Bakery Chain Bagels Ranked Worst To Best

Bagels aren't just another breakfast option — they carry some serious cultural significance. They are traditionally considered a quintessential Jewish food, despite their origin story being a little murky. Generally speaking, bagels' roots lay in 14th-century Poland and were brought to North America by Eastern European immigrants a few centuries later. On this continent, two East Coast cities claim to have the best bagels: New York City and Montréal.

Both regions have birthed some excellent and wholly authentic bagelries, while other, more mainstream cafés struggle to keep up. Most bakery chains either boast a New York-style bagel or a Montréal-style one — never both. The difference? A good New York-style bagel must be boiled in water (and sometimes malt) before baking, but not just any water — New York water. It's been alleged that New York's soft water contains low levels of calcium and magnesium, making it a perfectly neutral element in the bagel-making process.

Montréal-style bagels take a slightly different approach — the rings of dough are traditionally boiled in water, sweetened with a little bit of honey, then baked in a wood-fired oven. While both New York and Montréal-style bagels have their own delicious qualities, it's up to the bakery chains to really deliver. Want to know which chains are rolling out amazing bagels and which ones have some work to do? This is our list of bakery chain bagels ranked from worst to best.

This French-inspired bakery chain, whose name translates as "from good bread," has been serving fast casual food since the early 1980s. Au Bon Pain's breakfast menu has many quick-grab options like parfaits, baguette sandwiches, and croissants, but there are a handful of bagels to choose from as well. Although the company website assures that its products are fresh-baked each morning, Au Bon Pain's bagels just aren't up to the same standards set by other bakery chains.

Au Bon Pain has more flavor choices on its bagel menu than Starbucks does, but if you order one with cream cheese, you'll get the same pre-packaged Philadelphia brand that you could buy in almost any grocery store. What's more, when made-to-order bagels were considered a food trend in the mid-to-late 1990s, Au Bon Pain was criticized by The Washington Post for selling a sourdough Dutch apple bagel topped with a streusel that didn't even have a hole in the middle.

It was yet another instance of bagel "purists" dismissing bakery chains for churning out inauthentic bagels for profit. After the bagel gimmicks died down, Au Bon Pain's troubles continued. The business has been struggling financially for quite some time, giving rise to suspicions that its bagels — and much of the other food on the menu — are not drawing in enough customers.

Due to New York being the undisputed bagel hotspot in the U.S., many bakery chains sell "New York-style bagels" as a way to boost the appeal of the product. Some bagel chains even incorporate "New York" into their brand name, which is exactly what Noah's New York Bagels did. The original Noah's New York Bagels was opened in Berkeley, California in 1989 by Jewish-American businessman Noah Alper, but it isn't an authentically New York establishment.

Noah's bagel empire has expanded into 55 locations, but all of them are in California. The company website implies that Alper wanted to bring a taste of his native New York to the Golden State, but he is actually from Massachusetts. And the bagels? Reviews range from decent to disappointing. Noah's New York Bagels has been praised for being a slice above the rest of California's far-from-stellar bagel scene, but there are plenty of poor reviews out there.

Noah's New York Bagels was unique in that it introduced kosher bagels to Californians, but reviewers have called out the lack of resemblance Noah's Bagels have to those served in Jewish bagelries in New York. The company's dubious business practices have also hurt its image. In January 2022, a video showing all 15 employees of Noah's New York Bagels in Vacaville, California, quitting at once went viral, calling the company's treatment of its staff into question.

Though Panera Bread has been in existence since 1987, in more recent times, it has become a huge bakery chain boasting more than two thousand store locations in the United States and raking in billions of dollars in revenue each year. Panera Bread has a sprawling menu that includes all kinds of lunch options, coffee and tea beverages, sweet treats, and of course, bagels and cream cheese.

Considering that each Panera location is expected to put out so many different menu items, the overall quality of its bagels is pretty good. There are several different flavors, including cinnamon, chocolate chip, blueberry, and asiago, which have been longtime customer favorites. The most prominent weakness in Panera Bread's bagel game is that it doesn't sell freshly made bagels the way other bakery chains do.

Also, they don't boil the rings of dough before baking, which in bagel culture is kind of a sacrilege. Crafting from scratch bagels on such a massive scale would be near-impossible to pull off, and Panera fans seem to understand. The bagel dough is delivered to the store frozen and baked in ovens on the premises, but this doesn't dissuade people from frequenting Panera Bread and grabbing their favorite flavor bagel with cream cheese. 

