Momofuku Milk Bar’s Ballpark Bomb. (Photo courtesy of Momofuku Milk Bar)

by DCist contributor Evan Caplan

It’s a bagel. It’s a ball. It’s a bagel ball.

Those of us yearning for a food craze to sink our teeth into this summer have found it in the form of this spherical snack. It’s 2016’s Cronut, erring on this side of savory. Simple in concept—bagel-style balls of dough, stuffed—but complex in iterations, they come in a rainbow of flavors and names, along with a shmear of controversy.

This form of carby delight may have originally been conceived by Momofuku Milk Bar, which featured Bagel Bombs on its menu way back in 2008 at the original shop, in New York City’s East Village. A representative from Momofuku told us that the reception to the Bombs has been positively on fire, and they’ve had to make the goodies around the clock at the Milk Bar bakery founded and owned by Christina Tosi. The current fave is the Ballpark Bomb, according to the Momofuku rep, describing it as“a mash-up of popular stadium snacks, Milk Bar-style. It has housemade honey-mustard cream cheese and sliced hot dogs nestled inside soft pretzel dough, topped with kosher salt, sesame seeds, and celery seeds.”

With a popular seller, you can usually expect some scandal. At the end of last year, Starbucks started selling its own version of these (similar to French toast, with maple butter cream cheese) across the Northeast, baked by Bantam Bagels, which won big on ABC’s “Shark Tank” this year. According to Eater, Momofuku owner Chang sent out a profanity-stuffed Tweet about the toothsome goodies, accusing Starbucks of copying his creation. Starbucks would not return requests for comment.

F-bombs were dropped by Momofuku’s David Chang when Bantam Bagels’ version started appearing in Starbucks stores. (Photo by Evan Caplan)

Now, D.C.’s gotten in on the act, and not just with the opening of Momofuku last fall. Two local food entrepreneurs launched their own version a couple of months ago with an even cheekier name: B-holes. B-Holes Bakery is the doughy brainchild of Julia Greenberger and Grant Sarvis, who love doughnut holes and bagels and actually giggle when talking about their bagel ball’s moniker: “We know the name is silly, so we have fully embraced it, and want customers to have fun with the name as well,” they said.

B-holes, created by two D.C. entrepreneurs, are starting to bring schmear-stuffed goodness across the city. (Photo courtesy of B-Holes)

They’ve also cornered (rounded?) the market on fun flavors, rolling out b-holes stuffed with, for example, honey lavender filling and topped with a touch of frosting, alongside the wildly popular ‘Barlic Gacon”, stuffed with garlic-bacon cream cheese and, since that’s not enough, topped with pepper Jack cheese. “We want to push the boundaries as to what can be stuffed inside a bagel,” Grant noted. You can grab them at Eastern Market, the Petworth Farmers Market, Prequel, and Prego Again—keep an eye on social media to find out when and where.