The Bagel Man — Restaurant in Tempe

It is true that they have the best bagels in the valley, I never had an issue to make a 30 minutes drive just to get a couple of bagels, not even to tip 20% every time, until today. in some occasions I arrived late and they were sold out, didn't mind to drive back home empty-handed, I was actually glad that the business was running so great that there was no leftovers, however, today was different, I hopped into the line as the rest, started with a few people in front of me and had to wait outside, the line kept moving, people asked for recommendations and clarification about the menu and the owner provided those to them, even one of the customers forgot the credit card in his vehicle and had to ran out to get it, after 15 minutes or so waiting in line, my turn arrived, just to be rejected right away, my order was simple, just a couple of sandwiches that might take as much time to make as taking care of a customer that is asking a few questions about the menu. The owner just told me that he was not making any "lunch" because the line was long, regardless of the time already invested while waiting in line, I do consider that as disrespectful. I'm just a client and more than aware than whatever business I can drive to that place will not make any difference. I do have a request to set proper expectations, if your policy is to not sell anything but bagels and spread while the line is long, put at least a piece of paper with that information the same way that you let everyone know when you are sold out or taking vacations, do it out of respect for your customers, we wait patiently on line and happy because we like your product, the least that you can do is to let us know beforehand what are the rules of your establishment. In case that was not clear, I will not return as a customer, just hope that you will be able to find the ways to improve...

So disappointing. Bagels were very chewy and doughy. Toasted obviously doesn’t mean toasted here. Do these places not own a toaster? Not an authentic NY bagel whatsoever.

The lox spread wasn’t lox spread at all but rather a clever way to charge for something the customer won’t be getting. A lox spread is lox (aka smoked salmon) that is completely mixed (similar to a purée where the two ingredients are completely blended) so it looks like orange cream cheese and tastes like lox. What they did instead was add a few diced pieces of lox into an abundance of plain cream cheese. See photos.

Blueberry bagel was lame. Seemed burnt ironically but not toasted as requested. Strawberry cream cheese was flavorful but runny not creamy. Not much blueberry flavor.

Staff member was wearing her surgical mask over her mouth only. Big no-no. Not friendly, more like a robot.

Atmosphere is blah and looks like it has seen better days but appreciate they have one door for an entrance and another for the exit. Menu board is easy to read.

Waste of money. Literally spit out most of it. No comparison to a NY bagel and those who thinks otherwise obviously didn’t grow up there. I mean look at which bagels sell out first: asiago and jalapeno. No New Yorker would order those flavors, those are for the people who are from AZ and don’t know any better. It’s the equivalent of Chinese restaurants that Americanize their food to cater to those who don’t know what real Chinese food tastes like and want a bland lame version.

Really a shame that Odelay Bagel closed because that was a real NY bagel. The Bagel Man bagel is not.

Tip: they close...

9/6/25: Finally popped in to The Bagel Man this particular Saturday, what a fun time! From the second we walked in the door, the vibe made us feel like we were greeting long-lost-family. The gentleman behind the counter was boisterous, cracking jokes left & right, gobbling like a turkey (trying to persuade me to order that particular bagel breakfast sandwich - it worked). Ha!

It is a tight spot, no sitting inside, and only a few chairs/tables outside. They have a lot of classic items in front of their counters (stereos, phone, etc); that was fun to peruse through while we waited.

The sandwiches came out quickly & luckily a table was available outside. While we were woofing down the delightful food, a guy came out & started speaking with us. Turns out, he was the cook. Great guy & it was so enlightening to talk to him about the bagels, the store in general, how they're made (by hand!!), all that jazz. After speaking with him, we definitely came away with a higher appreciation of all the work that family does to make such wonderful food.

If you haven't tried The Bagel Man, you are missing out. To hell with that other famous bagel place :-), The Bagel Man is the...