DR Guide: Bagels & More

So, this happened yesterday…

Ask any respectable New Jerseyan and they’ll tell you that bagels anywhere else are just circular dough discs with a whole in the center. Husband’s brother, who used to live in Texas, would buy a dozen bagels or so whenever he’d come back to visit and take them home to freeze. For Jerseyans, there is no comparison. (You can chalk that up to one of the other reasons people hate on New Jersey. Because, seriously, don’t bagels suck? Insert sarcasm. )

I woke up yesterday and found we had no eggs in the house and after a night out at the Hard Rock Café where Husband’s band played, I had zero creative juice to figure out what else to cook up. Lucky for us, Husband had recently discovered Bagels & More online last Monday. We were delighted to discover it, suspicious of trying it (Jersey snob and all), and cautious not to get our hopes up, but I was quite hopeful when upon arrival there was a chef’s garden area of fresh herbs with a pumpkin-headed espantapajaros (scarecrow). Point for the bagel place.

Constructed out of bricks, it had a charmingly chic city-town-in-Jersey feel with slapped on mortar giving it that slightly unfinished in the most purposeful way look. Decorated with plants and wood features, also, helped the space take on a zen-esque atmosphere.

The place was full by 10:30 am, which in Santo Domingo on a Sunday, is very unusual, so we opted to sit outside instead of waiting for indoor seating. Though it was a bit hot (and maybe the fans could have been on a higher setting) it was a better choice with two kids; our 2 and 3-year olds are well adjusted in restaurants, but it’s always nice to have a little extra room for when my son inevitably wants to play cars on the floor. As an added bonus, they stared out onto Ave. Pastoriza for some time watching the cars pass  fly zoom by.

But what we came for were the bagels.

With a list of cream cheeses and sandwich options, it took me a while to focus. The lox, cream cheese, tomato, and onion sandwich is my go-to bagel sandwich but I passed this time in favor of the Club: turkey, egg salad, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayo and my choice of an everything bagel.

The juices were just ok (we ordered the orange, chinola and strawberry); I’ve had better, but I was not at all disappointed with my change in order. My Club bagel sandwich was yum and the bagel itself was solid, Jersey solid. So solid, in fact, that I didn’t realize until I went with the kids to pick out a post-brunch muffin and saw the egg salad in the deli fridge that my sandwich was missing the egg salad. So, that was a bummer but… it was delicious anyway. After, while the kids ate their post-bagel muffins, Husband and I chatted and savored our cappuccinos which were also suuuuuper tasty; I’d say top 5 I’ve had here.

Besides the missing egg salad, the overall service was good. Our waiter was attentive and friendly. I’d for sure go back and try the Club again (with egg salad this time) and definitely to size up the Lox Bagel Sandwich.

Tip: Weekend traffic in the city is fantastic; it’s much less cA-rAZy than during the week traffic making it incredibly quick to get to the other side of town. To avoid the same mistake we made this is the REAL address of Bagels & More (- the first address we found on Fantino Falco does not exist):

Av Ing Roberto Pastoriza 204, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

~ UNTIL THE NEXT BOTTLE ~

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This is not a sponsored review. The views and opinions expressed on Drinking the Whole Bottle are 100% my own so that readers can guarantee that, compensated or not, I give my honest opinion on products, services, websites, etc. Any product received complimentary for testing purposes will be identified.