Ideal Bagel

Bagels: 4/5, Toppings: 5/5, Smear: 3/5 Best bagels in Athens hands down, but not the best bagels I’ve ever had. The toppings and price were the redeeming qualities. You can tell they’re fresh, but they’re very dense bagels. I think they’re boiled, but I’m not sure. Boiled bagels are the way to go. I would still come again.

I love this place and have gone here for years, but the last two times I’ve gone in I haven’t been impressed. The past two times I’ve gone in they have barely put any cream cheese on my bagel. If I’m paying almost 10$ for a bagel I feel like I should get a little more than this considering it used to not be like this. Like I said I love this place, just have been a little let down lately.

The staff are great, the vibes are amazing. The food? Even better. This was my first time trying the jalapeño garlic cream cheese and wow, I was scraping my plate for every last of it. 10/10 MUST TRY PLACE

First, a message to the owners of Ideal Bagel — Please start serving/carrying Choco Pronto’s coffee! You have such a fantastic local coffee roaster literally a few streets behind your store! Please support local Athens coffee roasters. Second, Ideal Bagel is really good! My personal favorite is the salt bagel with sundried tomato cream cheese. The bagel sandwiches are delicious and there’s good variety in terms of the bagel options. There’s seating available inside and outside. Parking is somewhat limited if you’re driving, especially during peak morning hours. In a town with limited good bagel options, Ideal Bagel stands alone.

The bagels were just about ok; not that great. The balance of flavors of the house fish bagel I ordered was off. But it was still edible. On the whole, if you’re really craving a bagel and would be happy with anything that is an approximation, this is good. Else, I don’t see much reason to go here.