June 14, 2006
A Year Later, We Find Another Bagel Shop
It was around this time last year that we collectively mourned the fact that the District just doesn't have very many good bagel shops. Spare the few options most of us could name off the tops of our heads, we realized that within the confines of the city, there seemed to be a relative paucity of bagel providers. And now, a year later, we add one more bagelry to the list, and it's in an unexpected location.
The Common Denominator is reporting this week on East River Bagel Inc., a small, drive-through bagel shop on Minnesota Avenue in Northeast. Started as a franchise of Chesapeake Bagel Bakery in 1995, owners Capel and Shirley Green last year went independent, lopping the "Chesapeake" off the storefront and creating what is now known simply as the Bagel Bakery. The bakery -- which will soon become Café Jamerica and Bagel Bakery -- also offers wholesale and catering services, providing some of the District's biggest downtown hotels with their daily dose of bagels. Of course, the business doesn't run itself, especially in a neighborhood that is largely African American:
"Bagels are not a well-known product in the black community," Green said. "Some people are older and they don’t have strong teeth, so that’s why I brought bread in."We'll be trying this place out, that's for sure. And consider this an inspiration, young District entrepreneurs. There are far too few bagel shops in these parts, and those that exist, well, they just suck (yes, Bagels & Baguettes, this means you). Take after the Greens and start one up.
The Bagel Bakery is located at 3839 Minnesota Ave, NE.
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So's Your Mom in Adams Morgan has great bagels.
I don't know where they come from, but the bagels at Murky Coffee near Eastern Market are fantastic. Dense, salty, with a thin but crisp crust ...
I know it's not technically DC (soon in Landover though!), but the Wegmans bakery has excellent bagels. Some Rochester Wegmans have a very tasty variety called "Marco Polo." Unfortunately, that variety hasn't been ported to the DC area stores yet.
Yum....what kind of bagel is the "Marco Polo"? Maybe I can get my out-of-state relatives to send me some!
Also posted on buyindie here:
http://www.buyindie.net/stores/show/128
I like Whatsabagel in Cleveland Park. Or Bagel City both in Rockville and, within city limits, in Spring Valley. Bagels at both shops satisfied cravings borne of my Jersey-bagel-lovin' roots.
The not-so-secret to an excellent bagel is New York City water. A chain of bagel shops in LA trucks water across the country for the very purpose.
(Many people seem to doubt that NYC has the excellent water it does-- it's probably the best in the country. Deer Park is basically just Brita filtered water right from the tap and bottled in Queens.)
Two places worth checking out -- Pumpernickels in Chevy Chase DC (they make their own NYC bagels and have a couple dozen different kinds -- as it happens, the owner is from the Bronx) and Calvert Woodley in Van Ness (they import H&H bagels daily from NYC) both on Connecticut Ave. BTW Pumpernickels also makes some of the best (if not the best) NY style pizza in DC.
Nestle, the owner of Deer Park Water, does indeed produce a filtered water product, but the Deer Park branded water comes from springs. One of their sources is in my hometown.
Brooklyn Bagel Bakery out by the Courthouse in Arlington deserves an honorable mention. The onion bagels are the best but if you're not there on Saturday by 10 am you can forget about 'em. The flavor is the same as in New York but the texture is not quite hard enough on the outside.
So's Your Mom is good. Can't go wrong with Bagel City either.
NYC has the best water of any major city, by far, as it's piped all the way down from the Catskills in a ridiculously huge aqueduct that's 90 years old or so. The new one has been under construction for 35 years and will take 15 more to complete (as seen in Die Hard 3). No treatment is used except minor chlorination and fluoridation.
is there any place to get a decent bagel in judiciary square?
They also have Marco Polo bagels at the Wegmans in Loudon County. They're kind of yeasty and salty if I remember correctly ... it's been awhile since I had one, but it was delicious! I dig their spicy asiago bagels, too.
Worth the trip: The Bagelry in Silver Springish area at the corner of Randolph and New Hampshire.
The real deal. And they make bagel and egg sandwiches ALL DAY.