Where to get the best bagels & lox in Seattle?

January 18, 2016 9:58 PM

East Coast expats miss good bagels & schmear.

Boyfriend and I are getting married in coming months. We share a love of bagels and lox. We would like to feed our wedding guests a fancy bagel spread the morning after the wedding. I have not found a good source for these items in Seattle. Most bagels here are pretty bad, and there is no Russ and Daughters type of place. Or is there?

I can probably cobble the elements of a good bagel buffet together from separate places if necessary. Any recommendations for good bagels?

*I know that Zabars and Russ & Daughters have mail order, but I'd love to find a place in Seattle that can fill this void in our lives. Thank you!

posted by emmatrotsky to Food & Drink (15 answers total)

Sorry to say I haven't tried them, but people are nuts for Eltana and multiple sources claim they're as good as it gets (not a high bar, sadly) here in Seattle. They do lox and schmear platters and catering.
posted by the thorn bushes have roses at 10:17 PM on January 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

I've been to Eltana, and they're not east coast bagels. Been here 18 yrs. and have yet to have anything close. good luck with your search.
posted by OHenryPacey at 11:04 PM on January 18, 2016

Seconding Eltana, if you're not a New-York-style-only person. Their Montreal bagels are the only ones in Seattle I'm really happy with.
posted by thetortoise at 11:06 PM on January 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

(Also, their sockeye lox is fantastic, though not cheap.)
posted by thetortoise at 11:07 PM on January 18, 2016

Eltana is terrible by my east coast jewish standards. Briefly there was a golden time when Zatz A Better Bagel was near me in West Seattle and I could get something pretty good on a regular basis, but they closed last year. :(

Before moving down to West Seattle I was in Fremont where Roxy's Diner would occasionally satisfy my need for a lox platter fix. Their bagels were better than what I've come to expect in Seattle and they do a nice platter with all the right fixings and you can get a latke on the side. They do catering so you could call them and explain your needs and see what they have to say.

Luckily tasty lox isn't hard to find in this town, but I'm watching this question avidly because I have all this good lox and nothing good enough to put it on.
posted by Mizu at 12:15 AM on January 19, 2016

I haven't tried their bagels/cream cheese/lox yet, but Goldberg's Deli on the East Side is a Jewish/East Coast Deli that has pretty great food. If their bagels are as good as their sandwiches, I'd try them out:

http://www.goldbergsdeli.com
posted by canda at 5:02 AM on January 19, 2016

Well ... if you feel like going all the way to Portland to pick 'em up, Blackheart Bagels are the way to go. They're made by another East Coast expat.
posted by ourobouros at 5:53 AM on January 19, 2016

Blazing Bagels is the closest I've found to that elusive NY bagel. They're in Redmond, though.
posted by oxisos at 7:16 AM on January 19, 2016

Bagel Oasis in Ravenna is our go-to.
posted by bq at 7:45 AM on January 19, 2016 [1 favorite]

Nothing. There is nothing. You can get good lox, but the bagel situation... nope.
posted by jeffamaphone at 9:07 AM on January 19, 2016 [2 favorites]

Seconding Bagel Oasis. It's a little grungy* but the bagels are totally great, and they make a terrific pumpernickel.

Avoid Eltana at all costs. Bagel-shaped sawdust.

* to be fair... H&H was kinda grungy too!
posted by rouftop at 10:14 AM on January 19, 2016

Bagel oasis and roxys are the only real options imo. And they're both inconsistent. Roxys is good, but not perfect or great sometimes and ugh other times, and bagel oasis is more of just consistently slightly better than mediocre.

Eltana is ok but kind of weird, and mostly structured around pushing you away from "traditional" toppings like cream cheese or lox. They're all about hummus, etc. the bagels themselves also fall more in to the "artisanal hipster take" territory than traditional. I'm kinda meh on that place honestly.

Honestly roxys has had better bagels than I had several times in New York more than once. But they're just horribly inconsistent.
posted by emptythought at 2:32 PM on January 19, 2016

Yeah, it's too bad Zatz went out of business. They weren't spectacularly good but they made something that was recognizable as a bagel.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:43 PM on January 19, 2016

Also one time a wonderfully generous mefite took pity on me and sent me bagels from Zabar's and it was AMAZING but not worth the price to me to get them regularly, but if this is a one time thing for you I'd say go for it, just prepare yourself for some post-bagel depression afterwards.
posted by Mizu at 3:02 PM on January 19, 2016

If you are not in New York, you won't get a NY bagel, you get a bread ball with a hole, or worse, some kind of acai berry cinnabon thing shaped like a bagel. You gotta face the cruel facts. This NYTimes article references bagel failure in California, but it is a pretty good explanation as to why one can't get a good NY bagel outside of New York.
posted by zaelic at 3:09 AM on January 20, 2016