Bagels. The perfect breakfast food. Crave-worthy when they are done right. Disappointing when they are middling. There are strong opinions when it comes to toppings. A rough poll told me that some people believe bagels should only be served with cream cheese and little else. For non-purists, bagel sandwiches are a thing. One outlier liked peanut butter on their bagels, and they were ostracized by the group at large. But no matter your topping preferences, an excellent local bagel shop is a necessity to ensure crave-worthy circles of bread with a hole in the middle. Here are our top picks for Salt Lake City bagel shops you should visit. Each is distinct in style and offerings but equally worth a visit.
The Old School Institution: Rich’s Bagels
Since 1994, Rich’s Bagels has been serving up its classic European-style bagels with lines to the door in the mornings. And as their website punnily claims, they are “born and RAISED in Salt Lake City.” I do love a good, bread-y play on words. While they have classic flavors (salt, sesame seed, everything, cinnamon raisin), they also have their own twists on the classics. Look for Onion Dill, Rich’s Original Asiago Cheese, Cranberry, and Jalapeno Cheese. The bagels themselves aren’t too doughy and have a softer exterior.
One of the best things about Rich’s Bagels is the house-mixed cream cheese. With decidedly non-traditional concoctions, it is worth getting a container to go. Favorites include Green Olive Pimento for a salty-savory bent, Jalapeno Orange for a sweet-spicy bite, or Apricot Almond for the sweet tooth.
You can also find bagel breakfast and lunch sandwiches and, of course, coffee. But seriously, go for the schmear. Rich’s Bagels has two locations in Holladay and Sandy.
If you go:
Rich’s Bagels
Holladay & Sandy
6191 S Highland Dr, Holladay 8691 Highland Dr, Sandy
richsbagels.com
The Anything-But Traditional: Table X Bread
With a recent nod from the James Beard Awards for Outstanding Bakery, you know anything the team at Table X puts out there will be good. Cue their recent addition of bagels. They have a distinct sourdough tang and come in one flavor, Salted Poppy Seed. It is a very seeded bagel—so if you are sensitive to seeds in the teeth, this may not be your speed. I, for one, am willing to sacrifice, But the salt, bread, and vaguely woodsy poppy seeds are the perfect foil to a very rich, cultured cream cheese.
The Table X Bread bagels are on the flatter/wider side, so they would make great bagel breakfast sandwiches. Get a six-pack to go. You will enjoy them for a couple of days. Special note: they are not open on Sundays and Mondays, and they DO sell out of popular items, so get there early if you can.
If you go:
Table X Bread
1457 E 3350 S, Salt Lake City
The New York Style Bagel (Or as close as you can get outside NYC): The Bagel Project
Robb and Kim Abrams moved to Salt Lake City in 2010 from New Jersey and quickly realized there were no options for their beloved NY-style bagels. And so, like mad scientists, they dove into the kitchen and experimented with bagel alchemy. In their words, “Our name, The Bagel Project, derives from the debate that a real bagel is impossible to duplicate without New York City water. Approximately 200 pounds of flour and three months later…voila! We created the taste of our childhood!”
Opening in the farmers’ markets in 2011, the bagels are boiled and baked for the proper glossed, chewy exterior and soft interior. When it comes to bagel flavors, they are pretty classic: Plain, Garlic, Onion, Sesame Seed, Poppy Seed, Salt, Everything, and Cinnamon Raisin. But they also have a Polish Bialy, which is a round roll with a divot in the middle filled with caramelized onions and poppy seeds. There is no hole to be found, and the bagels are not boiled, but they are unique and delicious.
What really makes The Bagel Project unique is its bagel sandwiches. For example, their Trout & Truffle sandwich features house-smoked Utah trout, a fried egg, pickled asparagus, scallions, and a pinch of black truffle salt. There is nothing classic or standard about it.
Another favorite is the Poblano Picasso, which features local Salsa del Diablo pumpkin seed poblano spread, manchego cheese, tomato, arugula, and cilantro. If you want a breakfast-centric bagel, get the Fried Egg, Cheese, and Bacon sandwich. It’s exactly what it sounds like, with the best-sourced ingredients.
If you go:
The Bagel Project
779 South 500 East, Salt Lake City
bagelproject.com
The New Kid on the Block: Baby’s Bagels
Baby’s Bagels had been working out of commissary kitchens and such and finally landed a home storefront. Located in the former Cannella’s building, this new location is all about the pink vibes and hand-formed bagels. While the flavors were standard (plain, poppy, salt, sesame, everything), the bagels themselves are fluffy and a literal mouthful. I’m pretty sure they make their own Everything bagel blend. It was hands down the best of all the Everything offerings in town, based solely on the topping.
Baby’s Bagels also makes its own cream cheese blends. The scallion cream cheese felt more scallion than creaminess. But its seasonal “specialty” cream cheese, giardiniera, was phenomenal.
This is the spot if you want a quirky downtown hang.
If you go:
Baby’s Bagels
204 E 500 S, Salt Lake City
babysbagels.com/
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