Gotham Bagels - Madison

I went to buy bagels today and didn’t realize they only had an online ordering system. I quickly placed my order in about two minutes. Less than two minutes later, I received a text saying my order was ready. The bagels and cream cheese are absolutely delicious!

The bagels here are chewy and delicious, with a wide variety of savory cream cheese flavors to choose from. To minimize your wait time, it's best to order ahead using the app. However, I found the banana bread to be incredibly dry. Although the portion was generous, it lacked flavor and was dense and unappetizing. I would recommend focusing on the bagels instead.

I absolutely love their Bialys and bagels! The taste of the bagels reminds me of the ones from NYC—though they don’t import the water, which is a fun fact. I also appreciate that they offer delivery. They are my first choice for family gatherings, especially for Sunday brunch. Their whitefish salad, lox, and Black and White cookies, along with Dr. Brown’s sodas, make me feel a little less homesick as an East Coaster living in Wisconsin.

The bagels themselves are still good enough for the midwest, but the owner's New York service schtick runs thin when your food isn't available until an hour after it was promised

Sandwiches are always great but since the pandemic and closing of the main dining room, other service has suffered. I've always loved their Cream of Wild Mushroom soup and occasionally the Chicken Tortilla (warning spicy and it builds). With the currentonline ordering...soup is all you get. Pre-pandemic you'd get a nice handful of bagel chips but since the pandemic, nothing. No crackers, no bagel chips, just soup for $6/bowl. Do the left over bagel chips really cost that much extra that they have tobe ordered ala carte? Today I added the black and white cookie and am very disappointed. It's the size and quality I'd expectto get on an airline. That's a normal soup spoon and normal sized hand in the photo. Each cookie is $1.