Nate's Bagels
21 South Allen Ave, Richmond, VA
Crema's Take
“Nate's Bagels in Richmond's Scott's Addition location offers a welcoming sit-down space where you can linger over traditional coffee drinks and a full breakfast menu centered around their bagel sandwiches—though bagel quality seems inconsistent, their bacon egg and cheese is a genuine highlight when executed well. The team here genuinely cares about making things right, as evidenced by their thoughtful handling of order mix-ups, and the newer location itself represents a meaningful upgrade from their original spot, giving the neighborhood an actual place to settle in rather than just grab and go.”
What to expect
Google Reviews
This is not the place to get a Vietnamese banh mi breakfast sandwich. The pork is overcooked. They don't give enough bacon on the BEC. But I do enjoy their bacon egg and cheese bagel sandwiches even so.
I accidentally ordered my bagels to the Cary town location this morning, and the team here was so helpful with getting my order refunded and made at the Scott’s addition location! They even honored the birthday reward I had (and used during the Cary town order). Everyone was so nice and helpful even though I was the one who made the mistake! This type of customer service (and their delicious bagels) will definitely keep me coming here! Thanks Nates!!!
Unfortunately had a poor experience with the food here. I came in and requested a bagel with lox without any capers as they really turn my stomach sour. The bagel was stale and full of capers. I wish I would have heeded the warnings from the other reviews. 2 stars for the kind front of house/ barista staff only.
First time at this new location. They needed another place bad and this was absolutely an upgrade. You can actually come inside this location to wait for your food and maybe even sit at one of the lil cafe tables. They're bagels are amazing. They are the best for breakfast bagel sandwiches for sure. I had the Mox.. recommend by my daughter... This is so good.. non vegans would like it too. Highly recommend.
For the last week, I've DREADED having to make this review without angering the entire city. This was NOT Nates. I've been going to the original since 2019 as a regular customer and I love them with a passion. When I heard they were opening a second branch - I was THRILLED! Nates on Cary is a legendary institution in RVA - but this location has alot of issues to work out and I certainly hope they do. I'm not going to review the service - because everybody is training and it wouldn't be fair. I didn't see anyone from the original working here and it's a way different vibe (probably to appeal to the Scott's Addition residents). FOOD: Cross Contamination concerns me - if I order a plain bagel with plain cream cheese, I didn't ask for an unexpected dash of another cream cheese on top. This is probably a training issue, but not forgivable. Other than that, the bagel was typical. The Glamper is one of my favorite bagels - it's eggs mixed with feta, spinach, and an awesome aioli. This was a skimpy version of it with almost NO toppings or aioli, it was cheapened and just a mouthful of plain eggs. This was the heartbreaking part of my experience. I'm going to go to the original Nates and compare side-by-side. LOCATION: They still haven't solved the problems of parking or lack of indoor seating. I'm hoping their indoor tables haven't come in yet. This location really doesn't offer anything different than the original other than pizza bagels (which I haven't tried) and an espresso machine to serve any coffee type. Also - here's a note. Their rewards system is not connected to the original location AT ALL - so you will not get points or be able to redeem them here. I pray that they fix that. -- Overall - The new building looks nice and new, but I mostly care about the food - and they definitely dropped the ball on both items. Left a bad taste in my mouth (literally did, haha) - I will eventually come back when the media hype dies down with the hope that they've figured it out so I can update this review with 5 stars. They earned 1 star here, another 1 star is adjusted because I'm biased towards Nate's generally. Bon AppePETE!
Crema Reviews
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