I stopped by Bagels & Co a couple times over the past few weeks and wasn't "wowed". Having been here plenty of times, I love seeing what new bagels and schmears that have. While their bagels are not New York styled by any means, they do fix a craving for bagels. The inside is still kept clean and the service is still good. Staff is accommodating and pretty friendly. I prefer ordering online as it is very easy and you can even earn rewards!
I stopped by on two different occasions recently to try some of their cream cheese specials. They included the Caesar Cream Cheese and Pimento Cream Cheese. I was super excited to try these as they are both unique, bold flavors. I ordered the pimento cream cheese on a toasted salt bagel--big mistake. The salt bagel was HEAVILY salted with thick sea salt. The schmear itself was also saltier, which is fine, but paired with salt bagel it was just too much. I tried eating it but genuinely couldn't due to the amount of salt on the bagel...even upon scraping it off I couldn't. When I told one of the workers she gladly took the bagel and offered to replace it with a different bagel. I ended up getting a poppyseed bagel with the pimento cream cheese and this was much better. This was really nice of them to do and I greatly appreciated it. Another example of how good their service is! I really liked the pimento cream cheese and it went perfectly with the flavors of the poppyseed bagel. The pimento flavor was just right and I liked the consistency of this cream cheese more than others I've had in the past.
On another visit, I tried their Caesar Cream Cheese on a protein bagel. I enjoyed this schmear too, but not as much as the pimento one. The Caesar cream cheese had a strong Caesar taste for sure, it even featured bacon bits. But the cream cheese was really heavy and too salty. I feel like this would have been better on a bagel sandwich with deli meat or a wrap as opposed to just a bagel. It definitely needed to be paired with something else to cut down the bold flavor of the Caesar. I was also disappointed that I received a plain bagel when I ordered a "protein bagel". This wasn't a big deal, I just wish I had been notified that they were out of the protein bagel before I ordered. However, I ended up ordering the French toast sticks with this bagel and WOW were these amazing. Perfectly crispy, with a slight sweetness--perfection and I would HIGHLY recommend trying these!
Overall, I still enjoy Bagels & Co and their wide variety. Like I've said before, not the most authentic bagels, but it is a fun experience that allows you to try some unique items. The consistency of the cream cheeses aren't always my favorite, as they are very dense with a distinct cream cheese flavor. But, I really enjoyed the pimento cream cheese and hope it returns. I will have to try the Caesar on a sandwich next time to get a better judgment of it. French toast sticks should not be missed as I would return for these alone! I will probably return to try more new items though. read more