My friend and I decided to stop by Babes, Bagels, and Beans after the gym to grab something quick to eat. Initially, we had stopped by late morning on a Saturday. Naturally, the place was very busy with a line almost out the door. After waiting in line for about 10 minutes, we decided we didn't have the time to wait to order and then wait for our food. No fault of the restaurant's, obviously, we just had planned on something quick.
We came back the following Monday at around 10 AM to get food and work in their cafe for a few hours. It was still a little busy (it was a holiday, so fewer people were at work), but we were able to order quickly and grab a table to wait for our food and start on a little bit of work. I ordered one of their bagel of the month specials, which was a marble rye bagel sandwich with egg, swiss cheese, bacon, avocado, and veggie cream cheese. They were out of the marble rye bagel, so I opted for an onion bagel instead. My friend ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese with chive n onion cream cheese on a sesame bagel. She had wanted to try their asiago n artichoke spread, but they were out at the time. She also ordered a small cup of green tea.
We only ended up waiting about 20-30 minutes for the food to be ready, which didn't seem bad considering the number of people and how there weren't very many people behind the counter making the food. However, during our wait, we were able to watch as food orders were being prepared, and we were a little disappointed to see that the bagels weren't made fresh in-house and were instead shipped in bags from NYC. I guess this is what they meant when they said "NYC" bagels. The brand was "New Yorker Bagels". I don't know why, but we had assumed they were making NYC-style bagels fresh in-house and were excited about the fact. Nevertheless, the bagels were still good (we're not necessarily bagel snobs lol). But we had just come back from a trip to NYC the weekend prior, so we were still riding that high (you really can't beat an actual NYC bagel fresh from the source).
Other small things to note:
The sandwiches didn't come cut in half, which I personally believe they should. We ended up cutting them with a plastic butter knife. Not a huge deal, I know, but just something to note.
My friends tea was just a tea bag from Wegmans. I know tea isn't their specialty, but if they're boasting "finest locally roasted beans" for their coffee, they could probably put a little more care into tea selection too. But maybe not, because it is a coffee shop after all. I'd be curious to see what their matcha is like...
They have free wifi upon request, which was nice.
The bathrooms are clean.
They have outdoor seating along the street, if you'd like.
They have a really expansive and fun menu. Especially their flavored coffee/espresso, which we didn't end up trying, but I'd be open to trying for future visits.
The staff were all friendly. The one who took our order was sweet and patient when we had to adjust our orders based on what was still available. read more