Best bagels in town. I wish there one in Raleigh -…read more - Ham + Swiss add egg. - Bagel of choice + honey butter cream cheese

My wife and I stopped here before going to the farmers market right near by. We shared a bagel with…read morebacon, egg, and cheese with onions on it. It was delicious. It is really close to downtown Cary park, so we sat there and enjoyed it which was really nice. The line was pretty long and someone took our order, so it had to be remade but it was worth the wait.

Your hunt for first-rate pastries and bagels ends right here. It's not surprising that there's a…read moregreat deli like this in Cary -- a city as stuffed with new Northeastern transplants as it is depleted of old Southeastern woodlands. Despite the overdeveloped bleakness, Cary is, at least, a good town to find many foods, markets, and restaurants otherwise unavailable in the region. The pastry case has a wide variety of options -- everything you might hope to find in a Portuguese or Italian bakery in New England in the 1980s (my touchstone for fundamental pastries). They are all apparently made on the premises, and have the particular look of pastries from the Northeast. Purely in the interest of scientific research, rather than barbaric gluttony, I tried an apple danish, a cheese danish, and a lemon danish. The cheese danish was faultless in taste: The filling was classic New England bakery cheese filling, and the pastry dough was very soft, and light, but not crumbly. Unlike at some Italian bakeries, it wasn't edge-to-edge filled with cheese (though it was the most edge-to-edge of all three danishes, as is customary for the cheese ones, in my experience); you can, and should, easily remedy this by ordering multiples. The apple danish was of the more cinnamon-crumble-forward style, but it was still terrific. The apples were well-coated small soft bits (unlike at some lesser pastry shops where the apples are crunchy undersweetened slices or chunks). Lemon danishes are very hard to find anywhere, and it was exciting to see one here. It was also excellent. The lemon filling sweated a little bit, so be prepared to get a little sticky (well worth it -- since this is definitely the right kind of filling for a lemon danish). The bagels are also top-notch, as you'd expect. They are a tiny bit lighter and smaller than the classic NY deli bagels were a few decades ago. Which is probably a good thing, since the New York ones seemed to be made from lead-208, all-gluten flour, and condensed dwarf star. The taste is pretty correct, though (as opposed to another bagel shop in the region which does manage to make gigantic leaden NY bagels, but which taste like dense white bread). All of the expected varieties of bagels were at the ready, and in good supply. The bagel/egg/cheese/meat sandwiches are pretty much NY deli accurate (but a little lighter -- which, again, is most welcome, compared to spending the entire morning defeating a NY bodega BEC, and the entire afternoon groaning), and carefully yet briskly prepared (with very good quality meat, and with yellow -- the tastier color -- American). (There also was a slice of chocolate cake -- it, unfortunately, was of the minimally frosted type, with some sort of ill-advised sour cream mixture between the layers. We'll just forget about that item.) The shop itself isn't quite as densely packed (with either people or pastry) as a NY deli, and is also much cleaner and kinder. The service is simply excellent. Customers are all quickly moved through the line, and the orders are prepared very efficiently. Despite the speediness, everyone behind the counter is very friendly and as patient as needed. The speed of the North is combined with the friendliness of the South -- a perfect combination, especially for those of us who are hopelessly impatient, but have no desire to ever be yelled at while at a deli counter again. A great business. I hope they flourish for a very long time.

I went to NY Deli and was honestly flabbergasted by the lack of assistance I received just trying…read moreto place an order. First, the menu is written on the wall, but it looks like it may have been written years ago because much of it is nearly illegible--as the picture I included shows. When I asked the gentleman taking my order what the menu said and what some of the options were, he seemed almost as unaware as I was. Instead of helping me understand the menu or offering a few popular choices at different price points, he began making higher-priced suggestions that really weren't very helpful. At that point, I finally just asked for an egg and cheese sandwich because I figured that was something simple and safe to try. And I'm glad I did! The egg and cheese was actually very good, and honestly, that is the only reason I didn't give NY Deli a lower rating. The food showed me that there may be a lot of potential here--the ordering experience just needs some serious attention. Please consider rewriting the menu on the wall so customers can actually read it, providing paper menus, making sure staff are familiar with the menu and can offer helpful recommendations, or preferably a combination of all three. Good food shouldn't be this difficult to order. Make the experience as good as the sandwich was, and I'd be much more inclined to come back.

| Overview (Based on experience from 4 visits)…read more + Fine amount of different bagels to choose from, including Garlic + Good variety of breakfast deli-style options other than their nice selection of bagels + Nice casual breakfast spot despite small dining area + Fast and friendly customer service + Reuben breakfast sandwich is delicious - Bagels are terribly hard to bite unlike Panera's, which is disappointing considering that NC Bagel has "Bagel" in its name. - Cost about $1 extra to add the Jalapeno Cheddar bagel in the half dozen or dozen order. - Drink selection is limited with combos. Restricted from choosing bottled soda of any of the fountain drinks. - Asiago bagel tasted Plain. I could barely taste the asiago. |Final Thoughts: There is almost no reason to choose NC Bagel over Panera or other bagel shops if you just want bagel. The hard texture is a huge letdown. I've never experienced this bagel issue in Breugger's, Panera, anywhere really. There are other breakfast options I haven't tried here so might be worth exploring but right now the only reason I'd return here is if I am craving for a Reuben sandwich for breakfast. And that mostly makes up the 2 stars I'm giving it. Really hope they improve the overall quality of their bagels. This breakfast deli spot has great potential to be "The Breakfast Spot" but it won't be able to accomplish that if their bagels are as hard as rocks. | Overall Score: 2.4/5

I ordered a BLT subbing mayo with cream cheese. For $10, I received an average bagel with a lousy…read moreamount of cream cheese and two razor thin slices of bacon on top of half a head of lettuce- not to mention the tomatoes while in season still tasted like they came from the freezer. While the flavor was not bad, ten dollars can get you a much better value at almost every other bagel shop.

