Sclafani's New York Bagels and Bread — Restaurant in Virginia

When it comes to reviewing Sclafani's, I'm torn. This place used to be one of the best places to eat around here. Having spent more than my fair share of time in and around NY, I can honestly say these are some of the best and most authentic NY bagels I've had. The owner used to come greet us at the door as we waited in line, which was always long although it always moved quickly. Everything we ever ordered was absolutely delicious. At a certain point, we were stopping into Sclafani's at least a few times per week for their French toast bagels, bagel burgers, the Lox, and their awesome saffron chicken salad.

Unfortunately, our Sclafani's experience has changed dramatically. It's my understanding that the man who opened Sclafani's sold the place to someone else, which is why it's gone downhill.

To be clear, the food is still very, very good, and that makes this even worse because it's the service and new management of Sclafani's that will be its downfall. I can't speak for how Sclafani's is in the early mornings, but every time we've stopped in around 10AM or later, they're basically out of bagels. This NEVER happened with the original owner who would start making fresh bagels hours before the door opened in the morning and continue making them throughout the day. You never had any problem getting the bagel you wanted, and it would always be fresh. But those days are gone.

The other problem I have with the "new" Sclafani's is the service. It seems that no matter what we order, we have to wait and wait and wait for our food to be ready. This would be somewhat understandable if the place was extremely busy, but we've been the only guests before and still waited over a half hour for one bagel with cream cheese and one chicken-salad-on-bagel sandwich. I can be patient and understanding, especially when it comes to working in the unforgiving food service industry, but this is just inexcusable. Other times we've waited 45 minutes for a bagel burger. Unless you're getting a dozen bagels to take home (assuming they even have that many available or they'll let you buy that many) I really don't know what you could order so that you wouldn't be left waiting for an obscene amount of time.

Like I said, I'm really torn when it comes to reviewing Sclafani's. I'd almost prefer for the new ownership to have resulted in a major drop in the quality of the food, but it's still very delicious. However, it becomes problematic when you have very little chance of being able to order what you want or even anything at all. There's also clearly something wrong when a bagel with cream cheese and a bagel sandwich take half an hour. I'm giving Sclafani's two stars to reflect its overall quality as of today. I will probably continue visiting Sclafani's (albeit very infrequently) to check out the management and service situations, but if things don't improve, I'll surely cut my losses and stop...

Let me just say I'm a New Yorker, born and bred, a Long Island boy to be exact, where the best bagels originated. I've been goin to Sclafani's since October of 2015 when I moved near Winchester. Chris was the best, great customer service(service with a smile anyone!!), anything you wanted, you got. A dozen bagels, 2 dozen bagels..no problem...The place was always packed...Now, it's a different story. I have no idea what they're doin with cinnamon raisin bagels!!..They're the size of hockey pucks now..But besides that, I got the most shocking reaction since the new owners took over..I went in today, 10/30/2016 to get my 2 week supply of bagels, a dozen and a half to b exact..I live about 18 miles from the store, so I make the trip once every 2 weeks(not like NY where there's a bagel store within a 2 mile radius of where u live!! Lol)..I tell the gentleman who's taking my order(he happens to be the owner) that I want a dozen and a half..He turns and looks at the bagel bins and says to me: "I can do a dozen"..I'm thinking to myself: What is this guy tawwwwkin bout?? Lol..Every bin was full of bagels and it was 11am..They don't close until 3pm!!..I had to like negotiate to get a dozen and a half!!..Absolutely rediculous..Ad I wait for egg sandwich to be made I realize I forgot to order a couple loaves of bread, for when I make a pasta dinner, gotta have a loaf to make garlic bread, right??!! Lol..Anyway, I ask the girl that hands me my bagels if she could grab me a loaf of bread..She tells me to hold on, comes back and tells me I have to go to the register to pay..I say fine, but I ask if I have to wait on the line, she then asks the register man(the owner) if I have to wait in line and he says yes!!..Are u kidding me!!..I just waited in line( a line of 7 people) for 30 minutes for my bagels and my sandwich and now they wanted me to wait in a line of 12 people just to pay for a loaf of bread!!??..These new owners r the worst, total lack of customer service..I completely understand why this business is going downhill. The day old bread thing I've never heard of, but it actually is still pretty good.I freeze the loaves, then defrost one when I make garlic bread..It's like it just came outta the oven, trust me..They need to change the way they deal with customers, be a little more catering to the customer and it will go a long way..Chris, if u still read these reviews, I hope God is looking out for u and ur family and that ur getting better..All of your customers are hoping u get well so that u can come back and make this bagel store great again..I'm sure I can speak for all ur original customers when I say:"WE NEED YOU...

So my wife is a Brooklyn girl. Born and raised. We've been hunting for authentic NY bagels for so long. We've found a bagel shop on the greater east side of Cleveland and this weekend we're down in VA visiting her family. Her brother tells us about Sclafanis. Immediately we open the yelp app to read the reviews. There wasn't any review under 5. So we knew we had to visit them.

Onto my review, we arrive at the shop, it's close to 11 so we expect it to be busy, and I won't knock them on this because they actually served all of the customers with some great efficiency. They have a pretty nice menu and even serve lunch. The interior is very well put together. They have about 7 or so tables I believe? No booths. Their bagel display is what really draws you even at 11 when some other places may be low on certain bagels, their display was still fully stocked. Nobody will say to you "oh I'm sorry we're out of that right now". Employees are very friendly and it seems genuine, it seems as if they actually enjoy their job which is good.

Now on to the bagel. I ordered a lox on an everything bagel. My wife suggested it because she knows I'm a salmon lover. And, oh, my, God. It was a flavor explosion. The bagel was so fresh. I didn't even need to chew the bagel to get the entire flavor of it. The lox itself was amazing and the veggies on it were so fresh. The sandwich itself wasn't rushed so when I unwrapped it, it didn't fall apart. I could go on and on and on about the bagel itself but I think I'd run out of words.

Overall I would tell any and everyone to come here. Bagel lover or not. My wife says it's definitely an authentic NY bagel shop. And I would take her word for it easily. COME...