Seattle Has Suddenly Gotten Very Serious About Its Bagels

Last year, Bon Appetit declared that we were in the middle of the Great Bagel Boom. This past April, the New Yorker described a “bagel renaissance” happening well beyond the borders of New York City. Writing in the New York Times, Karen Stabiner recently took note of just how long people are willing to wait for a bagel at Los Angeles’s famed Courage Bagels.

Along with identifying how the once-humble bagel has become so hyped, these pieces all have something in common. They reference trendy bagel shops in cities all across the country, including Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, Phoenix, and Portland — but not, pointedly, Seattle.

Up until recently, that wouldn’t have been seen as an oversight. When most people think of Seattle, they think of salmon, coffee, teriyaki, and hot dogs smothered in cream cheese and sauteed onion. They don’t think of bagels.

But they should.

The Seattle area has had bagels for a long time, but only recently could you say it boasts a bona fide scene. From local chains like Rubinstein Bagels and Blazing Bagels to pop-ups that sell out in hours, you could spend weeks trying to sample every bagel in the region. The modest bagel has moved beyond its Polish-Jewish roots and become a playground for some of the Seattle region’s best bakers to experiment with flavor profiles and presentation.

The options have become so varied that we can even start to create a taxonomy to classify them depending on what you’re looking for. Want a chewy bagel? Head to Madison Valley’s Mt. Bagel or Georgetown’s Bloom Bistro. Crave a bagel with crunch? Track down Hey Bagel’s latest pop-up or find Salmonberry Goods at the Ballard Farmers Market or its new Sunset Hill brick-and-mortar. Need to get a nostalgic New York-style fix? Make for Ravenna’s Bagel Oasis or 6th Borough Bagels in Olympia. Lox lovers need look no further than Loxsmith (Beacon Hill/West Seattle) and Old Salt (Fremont/Ballard). Seeking a bagel sandwich to savor? Head to Rachel’s (Ballard/Lake City), Howdy Bagel (Tacoma), Toasted (U District), Sully Eats (Fremont Sunday Market), or Backyard Bagel (Fremont).

And that’s just the tip of the sesame seed-crusted iceberg. Despite the influx of spots to score a bagel and cream cheese (or much more), there are no signs of this growth slowing down. Along with the recent openings of Backyard Bagel, Toasted, and 6th Borough Bagels, both Salmonberry Goods and Andrew Rubinstein’s Hey Bagel are eyeing brick-and-mortar locations by the end of the year. Meanwhile, many of the city’s “old guard” bagel slingers like Rachel’s and Rubinstein have recently added new locations. And considering that there are still plenty of bagel deserts around town (West Seattle, Columbia City, Queen Anne, and Rainier Valley come to mind), there’s no reason to think we’ve hit peak bagel.

What’s driving this proliferation? As Bon Appetit and the New Yorker noted, the entire nation appears to be swept up in this schmear sensation as each city and region attempts to establish its own version of the bagel. COVID-19 played a major role as well. Several Seattle-area bagel shops began as pandemic hobbies or pivots from restaurants needing to come up with an easy grab-and-go option (that’s how Manolin birthed Old Salt in 2020).

Don’t discount the impact of social media. The Instagram-worthy bagel sandwiches and presentations at Howdy Bagel, Toasted, and Westman’s remain constants in your feeds. And proving to all your followers that you made it through the Mt. Bagel line remains a badge of honor even a year after its return.

Then there’s the money factor. As the pandemic fades and prices rise, the desire to feel like you’re getting your dollar’s worth is paramount. Getting a bagel that causes lines and sellouts is pretty solid proof you’re not just on trend, but making wise dining decisions. It might just look like a bread circle but the bagel means a little bit more right now.

To say that Seattle bagels are “better” than New York’s is a fool’s errand. But there’s no denying that Seattle suddenly finds itself in the conversation among the many bagel boomtowns across the nation. The next time a major food publication puts out its roundup of the best bagels in the country, to leave out Seattle would be proof that it’s not actually paying attention.