lot better. Super disappointing and not worth the $5+ I spent....

On the way to our terminal had a suicidal stopover at the Great American Bagel. Ordered a couple of medium coffees along with an Egg and cheese bagel ( chose cinnamon raisin ( should have so done everything bagel)).

Before I get to the bagel and coffees kudos to the staff for being so kind and patient with folks rushing in and lines getting big. They made us feel home at the ordering counter for sure.

Next up, the bagel sure turned out to be good though the coffee was a bit large for a medium and was too strong for my taste as well. I haven’t had coffee in a while and it could be because of that though it turned out to be too strong and butter for my taste.

Worth a try with the bagels and good luck with...