PhillyPhix: Bagels

Warning: Dieter’s discretion is advised.
For my first installation of PhillyPhix, I thought where better to start than with a Jewish girl’s staple: bagels. If you’re like me, from a place where you can’t seem to find a good bagel and shmear anywhere, you’re in for a treat. Philly’s bagel shops are hidden gems worth discovering. If you’re from a place where good bagels are standard and you’re dying from bagel deprivation, never fear, Philly’s got your back.

On my quest to find the best bagel, two bagel shops especially stood out to me. One, Spread Bagelry, finds its home right in Rittenhouse Square on 20th street. Known for its fresh, Montreal style, oven baked bagels and Amish farm ingredients in their spreads, Spread Bagelry will make any bagel lover feel at home. The bagels themselves are on the breadier side, so those looking for a crunchy phix should get their bagel scooped out. For lox lovers, Spread has some of the best center cut lox that I’ve ever tasted. While they have fewer flavors than other bagel shops (no blueberry, pumpernickel, or salt), what they lack in diversity they definitely make up for in quality. They spare no topping expense on the everything bagels and they without a doubt satisfy a craving for salt.
Here’s what I got:

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An everything bagel complete with scallion cream cheese, tomato, and lox. The scallion cream cheese wasn’t my favorite, but Spread definitely made up for it with the heaps of lox and tomato put on my bagel. Whenever you’re in need of a lox bagel phix, you know where to go.

The second stop on my bagel adventure was South Street Bagels, voted best bagels in Philly two years in a row. Even though it’s a little more of a trek, the cab ride is well worth it, especially for those feeling bagel homesick. Located at Third and South St., South Street Philly Bagels specializes in anything your bagel-loving self could think up. They have more flavors of bagels and cream cheese than Spread, which makes deciding what kind of bagel you want nearly impossible. They aren’t as generous with the lox as they are at Spread, but you can’t go wrong with the lox at either place. What I loved about South Street Bagels was their selection of salty spreads (Veggie, Olive, Spinach, Sun-Dried Tomato, Lox, Cheddar Horseradish, the list goes on…) and sweet bagels (Cinnamon Raisin, Chocolate Chip, and French Toast). If you can’t decide whether you’re in a salty or sweet mood, try a sweet bagel with a salty spread! Since I had to try a bunch of different flavors, I couldn’t go just once to South Street (that would be ludicrous); I went a few times! My favorite orders so far have been a french toast bagel with Apple Raisin cream cheese (I was feeling extra sweet that day) and an everything bagel with veggie shmear.

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Complete with full apple chunks and raisins, this spread is one of the most unique I have tried. The french toast bagel was a sweet, soft on the inside crunchy on the outside like your favorite bad boy actor, perfect hybrid between french toast and a bagel, topped off with a layer of powdered sugar (beware when opening the paper wrap around the bagel). This is a reorder in my book.

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The veggie cream cheese was to die for, even though the everything bagel wasn’t as covered with toppings as at Spread. The Bagels at South Street are a little less doughy, so if you like that crunchy factor you’ll be satisfied. I will most definitely indulge a veggie cream cheese craving at South Street.

No matter which bagel shop you end up at on a hungover Sunday morning, you can’t go wrong. That’s all for now; time to start hunting for my next PhillyPhix. In the meantime, try some bagels, stay hungry, and await my next Phix!

— Nina Regenstreif

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