Holey dough filled danger Batman!

Bagels. Schmagels. Growing up in the South I had grown accustomed to bagels being chewy, fairly flavorless pieces of dough whose sole purpose was to civilize the consumption of cream cheese. After all, spreading cream cheese on a bagel is certainly more dignified then burying one’s face in a tub of creamy evil and going to town. However, during a brief visit to NYC in the spring of 2000, I learned bagels did not have to be bland, with hard exteriors and gummy interiors but could be just as good as the cream cheese that comes on/in/with it. Unfortunately, these bagels were hard to find even in a major metropolitan area like Atlanta. All too often the bagels needed serious toasting to eliminate the gumminess and stale flavor. When we moved to Madison I heard some locals praising Gotham Bagels , but assumed I would still just be keeping my face out of the tub. I was pleasantly surprised to find this not to be the case.

From poppy seed to everything, their bagels have a firm, almost crunchy exterior, with a tasty, chewy, but not gummy interior. These bagels require no toasting and are so fresh and warm first thing in the morning that they’ll melt the cream cheese a little bit, which is so good it makes me want another. Speaking of cream cheese, the folks at Gotham typically have 5 or 6 cream cheeses available but stick to the plain or salmon cream cheese. The other spreads are not bad but don’t really add anything to the experience. While the plain cream cheese is fine for a normal breakfast the salmon cream cheese is a delicious smoky, salty, decadent treat for special mornings. In addition to great bagels they feature Fair Trade coffees which they actually know how to brew properly. Gotham also has a number of deli items and sandwiches which hopefully I’ll get around to trying, but for now I still can’t get over how good these bagels are. In a world of Einstein’s and Panera’s it is good to see a place like Gotham raising the bar…and besides its named Gotham. How cool is that!?! -Drew