The Bagel Box — Restaurant in Show Low

Spoiler alert and warning: If you don’t like long reviews, this is gonna be a long one…BUT, if you choose to not take a couple extra minutes of your time to read this, you’re probably going to be missing out on trying a great new place and meeting some really nice people! Okay so here goes! Wow, it is so refreshing to see that someone was intuitive enough to bring something different to the White Mountains that we don’t already have: GREAT BAGELS!! I’ve been wanting to try this place ever since I found out about it online! I come from a big foodie family and my husband and I love to cook different types of foods at home…so we don’t really dine out very much any more..but since we both enjoy good food, it’s tough to resist trying out certain places when we see something different in our local area! You can expect to be greeted cheerfully when you walk through the doors of this place..at least when Coby (or is it Colby?? I hate getting people’s names wrong!!), David, Lucy and Sam are working! I can’t speak for the other employees, but I expect it’d probably be the same excellent service..and I say that certainly not to minimize the outstanding level of service that we received yesterday afternoon!! But I just got a sense that this is what this place is about…they care about what they do and they care about people. So, if you like supporting local establishments like we do..and you like trying new places and different things…and being treated well in the process, I implore you to give this place and these great folks a try! My husband tried the bacon, egg and cheese bagel and enjoyed it! I simply tried the everything bagel with a schmear of plain cream cheese as I both wanted to try something dressed down to taste the bagels better for the first time..and I was going clothes shopping afterwards, so I wanted to have something slightly lighter beforehand 😊! I enjoyed it and they don’t skimp on the cream cheese..next time I’d like to try the Brooklyn bagel with cream cheese and lox..I love that they add the touch of capers on that to elevate it a bit more from the classic version of this! I was pleased to see almost all really good reviews for them…but I saw one review in particular that made me cringe a bit…I mean, please, can’t we just go easier on each other?? Maybe the person had a bad day, but let’s give people the chance to work out kinks, etc.! Establishing any kind of eatery has got to be daunting; gee whiz, sometimes I feel that way when I’m in my own kitchen trying to get through a tedious new recipe!!! Anyway, Coby (?) (Please correct me if I’m on wrong on the name or the spelling!!) helped us with questions, selections and ringing us up..he was the perfect gentleman in every aspect of service..from what I mentioned..to when I mistook decaffeinated tea for caffeinated…to checking on us at our table twice!! After that, we met David, Sam and Lucy..what a top notch staff these four young folks are!! Even Barclay, the owner flashed a big smile as he passed by..and another unidentified lady did the same (Tammy? Yes, I’ve read every review!! 😊) Anyway, as I mentioned the great team…Coby or Colby..(somebody please set me straight on this!) David, Sam and Lucy..my husband and I were so impressed with how these young folks engaged so well with older folks like us!!! Literally, ALL these young folks were fantastic…I only give extra props to Sam because timing and opportunity allowed us to have time to talk to him more..and for such a young man, he was so fascinating to talk with!! So engaging!!! I can’t wait to go back just to get to know the people there better!! BTW, we grew up in New York, so we know a good bagel when we see it!!! 😊 P.S. Also bought a pistachio muffin to go..it felt so heavy as I was peeling the parchment paper wrapper off it today, I had to weigh it on my kitchen scale out of curiosity & it weighed exactly 9 ounces!! That’s over a half pound!! The pistachio flavor was so undeniable that even if it hadn’t had a generous sprinkling of whole pistachios on top, you would’ve known exactly what...

I was so disappointed in this cafe. I got there and was super excited to hear they make their own bagels the “right” way! But I ordered a basic bagel and lox, and the bagel was almost inedible. It wasn’t toasted, it was hard as a rock on the outside and the inside was dense and chewy instead of light and airy. It had likely been both underproofed and overbaked. They’d do better buying their bagels from Chompies and bringing them up from the Valley.

Then the sandwich, advertised as a classic bagel and lox, they made it into a sandwich… and added lettuce. Just ew.

Finally the counter staff were all clearly new and definitely undertrained. A gentleman who I can only assume was the owner manager snapped at the counter gal who was organizing the meals, in front of all the customers in line. Instead of how can I help, he scolded and demeaned her saying “get it together!”

Finally. It’s clear that everything in the place is second hand. The chairs were fabric, and clearly not new with stains and filth. It’s definitely not a place I’d want to stay and eat at the sad worn down tables. I don’t understand what kind of impression they were trying to make.

I may go back and give them one more shot, but boy what a...

I really dont like giving bad reviews, but wow.. saw the reviews and mentions on Facebook - thought we'd give this place a try being Persnikkitys wasn't open for breakfast yet (we'll normally go to Persnikkitys for breakfast & lunch, never have had a bad experience there) everything about our breakfast was bad, from the service, to the setting, to the food. No water was brought to the table, no silverware, no napkins, no salt and pepper, asked for a high chair and was told they don't have any. So my 1 ½ year old had to sit on my lap the whole time. My husband ordered the BLT.. there was two teeny tiny slices of bacon, one soggy piece of lettuce, and one piece of cheap kraft cheese on white air bread, the potato salad was the same potato salad that you buy from Walmart in the deli containers. I had the Cali breakfast sandwich, which was okay at best.. the only thing that had any flavor was the jalapeños on top on the bagel. My sons shared a croissant breakfast sandwich and even they didn't want to touch it. We left so disappointed. Had such high hopes given all the good reviews.. based on our experience we will not be back; I'd recommend going to...