Bagels and Lunch
Written: Aug 29 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Tasty bagels and bread, great deli sandwiches
Cons: Desserts are so-so
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| jlyons42's Full Review: Einstein Bros. Bagels |
I’ve lived near an Einstein Brothers store for about eight years now – but a bad review by a friend kept me from trying the place until this year. Now I’m wondering what took me so long.
The Food (and Prices)
Einstein Brothers, of course, offers bagels – about 18 different kinds. I’m a plain bagel aficionado, so I haven’t ventured into many of their other offerings, but those plain bagels are just right. They’re just a little tough on the outside (work those teeth), with a chewy inside, and a crunchy bottom that’ll shred the roof of your mouth like good bread’s supposed to.
Still, a bagel’s just a bagel, until you add cream cheese, also known as a “shmear”. The cream cheese here is “double-whipped”, which means it’s light and airy. Personally, I think that’s perfect, but if you prefer a denser cream cheese you might be disappointed. Einstein Brothers makes my favorite smoked salmon cream cheese; it’s got plenty of fishy flavor, but there’s a touch of dill, which makes a big difference. Here in Columbus, one bagel with a shmear will run you $1.79; if you’re like my mother and prefer butter on your bagel, you’ll pay 89 cents. Expensive? Sure, but no more so than any other bagel place, at least in this area. For a better value (as long as you can eat a lot of bagels), pick up a dozen bagels and a tub of cream cheese for around $10.
If you’re looking for lunch, this bagel shop offers soups, salads, and sandwiches, too (of course, who doesn’t, these days?). The sandwiches get a big thumbs-up: the challah rolls are delicious (chewy exteriors, in case you hadn’t guessed, are a weakness of mine), and the baguettes almost perfect. I recommend the roast beef and gouda baguette, although I usually forgo the “caramelized” onions (these seem to have been soaked in something, not grilled as I would expect). The baguette and cheese are heated just a little – it’s not quite the same as having fresh-from-the-oven bread, but it’s close. The Cobbie and the Club Mex are in a tie for second place; they’re pretty similar except for the sauce (gorgonzola mayo and avocado on the Cobbie vs. ancho-lime mayo on the Club Mex). The tuna salad is nothing to write home about, but at least it’s not drowning in mayonnaise. Sanwiches alone cost $4.49, and “making it a meal” is $1.50 extra (add a small salad or chips and a fountain drink).
Desserts are the worst value in the place – expect to fork over $1.39 for one brownie (albeit a largish one) or an outsized Rice Krispie square. They’re not very good, either; in France, they say that you can either bake bread or you can bake pastries, but you can never do both well – and this holds true for Einstein Brothers. The breads are exceptional; the “pastries” are lackluster.
The Service
I frequent two store locations in the Columbus area, and have found that the service at one far outstrips the service at the other. The employees at the Bethel Road location are usually extremely friendly, handling even lunchtime-rush special orders with a smile. Unfortunately, they’re a little further away from my workplace than the Sawmill Road location, where the employees don’t look quite so thrilled to be there. On one occasion, I was completely ignored for almost ten minutes while the guy at the counter discuseed Phish and yuppies with a visiting friend; recently, I had my change thrown at me by the cashier without even so much as a “have a nice day”.
Even so, the food at Einstein Brothers is good enough to make up for less-than-stellar service. If you’re in the mood for a sandwich or a bagel, I recommend that you give this place a try.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jlyons42
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Member: Jen Clifford
Location: Columbus, OH
Reviews written: 28
Trusted by: 13 members
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