I tried this place out for the first time today with my daughter before an appointment she had in…read morethe area and all I can say is WOW!!! We were both pleasantly surprised and happy. The staff/owners were so nice, friendly, and welcoming. The decor was cool! My daughter loved all of the NY pictures and decorations! I had the Asiago bagel with scallion bacon cream cheese and she had the cinnamon sugar bagel with cinnamon sugar cream cheese. Let me tell you, the bagels were toasted PERFECTLY and the helping of cream cheese was very generous and well worth the money! This was hands down the BEST bagel and cream cheese I have ever had - and that's saying a lot! It was so fresh and tasty! If she hadn't had an appointment afterwards I would have bought some more to take home! We can't wait go back!

Fantastic service, from the cashier to the owner. Service…read morewith a smile, great food as well. Thanks!! Will be back!

Stopped by on a Saturday morning to try out benchwarmers which is new to the NHID- what a delicious…read morespot!! The building is very cute and inside clean & welcoming. Staff were all very nice as well. I got the bacon egg and cheese on a salt bagel- DELICIOUS! I've never had a salt bagel before and I like it way better with a sandwich than the plain bagel. Good filling to bagel ratio as well. The coffee was delicious as well- I got the iced coconut caramel (decaf) and the flavors were all great. We will definitely be back again!

Service was great but order was really screwed up and I couldn't eat mine. Ordered a salt bagel…read morewith egg, American cheese No Dukes Mayo. I got any everything bagel with wet scramble and sausage and some very hot sauce. In a hurry to get to our destination so didn't know until we were there, ugh. Very messy to eat with a wet scramble. On top of that, very expensive! $25 for two breakfast sandwiches and a coffee. Our third bagel sandwich this week and the other places were not even $20, Coffee was great. Hip and clean with a nice outside area as well.

Bottom line: The Croque Madame at this La Farm Bakery location in Whole Foods was a great…read morebreakfast. As one would expect at La Farm Bakery, the strength here is in the food itself. Service was mixed but on the whole, good. Casual but charming atmosphere in their display area, counter, and seating area. The Deets: Looking for a change of pace from my usual early Sunday breakfast, I went over to the La Farm Bakery location within the Whole Foods at Arco St off Hwy 55. They were open bright and early at 7am so I hit them a bit after opening. Going over to the "Order Here" counter, I got to look at all the great baked items in the display case beside it (pic nabbed, check it out). Looking over the good selections on the menu, I went with the Croque Madame for breakfast with one of their drip coffees. The person at the register was pleasant and helpful. I took my coffee over to one of the tables in the seating area to wait for my order to be brought to me. The seating area is a nice bakery/bistro combo feel to it, casual but charming in feeling. I did notice that even though it was near opening time, some of the tables in the seating area could do with a bit of cleanup. Their drip coffee was OK, not outstanding, and did the trick for my morning wake-up. My Croque Madame was delivered to my table in good time (by someone with no smile or communication, noted). Here is where the La Farm Bakery strength showed through as expected...the food. The Croque Madame was excellent (again, see pic), everything tasted great and I enjoyed it. I loved they gave you a heavy duty serrated knife to use with the toasted bread. The plate included one of their cookie-like scones (perfect in taste and texture, a bit soft which I like but still solid) and fruit (I love orange slices). Overall, a tasty breakfast stop at this La Farm Bakery location and I would stop by again.

Food: ordered the hot chocolate and was pretty good. Came in a decent size…read more Service: They were nice. Only ordered drinks so they just called out name when ready Location: Inside of Whole Foods and has its own sitting area/cafe. Parking lot is shared with Whole Foods grocery Ambiance: We went later at night and it was quieter and plenty of space to sit since it was an hour to closing.

Had an early appt in the area and popped in for a cold brew. Could tell that folks in the 'hood…read morefrequent here. The iced brew hit the spot. Took a chunk of crumb cake to go for later. Quick service. Comfy seating all around. Outside tables available so bring the pup.

Sadly Third Place was very underwhelming. It's in such a cool location in Five Points, and the…read moreinterior has a unique, funky charm. The barista was super kind and helped with giving us recommendations. I ordered a caramel latte and cinnamon sugar donut. The latte unfortunately tasted super watered down, like either the bean quality was not great or the espresso extraction wasn't great. The donuts they get are from Tepuy which I didn't realize until seeing it on the receipt, and I unfortunately am not a huge Tepuy fan. Overall it was a bit of a miss and there are other coffee shops in Raleigh that are knocking it out of the park.

I come for the egg salad and that's enough. Best egg salad ever. ever ever. Who on EaRTH decided to…read morethrow olives in? Giving full 20 gun salute for that stroke of brilliance. I wasn't sure until I took my first bite. Never thought that the humble egg salad was missing a trick until I met Brooklyn Pickles take on the classic. My friends love the meatball mashed potatoes. Never had. My other friend devoured her sandwich and I am not sure what she had. The only disappointment was the iced tea. Tasted weird. Like maybe it is powdered. I don't know. The staff on this day were very very nice, opened the door greeting us on the way in and on the way out. That's unusual int his day and age and very much appreciated.

Had the 12" Roast Beef sub. The roll quality was better than the last time, but the roll to meat…read moreratio wasn't very good. There could not have been more than five or six ounces, likely less meat on the sub. They also UPCHARGE for a few chopped spicy cherry peppers. The Swiss cheese wasn't distinguishable at all, I'm not sure why I bothered with it. The also didn't have any full sour pickles either. I wanted to like it, I really did. Maybe one more try with a Giant Sandwich instead of a sub.