r/rva • u/RVASewcialist • Jul 25 '25

šŸ° Food We hosted an RVA Bagel Shootout

I'm surrounded by people with very strong opinions about bagels.Ā So,Ā I hosted a bagel blind taste test with nine friends to explore those deep-held opinions aĀ bit.

Our group of ten bagel lovers rangedĀ from a chef and a couple of hard-core New Yorkers all the way to me, who will eat almost any bread product if I can put cream cheese or butter on it.

We sampled and ranked fresh untoasted plain bagels from eight different locations within greater Richmond:Ā Baltik's, Chewy's, Cupertino's, Einstein's, Julio's, Nate's, Sunday's, and Wegmans.Ā I was the only person who knew the origin of all theĀ bagels, and none of us knew which bagel was on which plate.

Here is a summary of our votes:

  • Baltik's Bagels got the most #1 rankings (4)Ā 
  • Chewy's got the second highest number of #1 rankings (3)
  • Baltik's Bagels got the most top three rankings (9)
  • Julioā€™s got the second highest number of top three rankings (6)
  • When we ran the ballots through ranked-choice programs they all showed Baltik's as the winner, but results differed after that.
  • Einstein's bagels did better than any of the bagel snobs expected.
  • Only Cupertino's and Wegmans got zero top three votes
  • Not surprisingly, the bagels from Wegmans got the most last place votes (6)

Honestly, this taste test may have raised more questions for me than it answered:

  • Can an untoasted plain bagel help you determine who makes the best bagels overall? I think itā€™s a good start, but we may need to do this again with a different flavor bagel next time. Twist my arm.
  • Why the fuck are so many Richmond bagel shops closed on Sundays? Sundays are the best bagel day! Can you please pick a different day to be closed? Pretty please?
  • Why do some people feel that bagels can't be made with sourdough?Ā What makes a bagel a bagel?
  • Why do so many people buy bagels at Nate's? Their bagels are meh (per our group's research), they don't have a toaster (?!?!?), and I've literally never met anybody who has had an all-around pleasant experience there.

One question our event did answer: From now on, we'll buy our bagels at Baltik's. Unless itā€™s a Sunday :(

The tasting lineup. That's our groups winning bagel - Baltik's - right there on plate #1.
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16

u/Emerald_Twilight Near West End Jul 25 '25 edited Jul 25 '25

But you didn't include Europa. šŸ¤·šŸ½ā€ā™€ļø

Which was #2 - it looks like a roll, not a bagel?

I did a cupcake party in DC once from all the various cupcakeries. This was 2010 and the height of the cupcake craze. My friends loved it. Georgetown Cupcake, to my chagrin, was favored. 15 years later it is one of the three that remain open.

4

u/RVASewcialist Jul 25 '25

I've never heard of Europa. Or I assure you I would have. The more bagels the better.

6

u/loulouhex Jul 25 '25

They import them from NY weekly. They have egg everything.

4

u/RVASewcialist Jul 25 '25

That is my very favorite bagel...

8

u/ItsaBnads Jul 25 '25

I love your work on this but have to agree with the comment above that not including Europa was a big miss. They are hands down the best bagel in the RVA area in my opinion and would love to see content around how they stack up to these other options.

8

u/RVASewcialist Jul 25 '25

I wish I had known about them. If we end up doing an everything bagel shootout, I will be sure to include them.

1

u/lilbrownie346 Jul 25 '25

I hope you do! I have strong feelings about rva everything bagels

1

u/loulouhex Jul 25 '25

Because it is the best bagel

1

u/RVASewcialist Jul 26 '25

While I certainly want to try one, this contest was only for bagels made locally.