Lil Pickles Hot Bagels & Deli

This is the only bagel place in town where they are making it look like they are making bagels. They are a reseller augmenting their product with frozen pre made bagels they put in an oven. They are not pre boiled and racked like real bagel places make them — you can taste the difference but if you are in need of quick, local bagel with salad on top they are better than the local deli or Kings BUT King’s bagels are actually better because they are real. I actually have eaten sandwiches from there number of times and agree they are unremarkable but feel good eating them in same way you feel good eating the occasional White Castle burger sack. You know you could find better quality ingredients if you search or drive. These guys work hard being unextraordinarf.
On separate note, I am big cleanliness freak, having nearly died years ago from food borne Illness from too much sushi (another story, but if they do not speak Japanese in the back, I only eat cooked food in Japanese «style» restaurants… so I did notice that the screen door to this kitchen, is always ajar and ripped in so many places I simply wonder why even bother?! Why not just leave the door open and invite flies in… my read on this is if this is the level of sanitary care practiced right in front of you (this is only half my concern) how are things done behind that swinging door where your sandwiches are created? I have noticed and invite you to observe, they do not use gloves. The servers handle money then make your sandwich without washing — no gloves! I did write in years ago that I observed a person sneeze into their hand while paying, hand over that ‘snozed’ on money to the un gloved hand of the server, who turned to make their sandwich… no other patron even noticed and it made me uncomfortable enough to quietly back out. It was one of the younger hourly servers and I just quietly backed out the door — but have seen the owners use good practice and am OK when they are there — but that is common issue on many food prep places. Frankly the only real benefit of any business in that little mall is the weight loss place in the Chiropractors office… as often as info want a bagel, I make the drive over to Bagels-​4-​U across from Raritan Valley College which is out of the way most of the time… that mall is suffering from lack of inspired food. It is unremarkable food truck fare from an unremarkable location, you would only patronize with nothing else available… which frankly IS Bedminster… a wasteland of mediocre food fare and all of you who write frothy, praise worthy comments are not doing any of these places a favor. Why are certain cities, towns rich with good eateries, niche stores? Because the public flushes out the bad ones… the food places in that little strip mall have languished at the bottom in Pizza and sandwiches (ok, except Steck’s, which should not be even called a «deli» because it is not, and they are much worse than Lil Pickels because they make nothing. Cannot even warm Pastrami the correct deli way — in a steam table!)
Kings sandwiches are very good, healthful ingredients and so are Fresh Market’s for the most part…
Lil Pickles does not even have good Pickels so there really is not even a brand to emote… this town needs an IHOP or Panera Bread or great desert place… and how about a coal or wood fired pizza place OR seafood, really good seafood or a great steak place? A 5 Guys would kill here in Bedminster.

I love it here! Best bagels in town. Every time I come home I always get breakfast here.

Overpriced crappy bagels. These bagels are not fresh and they are made with cheap ingredients.

I have the pleasure of living nearby to this bagel shop. The staff is friendly, prices are resonable, and the bagels are always fresh.
Their bacon egg and cheese is the by far the best I have ever had.

First and last time coming to this place. The blueberry bagel is tasteless. No real blueberries or flavor. $ 1 for a plain bagel, crisp outside and soft inside. That’s the only thing done right. I rather pay more for quality. Oh well, time to find a better bagel shop.

My girlfriends veggie omelet had carrots? zucchini? and squash? in it – as opposed to just the peppers/​onions/​tomatoes stated on the menu. It was extremely disturbing to watch her eat it, so we ended up sharing my gross protein bomber sandwich. Don’t know if their cook called out or not today, or decided to use grandmas left over soup for the omelet.

Had such high hopes for this cute spot. $ 6 for a huge and stale kaiser roll and with a skimpy egg and a small slice of cheese. It was allllll bread. Place was packed on a Sunday morning but there was a female (possibly owner?) who seemed extremely flustered and overwhelmed — bad-​mouthing her own employees! She even came out and said to her customers «I’m going to fire everyone today.» My daughter and I drove an hour to this area from Bergen County for a walkathon so we were disappointed with not the food and the level of service.

