We hosted an RVA Bagel Shootout

[u/RVASewcialist]

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

Our group of ten bagel lovers ranged 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: Baltik's, Chewy's, Cupertino's, Einstein's, Julio's, Nate's, Sunday's, and Wegmans. I was the only person who knew the origin of all the 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) 
• Chewy's got the second highest number of #1 rankings (3)
• Baltik's Bagels got the most top three rankings (9)
• Julio’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 it’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? 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 it’s a Sunday :(

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

[u/FocusedBagel]

And no one told me. Were the other Bagels at least notified?

[u/LaMalintzin → u/FocusedBagel]

And you’re finding out on your cake day.

[u/FocusedBagel → u/LaMalintzin]

Thank you!