The Bagel & I — Restaurant in Timberlake

I've ordered from the drive up a few times and my wife has been inside to order, in the past. I'm a little upset with her for not telling me how amazing the inside of this place is.

I stopped in yesterday morning for a couple of Breakfast sandwiches after an early morning of fishing and went in for the first time. I have to say that I was blown away by how gorgeous this place is, the decor, ambiance and general thought process in it's design and execution is perfect, not to mention the wonderful aroma of all of their Bagel goodness.

After ordering and waiting for my Bagels, I snooped around a little to check out more of the location and I think I want to move into that Family Room. It looked so comfortable and inviting. It literally screams "Come on in and relax. Here, you are family."

The Bagels are the best I've had in the area, hands down. So many other places simply have an illusion of Bagels, circular bread with a hole in it, but these are true Bagels. You can immediately tell the time and care it took to produce a wonderful product. The only others I've had that were close, were when I've taken the time to make my own, but I don't always have a couple of days to do so, to build the flavor and texture. (Resting overnight, or longer)

I'm saddened to see some of the poorly reviews, based in, what I think is a misunderstanding of the specialty craft and what the star of the show is, along with those based in impatience.

Sandwiches, be they breakfast or otherwise, have never let me down, because the Bagel is the star. If they were overcrowded with fillings, it would ruin the Bagel, in my opinion. Yes, one egg is going to appear small, in these full sized circles of awesomeness. I don't see that as an issue.

Specialty orders that they graciously cater to, be it Gluten Free (why even order a Bagel?) or heavier Wheat styles, which in my opinion is not really a Bagel, are going to be denser and not worth it, to begin with. Why demand a Bagel made with concrete and then complain? I can see those people ordering Tomato Sauce with no tomatoes and then complaining about it.

Every time I've been, especially in the morning, people are there. Of course they have to cater to those who are there, over those who can't or won't physically go. If you have to wait 30-40 minutes, it is what it is. I don't know of any descent restaurant that is any different.

If you want a real, New York style Bagel made with care and the best ingredient, Time, this is the place to go.

Thank you for bringing your amazing craft to this area. Now, if you have friends who can make Cannoli or Pizza with such care and love, my world would...

Update as of 2022: The addition of a drive through and online order has made eating here a better experience! Likewise, with more staff and training, less errors were made. Now five stars instead of three.

First and foremost, the food I've had has been good! Being that I'm pregnant, I have to be a bit picky in terms of what I can and can't eat, but the chicken bagel sandwich I've ordered has had delightful flavors and is always cooked through. The bagels are fresh and tasty, and I am glad for this establishment to have opened near me.

This place is brand new though, so there's bound to be issues. I would like to notate a few errors that have happened consistently in hopes that management can use them as a learning tool, and that they will become less frequent as the establishment grows and develops a better system:

Getting the wrong order. As seen in the attached picture, 2/3 times I've ordered in the last week have been incorrect despite the ticket showing the correct order. The picture shows an order for an everything bagel with chicken and avocado, yet what I received was what tasted and looked like a caeser salad sandwich on a sesame bagel. Normally it wouldn't be an issue to politely inform employees for a switch, but because this place is new, wait time is daunting (anywhere from 20-30min sometimes) and it's not worth the hassle.

Missing items. My husband's orders the last 2/3 times have been missing items. He ordered sausage on a bagel and received either no sausage, or something entirely different. He also has said that while sometimes the egg or sausage is a nice size, other times they are small and too salty.

Wait Time. This one will improve over time, but as of now, ordering from this location does mean you have to factor in at least ~20 to 30min of wait time. This makes it tricky when your order comes back wrong because you have to decide: do I wait another lengthy amount of time for it to be correct? I think this place would greatly improve by using an online pick-up system. It would cut the line and provide less pressure on the staff.

I personally prefer this establishment over Blue Ridge Bagels in terms of taste, but I agree with my husband when he says he can't trust it to have consistency when ordering, and therefore would rather order elsewhere with the confidence of knowing you're going to get what you paid for.

That being said, I still love the flavors they've brought and I do want to see them succeed. I hope that these errors decrease over time, and I will be happy to update my review at a later date if...

The food is phenomenal, the atmosphere in the restaurant seems nice, however, the takeout service is subpar and lacking. I’ve never had the opportunity to eat inside the restaurant, and unfortunately, I’ve only had one smooth experience out of multiple interactions. First, there is a particular employee named Geoffrey who sounds annoyed and inconvenienced whenever someone calls. I’ve had a few interactions with him and have tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, however, this behavior is unfortunately consistent. Second, for all orders I have placed except for one, I’ve always had at least one item missing. I order for our office which is not too far down the road, but I have had to make multiple trips to the restaurant to retrieve an order that was not given to us. It is quite inconvenient to make multiple trips when the order could have simply been double checked. Once again, the food is great, a majority of staff is pleasant to interact with, and the restaurant itself seems to offer a good experience, but these issues are a detriment to the restaurants overall reputation and experience. I would still recommend, but these issues should hopefully...