Where to Find the Best Bagels in St. Louis Missouri

I pretty much eat the same thing for breakfast every day. Breakfast is the biggest meal of the day for me. Mine usually consists of a biscuit with homemade country gravy, some fresh potatoes fried in olive oil, and a serving of cholesterol-free eggs. Sometimes I’ll throw in a piece of sausage or some fresh fruit. I wash it all down with either milk or coffee.

But sometimes I want something that is a little lighter and easier to make. Then I usually will have a bowl of high fiber cereal or a bagel. Most of the time it’s just a plain bagel topped with some Philadelphia Cream Cheese, but sometimes I’ll go out to one of the places around town that serves bagels like Einstein Brothers or the St. Louis Bread Company. But who has the best bagel in town?

We’ll get to that in a minute, but first let’s look a little at how the humble bagel came to be. Most of us view the modern bagel as a Jewish staple that is most popular in New York, but it really had its origin in 16th century Poland.

According to Wikipedia, the bagel has a hole in the middle so a cord could be threaded through them making them easier to transport. Sort of the same reason that wieners are tied together. Sling them over your shoulder and off you go.

Bagels were originally brought to New York City by immigrant Polish Jews. Bagels were all made by hand until Harry Lender and others perfected the automated making of bagels. They were also the first ones to freeze them in the 1960’s. The first batch of bagels to make it into outer space was carried on the space shuttle by Canadian astronaut Gregory Chamitoff.

Bagels are very simple, consisting only of wheat flour, water, salt, and yeast. Their chewy consistency comes from boiling them before they are baked.

So, now that we know a little about where bagels come from, where can you get the best bagel in St. Louis?

The two chains that serve bagels here in St. Louis, Einstein Brothers and The Bread Company make a decent bagel but its not the best. The best bagels, like so many other foods, aren’t usually found in the chain restaurants but in the little individually owned mom-and-pop bakeries and shops.

The Bagel Factory in Creve Coeur has been in business for many years and sells a true, water-boiled, New York style bagel. The prices here are very reasonable. They don’t have any fancy seating arrangements, just a counter, so if you are looking for a sit down place don’t look for it here.

I live in Richmond Heights and I have an Einstein Brothers Bagels right around the corner from me. For a chain, I prefer them to The Bread Company. The bagels are decent, the decor features an image of the genius himself splattered all over the walls, and I love the herb and sun-dried tomato cream cheese. You can get a baker’s dozen there for around $15.00.

Plato’s Cafe near Hampton Avenue isn’t very easy to find and they don’t advertise, but they still seem to attract quite a word-of-mouth business. They are known for their fashionable decor and large coffee drinks at reasonable prices. They don’t have much of a menu, but the bagels are one of the stand out items on it.

Some other places in St. Louis where you can get a decent bagel include: Rise and Dine, Smile’s Coffeehouse, and the St. Louis Sippery Cafe.

But, according to The Riverfront Times (and I agree with them) the best place to get a bagel (and almost any other baked goods) is the Black Bear Bakery on Cherokee Street. Cherokee Street is in South St. Louis and is known for its large Hispanic population and restaurants as well as its antique shops.

Black Bear Bakery uses only locally grown organic ingredients and is probably the only bakery in St. Louis that is owned by the workers. It’s also a great place to get a vegan brunch. The bakery is located on the historic Vandura Theater building. The bagels here are slightly crisp on the outside with just the right amount of chewiness in the center. Just like my friends from New York.

Sources: http://www.riverfronttimes.com/locations/black-bear-bakery-18939/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagel


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