The bomber with sausage (sausage, egg, cheese and a hash brown) on a everything bagel was the best sandwich on a bagel I’ve ever had. Perfectly toasted, perfectly delicious. Can’t believe this place doesn’t have more reviews, photos and stars!

My wife and I love this place! We live in Boston and often visit family in New Jersey and we always stop by to pickup a dozen or so bagels and grab a breakfast sandwich. I’ve never had anything I didn’t like and I wish I was having a bomber special tomorrow!

Simply put, this place has great bagels. The staff is nice and you don’t need to go there too often to run in to a friend or neighbor, the atmosphere is fun and so is trying to finish the Bomber sandwich.

I’ve admittedly only ever gotten bagels and cream cheese here. But the bagels are consistently good (not fantastic, but good) and the cream cheese is, well, cream cheese. The staff is always prompt and nice enough. It’s pretty fast-​paced on a Sunday morning, even as early as I sometimes go, but busy usually equals good for a business.
They even have a frequent customer card (I think it’s something like «buy 11 dozen bagels, the next dozen is free» but, despite the quotation marks, don’t quote me on that).
There’s ample parking in the lot, although I see many people just pulling up outside the door and leaving their cars running while they run inside for a quick take out order.
A caution — it is VERY easy to miss this place. I’ve lived almost literally around the corner and it took me about 5 years to realize it was even there!

Bagels are decent, but there are better in the area. Iced coffee is pretty good (they keep regular coffee on ice in the back, just ask). I’ll swing by if I don’t have the time to drive further, but not my first stop for a bagel.

only place i go for bagels and sandwiches. The workers treat you like family and remember your order. some say its pricey but worth the extra 2 bucks vs. dunkin donuts. bagels are always hot and fresh and made on the spot. best bacon ive ever had. they make everything fresh and Moe makes all the bagels fresh and ready for orders. i would never change to another bagel shop. don’t hesitate to go to Lil Pickles. you will come back craving more.

Tried this place for the first time. I had a whole wheat bagel with chicken salad and it was very good. My friends all had Sesame bagels with cream cheese and they said it was very good. The only draw back is that I felt it was a little pricey. The reason for only three stars.

What was once a quality establishment is now just another bagel spot that will make the incorrect sandwich multiple times but charge a premium. Disappointing regression over the last 3 years.

Very good bagels and egg sandwiches.
Decent service.
Good prices.
Tried lunch only once (a while ago… so take it for what it’s worth) and wasn’t a big fan, but can say that it is quite a good breakfast place.

This will be the easiest review to make. BEST bagels EVER!!! Homemade daily and always full of flavor! The put a generous amount of butter or cream cheese on the bagels and they always cut it in half to make it easier to eat. If you go first thing in the morning, the bagels are lightly crisp on the outside and warm and soft on the inside. It melts your topping of choice and it will be messy. But it’s sooooo worth it! And they are very fairly priced. I go there every chance I get! Staff is super friendly as well!

One of hardest parts of moving away from NYC was leaving behind the incredible bagels. Lil Pickles does a respectable job in capturing the chewy, flavorful, freshly boiled and baked bagels that I miss. On weekend mornings they move a lot them — the good side is that most varieties are hot out of the oven; the downside is that you might have to wait for your favorite.
Breakfast sandwiches are all very good. I have not been there for lunch.

Our usual Sunday morning breakfast stop. The bagels are always fresh and delicious. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. The staff is always very friendly and have become familiar with my husband and I. When feeling ambitious, the famous «bomber» is absolutely delicious (but oh so filling!).

Fresh bagels and breakfast sandwiches. The bomber with Taylor ham, egg, bacon and fries is interesting. Almost like a grease truck sandwich. Just as filling too. Service is quick and friendly. Plenty of parking spaces in the back. A bit hard to find right off the busy ²⁰²⁄₂₀₆. Look for the post office or sign for Carriage house, they are in the same plaza.