If you have never heard Winston's Bagels, let me introduce you...Foodie, meet Winston. Winston,…read moremeet foodie. You can now fall in love. Winston's Bagels are LEGENDARY in Carbondale, IL. The genius behind the tasty treat is Winston. He's a hippy 60(?) something man with a food cart who, in my day set up his mobile shop on "The Strip" - Carbondale's main bar scene. I hear he's moved onto Grand now, but wherever he is, YOU NEED TO BE THERE TOO. Here's the scoop... Winston comes out at night, just about the time the college kids are bar hopping. He sets up his small mobile cart, and starts cranking out The. Best. Bagel. Treat. You. Will. Ever. Eat. Winston grills the bagels over charcoal, which gives the bread a traditional char taste and creates this fantastic crunch when you bite into it. He drizzles the bagel with margarine (I think it's Parkay from the yellow and blue squeeze bottle), and generously tops each bagel side with plain cream cheese. Then the magic happens. You choose your toppings. I'm partial to the Everything: apple, cinnamon, sunflower seeds, cucumber, red onion, garlic powder, bacon bits, and raisins. It's the perfect morsel to have when you're out drinking in Carbondale - every college student learns this lesson to perfection at SIUC - or even if you just have a late night craving for a sweet / savory treat. Of course as alumni (Class of '95!), we all crave a Winston Bagel now and then, and when we go back it's a must eat treat! I've tried to make them at home, but it's just not the same. It's missing Winston's je nais se quoi. He generously doles out hugs, stories, jokes, and charm along with his bagels. Plus the man is a total genius. He charges $2.25 for a bagel. That fits any pocket book - and more often than not - you give him three dollars and tell him to keep the change. The man is making some dough. I hear he takes a couple vacations a year just with his tip money. Go fall in love with Winston The Bagel Man. He'll be there in Carbondale grilling his bagels into the wee hours of the morning!

I noticed that Winston's Bagels has 5 stars with 11 reviews, and I am not surprised one bit. This…read moreis the ONE THING every SIU-C graduate talks about and craves after they move away. At last visit, they were $2.25 each and still worth every bite. Winston sets up shop across the street from Pinch Penny Liquors near Saluki Bookstore. Options are the same as I remember: Cream Cheese, Garlic Salt, Butter, Ground Cinnamon, Cucumber, Apple, Raisins, Sunflower Seeds, Bacon Bits, Onions. I used to get sunflower seeds, butter, and cucumber but recently tried all-but-onion and am not quite sure I can go back. Remember cash only, and they don't break $20s. Definitely tip Winston or any of his helpers running the cart! Truly an institution in Carbondale!

This was such a cute spot! The lady at the register was wonderful!…read more I learned about this place simply from the bakery crawl! I'm happy I did. Located in soulard. This bagel place is YUMMY!! It is hard to find a real bagel place in the Midwest. STL is extremely lucky to have this place. I got a bacon egg and cheese sandwich on a onion and garlic bagel Being someone who grew up on New York bagels & New York bakeries. I can happily say that this is very impressive place!! Jalapeño cheddar bagel YESSS!! It's a nice spot to sit and eat inside or outside. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable. You can also sit and read or even work. It's just a nice little spot!

What a cool spot in Soulard. My husband and I live in the area and frequesnt iTap pretty often, so…read morewe always see this spot, but had yet to make it in. A lot of my coworkers highly recommend it so I knew I had to try. We finally had a morning playing at the market, and decided to swing in for breakfast. WOW. It definitely lives up to the hype. Their bagels are SO flavorful, and their sandwich options are delighful. I just got the standard egg and cheese on the onion bagel and it was SO GOOD. My husband got the pruscuitto sandwich and he was a big fan. For what you get, I think the pricing is super fair. Really cool you also get to see the kitchen and everything they're making in back. We will absolutely be back, and will recommend it to all our friends who visit!

Best bagel in STL . Love their selection of schmears and that it's a quick place to get in and out…read moreof on the way to work

Great bagels, unfortunate parking…read more Parked around the corner and walked there. Just a couple of people in line ahead of me. Young lady behind the counter was friendly and helpful in picking flavors. Store is clean and bright. Smells wonderful! Was disappointed that not all of the flavors are available all the time, was there almost an hour ahead of one being available to sell, boo... Also wished that they would have asked about slicing the bagels for us, would have been very helpful. Still the best bagels in town!

Grabbed lunch here the other day, and would recommended it to anyone for a snack, lunch, or an…read moreoffice treat. Recently spent some time in New York and was happy with the bagels - non chewy, not tuff, soft, and consistent throughout. I went with the New York New York option, ample meat was between my bagel halves. Very filling and great taste. I opted for the potato salad as my side, it is mustard based. Potato salad is always Russian Roulette for someone that does not like crunchy onions in their food -- this one passed the test. The flavor was there but no big chunks of raw onion were to be crunched while enjoying my meal. (Please never change that) Great friendly service. Refills on fountain sodas and tea available. Would definitely recommend.

