I hate Bagel Hole

Picture it: a quiet, icy, early weekend morning at Bagel Hole on 7th Ave in South Slope. I am the only person in the joint. I order a toasted bagel with lox spread and onion.

Response: "we don't toast".

I am taken aback, wondering when I had ever heard of a bagel place that didn't toast bagels... kind of a basic necessity in a bagel shop. But I give the ok and they prep my untoasted bagel with lox schmear.

Next, I order a garlic bagel, sliced, with cream cheese on the side.

Response: "we don't slice"

At that moment I said to myself: I must post this on Brooklynian.

I mean, WTF? No slicing of bagels? They had just sliced my lox bagel, but they can't haul out the knife to slice my plain bagel? Now, I could maybe, MAYBE understand this if they were swamped, but I was the ONLY customer. Actually, no, I still wouldn't understand the idiotic rule. I worked for 3 yrs in a bagel shop... I know how they operate. You slice bagels... it's just that easy.

No more Bagel Hole for me. I'll take my business to Terrace Bagels.

Subject: Re: I hate Bagel Hole

8thandPrez wrote: Picture it: a quiet, icy, early weekend morning at Bagel Hole on 7th Ave in South Slope. I am the only person in the joint. I order a toasted bagel with lox spread and onion.

Response: "we don't toast".

I am taken aback, wondering when I had ever heard of a bagel place that didn't toast bagels... kind of a basic necessity in a bagel shop. But I give the ok and they prep my untoasted bagel with lox schmear.

Next, I order a garlic bagel, sliced, with cream cheese on the side.

Response: "we don't slice"

At that moment I said to myself: I must post this on Brooklynian.

I mean, WTF? No slicing of bagels? They had just sliced my lox bagel, but they can't haul out the knife to slice my plain bagel? Now, I could maybe, MAYBE understand this if they were swamped, but I was the ONLY customer. Actually, no, I still wouldn't understand the idiotic rule. I worked for 3 yrs in a bagel shop... I know how they operate. You slice bagels... it's just that easy.

No more Bagel Hole for me. I'll take my business to Terrace Bagels.

I love Terrace. They slice. They toast. They on the side. No problem

one has to wonder if bagel hole is a "front" for something to treat customers like that in THIS economy.

i wish we had an h&h nearby. now they don't slice or toast, i don't think, but are totally worth it.

That's bizarre.

i love bagel hole - nice crispy outside - what you have to do is buy the bagels only if your going home - I find terrace to be too doughy and big - not really a true bagel but instead a wad of pasty dough - their employees are great though

eatshoplocal wrote: i love bagel hole - nice crispy outside - what you have to do is buy the bagels only if your going home - I find terrace to be too doughy and big - not really a true bagel but instead a wad of pasty dough - their employees are great though

you have to get the mini bagels at terrace

This is the 10th tiime I've heard a thread like this. They don't toast, they don't slice. Get over it. If you want to toast a bagel, then the quality is not important to you anyway. so go somewhere else. Personally, they are the only bagel place in the slope that does it right. They are not the bagels on steroids that has become in vogue. when did nyc lose the plot? They're a throwback, crispy outside, soft but not overly doughy inside,always busy and spectacular. I live with the rules.

NO BAGEL FOR YOU, ONE YEAR!

doldrums wrote: This is the 10th tiime I've heard a thread like this. They don't toast, they don't slice. Get over it. If you want to toast a bagel, then the quality is not important to you anyway. so go somewhere else. Personally, they are the only bagel place in the slope that does it right. They are not the bagels on steroids that has become in vogue. when did nyc lose the plot? They're a throwback, crispy outside, soft but not overly doughy inside,always busy and spectacular. I live with the rules.

They're decent bagels, but a place that was customer-focused would recognize that not everyone adheres to your hyper-purist idea of what constitutes a "proper" bagel. Bagels are toasted. Bagels are sliced. A bagel place that is only good if you happen to stop by on the way home so you can slice and toast at home is not serving its customers well.

I know other bagel places that don't toast but the not slicing is rather odd.

Tasty Bagels on 86th street (bensonhurst)

They cant be beat!

...they also slice and toast and juggle if you like ;p

8thandPrez wrote: but a place that was customer-focused would recognize that not everyone adheres to your hyper-purist idea of what constitutes a "proper" bagel. Bagels are toasted.

I totally agree. When Bagel Hole's bagels are hot out of the oven, they are amazing. When they are cold... they can get really quite hard. And suck.

Oh Snap! I hate Bagel Hole. I'm sure every biz has their health code issues or whatever behind the scenes, but what I saw on the slicer sitting next to the counter for the world to see was enough to keep me far far away from that place FOREVER. I mean if that's out in the open, whats going on behind closed doors? Ick. At least La Bagel looks clean from the front of house. And they slice. And the (finally) toast! That's enough to keep me loyal, yelling and all.