The larger a bakery chain is, the more challenging it is to consistently craft a quality, scratch-made bagel, but Bruegger's Bagels does an excellent job. Bruegger's Bagels opened in 1983, and after all these years, it still honors the baking practices learned from landmark bagel shops in New York City. All of the bagels at Brugger's are kettle-boiled and baked in a stone hearth.

No preservatives or artificial colors are added; instead, Bruegger's informs on its website that just five ingredients are used in the bagel baking process: flour, water, malt, yeast, and salt. Its cream cheese is made in Vermont and blended with ingredients like garden vegetables, smoked salmon, strawberries, or bacon and scallion.

There are nearly 200 Bruegger's Bagels locations spread across 22 states, so it's a lot more convenient to visit than other regional bagel chains — not to mention Bruegerr's caters and delivers. Customer satisfaction is strong, with many reviewers giving the thumbs up to Bruegger's bagel sandwiches.

It turns out that New York and Montréal have a little competition from the West Coast by way of Yeastie Boys Bagels, a food truck fleet based in Los Angeles. The company name itself is a fun nod to Brooklyn's own Beastie Boys, but the hand-rolled bagels served from its six trucks also draw major inspiration from the borough. Founded in 2014, Yeastie Boys Bagels' trucks have lured a steady crowd of fans who can't get enough of the chain's one-of-a-kind sandwiches.

Sure, you can get your traditional bagel and schmear at Yeasite Boys, but its curated selection of cleverly named bagel sandwiches sounds seriously appetizing. There's the Reubenstien, a pit-smoked pastrami and Swiss sandwich with sauerkraut and Russian dressing served on an everything bagel. Or maybe you'd like to go vegan and order the Mishka, which includes vegan roasted bell pepper spread topped with tomato, onion, and sprouts.

Thrillist named Yeastie Boys Bagels as one of the top 10 bagel shops in Los Angeles. In 2023, Yeastie Boys collaborated with Taco Bell on some unique breakfast items. The publicity is well earned. Yeastie Boys Bagels counts legendary actor Diane Keaton and (Brooklyn-born) Jerry Seinfeld as fans.

If you're looking for a great bagel with a side of New York City heritage, you'll find that in Russ & Daughters. Polish immigrant Joel Russ began his business in 1907, selling herring out of a pushcart in Manhattan's Lower East Side. From there, Russ & Daughters grew into a brick-and-mortar location and solidified itself as a true New York City institution. It has remained one of the most viable Jewish bakeries out there for over 100 years — largely in part for its bagels. One of its most famous menu items is aptly named "The Classic," a bagel with cream cheese and hand-sliced smoked salmon.

In 2019, Russ & Daughters expanded beyond its Lower East Side and Midtown outputs and established a third location in Brooklyn. The facility in Brooklyn Navy Yard serves as both a bagel shop and factory where Russ & Daughters' bagels are baked in the company of some of the finest rye bread, bialys, knishes, and babkas you will find in the city. The Russ & Daughters in Brooklyn bakes between 300 to 800 dozen fresh bagels every day — a testament to just how loved this bagel chain is.

We could go on about all the things we love about Montréal, Québec: charming neighborhoods, cool shops, people speaking French. But we're here to talk about the best bagel bakery chain of all — St-Viateur Bagel. Montréal's first St-Viateur location opened in 1957 and has been the golden standard of bagel chains ever since. Together with fellow Québécois bakery Fairmount Bagel, St-Viateur put the Montréal-style bagel on the international map, introducing a subtly sweet, smaller bagel to the masses.

On the wave of that success, St-Viateur Bagel grew into a small chain. Today, there are six locations in Québec, but the flagship bakery is on rue St-Viateur Ouest, which is arguably the most special. St-Viateur was founded by a Polish immigrant and Holocaust survivor named Myer Lewkowicz. Now, the historic chain is owned by Joe Morena, who has worked at St-Viateur since he was 15 and upholds the same small-batch bagel-making practices Lewkowicz taught him decades ago.

St-Viatuer is known to bake over 1,000 dozen honey-water boiled bagels per day at the original location alone, which is a straightforward, cash-only operation where the bagels — not cream cheese — are the star of the show. If you'd prefer a more restaurant-like experience, head to St-Viatuer in the Plateau Mont-Royal district. This location is both a bakery and a café, so you can sit and order a bagel with cream cheese or a bagel sandwich made by artisans who are truly at the top of their game.