Mt. Bagel

Seattle is no longer a city with a lackluster bagel showing. There is a multitude of decent options now, and you don’t need to resort to sad, circle-shaped sponges at Einstein Bros. But we’re here to report that among the great boiled-and-baked bread rings in this town, there’s one that towers above the rest.

That’s Mt. Bagel: home of the best bagel in Seattle. And after a lengthy hiatus and a move from Ballard to Madison Valley, they're still the best, even though it's important to note that they've lost a bit of their magic.

The anatomy of this bagel is phenomenal—malty, chewy, fluffy, and slightly sweet on the inside, it's just as great fresh from the bag as it is frozen and subsequently popped in the toaster. Our only gripe with version 2.0 is that the crackly crust we used to know and love is considerably softer now, but the flavor is still so stupendous that we can forgive a little lack of crunch.

Topping-wise, the options are pretty standard but reliably great, from a perfectly-salted garlicky everything to sesame. Also not to be missed are the various homemade cream cheese schmears. The spicy scallion, with green onion and lots of cayenne heat, is our die-hard favorite.

Getting your hands on some requires strategy. You must place a delivery or pick-up order on their website when they open up sales every Friday at noon sharp. And we'll admit, it's a stress-fest. They sell out in under a minute, leaving only the speediest mouse-maneuverers victorious. We recommend making a profile on their website, having your address and credit card information programmed to auto-fill, and setting an alarm for 11:59am. It sounds like a lot, but if you really want these bagels, you're gonna have to try a little. We've had a 100% success rate in securing an order when we follow these steps, and as you can probably tell, we've placed a lot of orders.

It's all worth it when a mysterious, beautiful stranger comes to your home and drops off a brown paper sack full of the goods. The whole thing’s like getting a visit from the tooth fairy, except you’re the one giving the money, and nobody has to exchange teeth.

And if ordering bagels as you would Taylor Swift tickets doesn't make sense to you, Mt. Bagel's new location takes walk-in orders. Stop by at your own risk, though—lines form early, and bagels sell out around or before 11am every single day.

Food Rundown

photo credit: Erin Lodi

The Bagels

Excellence with a hole in the middle.

Spicy Scallion Cream Cheese

Stained orange from cayenne and loaded with fresh scallions, this cream cheese is so good that we’d frost a birthday cake with the stuff.