Wanna Bagel - Yonkers

[jhopp217]

I'm pretty picky about my bagels. To me it's pretty much Garth Road or the high road, but there's a new place that I'm kinda liking. Wanna Bagel on Bronx River Road in Yonkers has some darn good bagels. While the size doesn't come close to Garth Road, the taste and texture is pretty good. The cream cheeses are pretty good, and the service in the few times I've been there has been excellent.

The only concern is that they have inherited the black hole of locations on BRR and I hope they can survive. Competing againts the likes of Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts will be tough. I just hope people open their eyes!

[dolores]

jhopp, have you tried the bagels in the Wykagyl shopping center in New Rochelle?

I've tried all those recommended herein and outside of Bagelworks in Manhattan, I will stay with -- embarrassingly, I can never remember their name!

[addictedtolunch]

If you mean the one at Quaker Ridge, they don't need a name- just follow the scent of warm bread from the parking lot. IMHO stacks up against any bagel anywhere, including Manhattan and Brooklyn.

[dolores]

That's the one, addictedtolunch -- I'm just embarrassed that after all this time and all of their excellent bagels, that I can't remember the name of the place!

You just have to try Bagelworks around 1st and 60th, though. Their flat everything bagel is out of this world.

[jhopp217]

Dolores, I have driven by this place probably 1000 times and never went in until this morning. I ordered two, yes, I was very very hungry sesame bagels with cream cheese. As you may know from previous bagel posts, haha, I grew up on Garth Road and adore Scarsdale Bagels on Garth. So I am comparing the ones I had today with those on Garth. I'll give my experience in a list.

1. Carried the bag out and immediately noticed that those two bagels weighed about what 6 bagels from Garth Rd way. A little scary, especially since they were much smaller.
2. Opened the bag and held one in my hand and thought I was about to eat a 5lb rock. Even more scary.
3. Noticed the sesame seeds on top and bottom....very nice!
4. Also noticed that these didn't have that nice golden dark top and bottom like all good bagels have, but they were nice and warm so I knew they were fresh!
5. I took the first bite and was very happy that they weren't as dense as they felt. A little bit chewier than I'm used to, but nothing like the chewing gum bagels I found at Bagel Power in Scardale (maybe the worst bagels I've eaten in ages).
6. I noticed a little saltiness that I wasn't really looking for. The cream cheese wasn't salty so it was definitely the bagel itself, but I chalked this up to maybe rubbing up against a salt bagel.
7. After about three quarters of the bagel I was gettting a little less enamored by the taste. A little too chewy, a little too dense compared to Garth Road, and a lot less natural glavor, sans salt. Still hngry though I finished the first and went on to the second. Which became a little bit of a chore to eat.

Overall, I gotta say, we're going to have to agree to disagree. I found these a little to close to the ones I get at the supermarket. totally white, no golden delicious top and bottom. They aren't bad, but they ain't the best bagel in Westchester. Although from the amount of people in tiny place, the locals seem to like them.

I'll take my Garth Road bagel over them anyday, even with the 10-15 minute wait on a weekend morning. Something about a bagel that is still steaming and is cripsy and moist at the same time. Just a better bagel. IMO