Bagel And Bliss Takeaway. Finally, Bagels in UCity. Being a big-time East Coast bagel snob, I would say that they are an 8.1 / 10, a number I don't throw around lightly. They had a nice crunch on the outside, while still being pillowy in the middle. $2 a bagel isn't cheap, but the bagels here would fit in at a decent New Jersey or New York deli for sure.
Let me put it this way: I have added Bagel and Bliss to my regular rotation.
Freshly opened, they are still working out some of the kinks when it comes to process, both ordering and cooking. But, if you live in University City, or anywhere in a 10-minute drive radius, this will save you the extra 10 minutes of driving to Bageul Union for a comparable experience. All in all, I highly recommend it, and it's a nice addition to the UCity food scene. Parking outside the shop can be dicey when it's crowded.
Bagel And Bliss Experience Summary
I ended up at Bagel and Bliss because my wife's friend told her it was opening up. The website said they opened at 7, so I got there at 7:30, but they still hadn't finished the first batch of bagels. They were ready around 8:15.
So, I was first in line during the soft launch weekend. Meaning I had a whole stack of people behind waiting for bagels when the kitchen finally opened. By the time they were ready, there were a good 30 to 50 people in line behind me.
The owner was frantically running around in a circle, still trying to figure out all the little processes of how they would do everything. They need to figure out some kind of line process, but I'm not going to hold it against them.
Bagel Union, which I currently hold as the best bagels in the area and will be a frequent point of comparison, uses a ticketing system. Bagel and Bliss would probably benefit from that instead of whatever kind of line system they're trying to do.
Note, it's been about a month or two since I wrote this, and I bet they have their ducks in a row now.
They currently accept cash, check, and Zelle, so I went with Zelle. They had a little QR code that you could scan, which would bring up the payment in your banking app.
After finally getting my bagels, and in front of 30 people, I took a bite.
Everyone asked for a real-time review, which wasn't totally fair. This batch of everything lacked the crunch, but had the flavor and texture you'd expect.
I enjoyed it enough for a two thumbs up review, but knew they'd get better with time.
Apparently, they've been hand-rolling them for the first couple of days, but they plan to get a bagel rolling machine to speed up the process.
I still think Bagel Union is better, but these are bigger and get a fantastic solid 8.1 /10, which is a great score for a bagel that's only five or seven minutes away from my house. These aren't the best bagels I've ever had, but they're by far not the worst.
I'm not going to brag to my mom and dad from New York City that these are better, but they are 100% respectable.
The Food At Bagel And Bliss
I took a bite in front of all 30 people, and it's hard to give a very nuanced response when you do bagel reviews online and there's a bunch of people staring at you.
So I said they were very good. And that's accurate.
My plain bagel was perfectly cooked, with a really crunchy exterior, a very crunchy bottom, and a light, fluffy middle. It had a nice sourdough, kind of tangy taste to it.
I got them straight out of the oven, the first batch of the day. They were very good.
You could tell that they were still working out the process for the Everything Bagel. The everything flavoring wasn't the best; it didn't hit all of the flavor aspects on the everything spectrum.
The bigger issue was that they didn't cook it enough, so the outside was still too chewy, especially relative to the plain bagel. However, the inside was still light and fluffy, and it had a good bagel-y taste.
Note: I've since been back twice, and they have addressed the under-cookedness. That was the problem on day 2.
You can tell the underlying bagel quality is really high; they just need to figure out their process for adding the toppings and getting them cooked. They have cream cheese and lox, but they weren't in any kind of position to be selling those quite yet. I also find those relatively expensive at bagel shops, so I literally bring my own cream cheese.
Yep, that's me.
They do not offer any breakfast meat options for bagels, like bacon, eggs, or cheese. The owners are Jewish Orthodox, so that might have something to do with those items being missing.
Bagel And Bliss Atmosphere And Miscellaneous
It's located right next to La Pizza in the old little strip mall. Getting off of Delmar when you're going west is easy, but going east is a little bit tricky.
It's worth the trip if you live nearby and can replace your trip to Bageul Union if you don't want to do the extra 10 minutes of driving. A nice addition to the UCity food ecosystem, for sure.
Parking At Bagel And Bliss
There was plenty of parking outside. The parking spaces are small, but there are a lot of them. It's hard to figure out exactly what is a spot and what isn't.
Bagel And Bliss Receipt
It was $10 for half a dozen and $18 for a dozen. At Bageul Union, a dozen is about the same price, but these are slightly bigger.
They were only selling them by the dozen today because they just didn't have enough. They're making a thousand bagels and will sell them until they run out.
