Schmear
265 S 44th St, Philadelphia, PA
Crema's Take
“This West Philadelphia bagel shop is a genuinely loved neighborhood gem that takes both its bagels and its coffee seriously, with fresh, creative sandwiches like the Cali and Loxsmith that have customers coming back regularly. They've thought carefully about inclusivity with gluten-free options available, and while the vibe and pastries are solid, the experience can feel uneven depending on who's behind the counter—some staff are genuinely warm and helpful, while others seem less welcoming. It's the kind of place that works perfectly for a quick, quality breakfast with a friend or partner, assuming you're prepared to commit to getting your coffee there rather than elsewhere.”
What to expect
Google Reviews
If you want to be misgendered and aggressively judged for stopping somewhere else to get coffee before your bagels, come here I guess? Super disrespectful and disappointing. Edit: Wholly Inaccurate? When I walked in, two people at the counter ignored me until a third person came to take my order. No big deal, but then the guy who ignored me started boisterously talking about “how dare she come in here with a coffee from green-line of all places! Don’t buy coffee somewhere else and come here”. He continued rambling about how going to green-line is low brow the entire time I was waiting for my sandwich and his tone was clear and offensive. I was the only customer in the building at that point… with a green-line coffee. I normally wouldn’t get upset about simple misgendering, but this was indeed a highly offensive interaction. What I experienced was absolutely disrespectful and disappointing, full stop. Thanks for reading.
Such a gem of a spot! West Philly def needed a good bagel spot & this place is it. Today we got the Cali on a sesame & the Loxsmith on an everything! Both soooo delish & fresh. The shop itself is very small so it does get crowded in the AM, I recommend ordering ahead of time. They also serve Rival Bros coffee & have amazing popsicles & ice cream sandwiches. Def a new go to spot for me!!
I love going to get bagel breakfast sandwiches here with my girlfriend. I’m gluten free and there’s options for me (request gf extra toasted) and good stuff for her. We love the hot honey, wake n bacon and pino breakfast sandwiches. The eggs taste fluffy and fresh!! (A rarity with breakfast sandwiches imo). It’s great but can get crowded on the weekends!
I had to park far away because of the location (University City). The gentleman taking my order was very nice and gave great customer service. The other employee making the sandwich was rude and dismissive. I ordered a bacon, egg, and cream cheese on a garlic bagel. I opened my sandwich in the car and all it had was egg on it! Nothing else!! My sandwich was almost $10😡 I had to be somewhere or I would have walked back and got my money back. I wish I had took a photo.
I am literally obsessed with this place. I used to walk by on my way to get coffee every morning and just cry inside because I cant eat gluten but it smelled so good. Then one day I saw the little "*gluten free available!" on the sign. And you better believe I spun myself right around like a cartoon character. My go to is the Wake n' Bacon. It is a glorious pile of bagel, bacon, egg, cooper sharp, and chive cream cheese. And I'm telling you when I say cream cheese I mean CREAM CHEESE. You bite into this thing and it's like a volcanic eruption of cream cheese. And the bagel itself despite being gluten free, honestly is one of the best gf bagels I've ever had. It's still dense (unavoidable with gf sorry) but aside from that it doesn't crumble or anything like you'd expect gf to. It's just like a dense regular bagel which is magical. On top of this the owner (I assume owner) is so nice. One time their gf bagels were a bit crumbly, and he ended up refunding me instead of trying to serve a less-than-ideal bagel. Which I thought was so incredibly kind that he would rather not make that money than serve something he wasn't happy with. He always says "I'm sorry the gf bagels are going to take a bit of a wait since they come frozen" Sir? Please? Perfection takes time I will wait? You can order online with toasttab if you don't want to wait as long but I enjoy hanging out for a bit to break from work. Anyway if you are gf or just want a killer bagel sammy, you simply must visit this place. Picture + cat tax
Crema Reviews
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