Thursday, April 1, 2010

Reviewing Bodo's Bagels: A Charlottesville Institution

A weekend in Charlottesville can be spent enjoying a variety of activities. One can find himself or herself hiking the Blue Ridge, touring Monticello, walking UVA's Grounds, or watching a much maligned football team at Scott Stadium, among other things. Aside from these delightful pursuits, one constant stands alone. Whether you wake up with a headache or you emerge from church invigorated, your destination is set: Bodo's Bagels.

Having lived in Charlottesville for over 12 years, I consider myself an insider, familiar with all the menu items, from the deli egg to the Caesar salad. Without fail, I visit Bodo's once a week. It is such pleasant experience, and folks will stand in a line stretching onto the sidewalk just to get their breakfast. Until I stumbled across The Bagel Blog, I hadn't even considered the business reasons for Bodo's tremendous success.

I think Bodo's thrives for a number of different reasons. Firstly, everyone (and I mean everyone) goes there. It's easy to strike up a conversation with someone you know, but it's also a spot regular enough that you can avoid the small talk. Secondly, the product itself always satisfies expectations with regard to taste, service, and cleanliness. Finally, the line moves quickly, and employees are attentive and engaged. (The house music is usually pretty good, too.) In the restaurant business, patrons want exactly what they expect, maybe a little more on occasion. Bodo's delivers this value every time, and this consistently solidifies their brand.

Bagel shops everywhere should take notice. If you're lucky, people will blog about you.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Bagel Survey

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8LRDX7Y

Please take my bagel survey! It's 7 questions and will take 3 minutes or less!

Thanks.
Went to Bodo's Bagels in Charlottesville. Bodo's is the king of brand. When you mention the name of Bodo's to anyone who has been through Charlottesville, they begin to rave.

It was our second trip to Bodo's on University Ave, just outside the UVA campus. The restaurant was packed with college students and a few families. Casey had her usual Sausage, Egg and Cheese on an everything bagel. I had an everything bagel with lox and cream cheese. The bagels are fresh (marketed as water bagels, because they are boiled) and soft. The lox weren't particular fresh, but the experience was impressive.

It is an impressive operation that serves a huge volume of customers. The staff is incredibly upbeat, focused and coordinated. The experience and the aura of Bodo's make the trip worthwhile.

Turks and Caicos Bagel


Had a Plain Bagel with cream cheese at Beaches in Turks and Caicos. Proof that the Placement of the product is the most important part. The bagel was probably frozen and flown in, but the view and backdrop made it a success.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Condo bagels



Atter a great day on the slopes, who doesn't love a bagel and cream cheese sandwich? Mia reviewed the Thomas bagels as, "great because they are sweet". Uncle Doug said they aren't bagels at all ... just bread. They do go down easy!

Monday, February 8, 2010

Colorado Bagels


First, I must mention that bakers are altitude challenged in Colorado. Here are a few reviews of Michel's Bakery bagels from Avon:

This is Meagan. She rates the bagel as "very good, an 8 because of texture and it needs a tomato". The available 'goes withs' are important.



This is Ashley. She rates it as a 7.5 because, "It's big". Apparently size matters.












This is Rachel. She is enjoying a "virtual bagel".












All of us agreed that Philadelphia cream cheese is the topping of choice.


Sunday, February 7, 2010

Mr. J's Bagels, Harrisonburg, VA

My favorite bagel is definitely the blueberry bagel. I enjoy this toasted with butter on my way to TARGET every morning. John prefers the cinnamon raisin bagel with butter. The best bagel place I have been to is Mr. J's in Harrisonburg, VA. When I was at JMU this was a regular saturday morning trip. They have every bagel you could think of and more! Another great place here in Richmond is Crossroads, located right off of Forest Hill Ave, convenient 10 minute walk from my house.

http://www.mrjsbagels.com/

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Homemade Bagel Evaluation: Finger Lickin' Good!




We ate our homemade bagels this morning! They were delicious. They tasted fresh and the toppings were good. The only downside is that they were quite dense and the shape wasn't as smooth as typical bagels. The next batch will be better.

Coach and Dutchy's First Bagel Tasting





Barry and I drove our bikes to the Blue Dolphin on the Gulf of Mexico Drive. We would have brought Flossie except she only eats a Waffle w/o powdered sugar there and that's it!
So we sat down .. got coffee... and I asked if the bagels were fresh... she said she thinks so and the I asked where they got them ..she said she thinks St Armands Bakery ( never saw a bakery in St Armands)
Barry ordered eggs and an everything bagel and fruit as his side ( watching his waist)
I ordered very specifically an everything bagel very dark and asked him to put it thru the toaster a few times with cream cheese, swiss cheese, tomato and red onion.
I got my bagel which was barely toasted- why can't people burn it like I asked - it's an ongoing
problem.
As soon as I tasted the bagel Barry and I agreed it was not fresh but FROZEN and had very few
everythings on it.
As the waitress walked by I asked politely... are u sure these are fresh- she had to go check
and as we suspected the Bagels are from Sysco (frozen food company) made by a company
called New York Bagels and sent in half baked and the store has to bake them the rest of the way. I think New York Bagels is probably located in Sri Lanka like the rest of things we
get in America.
As Rachel said the best part of any bagel is what is on top ... and we did eat the bagels.. but
definitely didn't have the bite of a Berwyn Bagel Factory bagel!
Next post will be from Vail Colorado..i hope they don't have frozen bagels!
ps ... we have a little technical difficulty with our picture of the bagel bc Barry took the picture on his blackberry and they are technically incompetent of posting pictures to the superior MAC.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

More pictures of my first batch of bagels!





Chef Jamey's first attempt at homemade bagels!


Baked Bagels tonight from scratch with recipe I found on the internet. Pretty exciting to make. I had to throw the first batch out after I forgot wheat gluten.

Below is the link:
http://www.tammysrecipes.com/homemade_bagels

The wife and dog were impressed if no one else!

I will review them when we eat them in the morning!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

My favorite Bagel

I pretty much love all bagels, but that is because I am more concerned with what is on top of the bagel instead of the bagel itself.


Wednesday, January 27, 2010

My Favorite Bagel Place: The BF - Berwyn, PA

Question

What is your favorite bagel and why? What is your favorite bagel shop?

Cupertino's New York Bagels and Deli




Went to Cupertino's New York Bagels and Deli this morning. Ordered 2 bagels: 1 everything bagel with Lox spread and 1 sesame bagel with veggie cream cheese.

Ratings:
Bagel Freshness and Taste: Bagel was a little chewy, not sure if it was fresh that morning. Bagels were medium in size and more chewy than soft.
Toppings: The lox spread and veggie cream cheese were good.
Price: $2.29 for a bagel with cream cheese and $2.85 for bagel with lox spread.
Experience: Staff was very friendly, very proud of their product and willing to recommend options. The restaurant had seating inside and outside, but was sparsely decorated. Restaurant was not memorable.
Placement: Restaurant was located on Cox Rd. across from Innsbrook business park and next to an apartment complex. Granted it was a Wednesday morning, but shop seemed to be attracting people running in on their way to work, no one was eating in the restaurant. The complex had really bad access, having to drive all the way around the buildings to get in.