Woke up and started wanting bagels and heard great things about this from our friend…read more We came by and were greeted warmly! This place is more of a breakfast/sandwich spot first, before it is a bagel shop so don't come here expecting a TON of bagel varieties. Nevertheless, it was still good for breakfast. I got a salt bagel for my BEC, and my husband got cinnamon raisin for his sausage, egg, and cheese. I also ordered a buttered plain bagel for my son. We didn't wait too long, and they gave my son a sticker that he played with while we waited. The bagels were nice and chewy, and I loved that they didn't skimp out on any of the ingredients. The buttered bagel though was VERY buttery, so be ready to wipe your hands a lot while eating it. It was still very good!

Great food and beautifully restored double decker bus. Fun for the entire family. The food is…read moreconsistently great and the service is top notch. I'm so glad The Bustaurant is back!

This place is just cool. The food is excellent and the staff is friendly…read more I had the steak kebabs with sticky rice. The steak was tender with a slight char, which is perfect in my book. The rice had a sort of Thai/Indian fusion drizzle that was slightly sweet, spicy, and earthy all at once. I also had the humus, and it was excellent. This place just made the regular lunch rotation.

Wow blow away! In a small town this IS THE PLACE to go! So delicious…read more Bathrooms are cute. We came in around 9:30 am had about a 20 minute wait but utilize outside bar. Sitting was nice it is small inside. We had a Benny bowl, blueberry lemon something it was so sweet definitely split, BLT and peach drinks festive for the leach festival in town. Highly recommend

Best Lox & bagels in Cobden…read more This is my best acerbic statement on the choices locally have been extremely limited, but the iron whisk really does an amazing breakfast, I miss Tom's Mary's inherent is excellent, but if you want breakfast, the iron whisk is the best

I will get on my soapbox every single time about supporting local coffee shops. Stop going to the…read morechains. All you're doing is buying the CEO their next mansion. Enter Pine Mountain Country Coffee on Festus Main Street. This is a mini Cracker Barrel. If you look around, it will resemble Cracker Barrel. They have all the candies and the sweets and the baked items. It's adorable inside. Their coffee is strong, it's great, and you should be supporting Local businesses like this. The service is genuine and way faster than the chains. Do not make me go protest in the Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts parking lots. Don't do that to me.

The ice cream here is amazing!!! It's made in Wisconsin and the flavors are unique and delicious…read more Plus they make those incredible over the top sundaes and floats. They recently have reworked the inside some and have a new candy station that is full of all kinds of seasonal goodies. When I worked down the street, I would often come for their cold brew coffee, fir an afternoon pick me up. They also serve some pretty amazing breakfast and lunch sandwiches on New York bagels. Weekend hours are longer over the summer and early fall staying open until 10pm but as they hit October the hours shift to close by 9 o'clock on the weekends. They have cute ice cream cone seating tables as well as an old time soda bar. Definitely our families go-to ice cream splurge. I love that it's on Main Street with all the cute boutiques, shopping and local events.

Best bagels with the friendliest staff, what a fantastic experience. Highly recommend the…read moresprinkles flavor, my kids absolutely loved it!!

If you are visiting on a Sunday plan accordingly. There may be a wait but it's worth it. Ever since…read morevisiting New York, I've become a bit of a snob when it comes to bagels. Bagels and Bliss did not disappoint! This small grab and go shop operates like a well oiled machine. By the time you reach the register be ready to share your name then begin with identifying if you're ordering sandwiches or just bagels. I'd recommend the Lox with everything on Tzitzel. Tzitzel is the provel cheese in bagels (e.g. it originated in St. Louis). Note: they do take food allergies seriously. I witnessed a patron share she had an allergy and requested they wash off the knife before making her order and they did just that! Not every food establishment is accomodating in this way so it was nice to witness!

Stopped in for a pastrami sandwich after the lunch rush, there were still several people waiting…read more Because they have specialty items and chips, drinks, around the line formation, you can always pass the wait time, looking at all the cool things! I found some spicy truffle chips I hadn't tried before. Ordered my usual, the hot pastrami on rye with deli mustard. Yum! The wait is never very long with 3 people or 20 people in line; they have lots of people behind the counter. Once your order is ready, you step to the register to pay and you on your way.

The place is a hole in the wall, authentic, old school, small deli without any frills. We loved…read morewatching the interaction with the locals - moving away from St. Louis has me missing that aspect of the community. After we ordered coffee, they looked at us and told us it would be 5-10 minutes. They had no milk and were out of creamer. Again, authentic to the community - you should order black coffee here & not past 8:30z As we sat & I realized, I leaned in and said, did you realize it's almost 11:00? Honestly, neither of us realized until after we sat down that the breakfast rush was long over and they were essentially brewing a pot just for us. They were very nice & accommodated but, boy did I feel bad once it dawned on me. Enjoyed both our bagel & knish.