La Bagel toasts now? That must be new

this whole "we dont toast" thing is new to me.

never heard of a place that sells bagels and doesnt toast them if you want. Isnt it a basic service?

doldrums wrote: This is the 10th tiime I've heard a thread like this. They don't toast, they don't slice. Get over it. If you want to toast a bagel, then the quality is not important to you anyway. so go somewhere else. Personally, they are the only bagel place in the slope that does it right. They are not the bagels on steroids that has become in vogue. when did nyc lose the plot? They're a throwback, crispy outside, soft but not overly doughy inside,always busy and spectacular. I live with the rules.

This.

vidro3 wrote: [quote=eatshoplocal]i love bagel hole - nice crispy outside - what you have to do is buy the bagels only if your going home - I find terrace to be too doughy and big - not really a true bagel but instead a wad of pasty dough - their employees are great though

you have to get the mini bagels at terrace
And this. But Bagel Hole's bagels at their best are still better than Terrace Bagels minis.

Carnivore wrote: [quote=doldrums]This is the 10th tiime I've heard a thread like this. They don't toast, they don't slice. Get over it. If you want to toast a bagel, then the quality is not important to you anyway. so go somewhere else. Personally, they are the only bagel place in the slope that does it right. They are not the bagels on steroids that has become in vogue. when did nyc lose the plot? They're a throwback, crispy outside, soft but not overly doughy inside,always busy and spectacular. I live with the rules.

This.

Yeah but the whole crispy on the outside chewy on the inside thing means hard as a rock and inedible after sitting out a couple of hours. If we're going to have rules here, then we should make a new rule to keep em fresh or throw em out. I ate at Bagel Hole in the afternoon and almost lost a filling.

I will never, ever, ever go to Terrace Bagel ever! I've never been there before and had no plans to go, but now I certainly won't go.

Jamzer wrote: I will never, ever, ever go to Terrace Bagel ever! I've never been there before and had no plans to go, but now I certainly won't go.

Oh stop. They're catering our wedding.

doldrums wrote: This is the 10th tiime I've heard a thread like this. They don't toast, they don't slice. Get over it. If you want to toast a bagel, then the quality is not important to you anyway. so go somewhere else. Personally, they are the only bagel place in the slope that does it right. They are not the bagels on steroids that has become in vogue. when did nyc lose the plot? They're a throwback, crispy outside, soft but not overly doughy inside,always busy and spectacular. I live with the rules.

Is it THAT important to you to have to act like a snobby bagel know it all in someone else's thread? Where they are voicing a reasonable complaint?

Hah! My wife had the same reaction when they told her they didn't toast bagels. We had this problem once in Manhattan as well and still to this day don't understand why. I'm wonder if they don't toast the bagels because they are able to side-step some health code because "technically" they aren't serving hot food.

Brooklyn Baby Daddy wrote: [quote=doldrums]This is the 10th tiime I've heard a thread like this. They don't toast, they don't slice. Get over it. If you want to toast a bagel, then the quality is not important to you anyway. so go somewhere else. Personally, they are the only bagel place in the slope that does it right. They are not the bagels on steroids that has become in vogue. when did nyc lose the plot? They're a throwback, crispy outside, soft but not overly doughy inside,always busy and spectacular. I live with the rules.

Is it THAT important to you to have to act like a snobby bagel know it all in someone else's thread? Where they are voicing a reasonable complaint?
Nobody owns a thread. And he's absolutely right.

Snobby bagel know-it-all

ahahahahahahaahahahaahahaa. Best insult ever.

Not really. At Bagel Hole they know how to make a real bagel, and they take pride in it being a certain way. They may have been dicks about the slicing thing, but not about the toasting. Don't ask for pineapple or peking duck on your pizza at DiFara's, don't ask for mayo on your pastrami sandwich at Katz's and don't ask for them to toast your bagel at Bagel Hole. It's just not how they do it. You can get a crappy toasted bagel at any other place.

Snobby bagel know-it-all

This needs to carny's new sig line

Carnivore wrote: Don't ask for pineapple or peking duck on your pizza at DiFara's, don't ask for mayo on your pastrami sandwich at Katz's and don't ask for them to toast your bagel at Bagel Hole. It's just not how they do it. You can get a crappy toasted bagel at any other place.

Katz's isn't kosher. They'll do whatever you ask.

I think I was more commenting on the holier-than-thou reaction of the thread's self-appointed bagel sheriff than whether or not the place deigns to toast what is, in the end, boiled circular bread. But if Bagel Hole doesn't want that person's business that's fine.

And not cutting a customer's bagel is just stupid, and makes no sense however you, no pun intended, slice it.

Brooklyn Baby Daddy wrote: Katz's isn't kosher. They'll do whatever you ask.

Mayo is pareve, not dairy. Not having it on pastrami is an issue of taste, not Jewish dietary law.

The point being Katz WILL do it for you, even if it's not what some would consider the "right way." But apparently Bagel Hole draws the line at toasting. Barbarians at the gate!

Brooklyn Baby Daddy wrote: The point being Katz WILL do it for you, even if it's not what some would consider the "right way." But apparently Bagel Hole draws the line at toasting. Barbarians at the gate!

Have you actually asked for this at Katz's? If you got them to do this, I'm sure it would come with a side of mockery at the very least.

I feel like I'm an experienced bagel eater, and I've always toasted them. Since when is not toasting the only way to have an "authentic" experience?