Einstein Bros Bagels

Stopped in today for a quick bite. Ordered a Herbivore. Assagio bagel, lightly toasted atop cream cheese, watercress, tomato, cucumber and bamboo shoots! A veggie delight! Truly a unique and delectable combination of taste. Also note very healthy eating! Topped off with an excellent smooth and robust vanilla hazelnut coffee! As I sat down a kind lady said, That looks so good and healthy! Excellent customer service. Staff attentive to the customer and very polite!!! A+++ for customer service and combination of unique bagel toppings!

Warning: I’m going to sound a little like a pompous douche with this review but please hear me out.
I came in to Einsteins today with the idea of setting up my remote work station. I planned on having a light breakfast w/​coffee, bagel, and then proceeding to lunch.
Anyhow, I came in computer bag and all, set it up. I’m clearly attempting to set up a spot and order food, get on the WIFI and go.
I was greeted, ordered, and got my food. After all of this, I notice the WIFI doesn’t work. I ask the crew about it, they THEN decide it’s a good time to let me know the WIFI is messed up. If the WIFI isn’t working, it’s only common sense to let somebody know before they set up an entire work station and order food from your establishment. All the while, Panera is right across the street.
Warn your customers who are obviously working that there’s no WIFI before ordering, it’s common sense man. And while this was most likely an honest mistake at best, it’s dishonesty at worst. Pumpkin bagel was solid tho.

I work near this Einstein Bros Bagels location and have eaten here quite a bit over the years. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed if you’re getting a bagel with cream cheese. They have a decent selection of bagel choices and cream cheese choices/​shmears.
I’m not a fan of the breakfast sandwiches or lunch sandwiches. I think part of it is that you see some of the stuff being microwaved. Microwaved eggs. GROSS. Or maybe that everything is (or seems to me to be) precooked and just heated up. I’ve never been impressed with the sandwiches and stopped ordering them. The only lunch item I get is the Nova Lox with smoked salmon, capers, onion, tomato and cream cheese.
The coffee is good. The coffee related drinks — chai, lattes, etc. are not great. they never seem as hot as they should be and are never all that great tasting.
There are usually plenty of tables to sit and read a newspaper, etc. Small parking lot makes stopping by easy. Einstein Bros Bagels closes at 4pm. Employees are generally pretty friendly.
The food at Einstein Bros isn’t cheap.
Einstein Bros makes super unhealthy but AMAZING iced sugar cookies. They are 530 calories and 17 grams of fat for one damn cookie but they are extremely delicious. Gluttony at its best.

Positives:
— Bagels are good
— You can get reasonably tasty fresh food in here — a plain or sesame seed bagel with smoked salmon and onion is a better choice than a burger somewhere else.
— Has its own little parking lot for customers only. Free parking in this area of town is very hard to come by during business hours, so every little bit helps.
Negatives:
— It’s a chain. Would rather have an independent small bagel bakery.
— Prices are HIGH, especially for Lakewood. 11 dollars for a bagel, small soup and a drink? I thought for a minute I was in Europe.
— Stuff other than bagels, such as soup, sometimes doesn’t taste so good. (Panera across the street has better soup.)
— They run out of a lot of menu items by mid-​afternoon.
— They also close by about 4 pm. I know bagels are thought of as a breakfast item, but in this neighborhood there happens to be a large hospital within a block’s walk right around the corner, which means people are coming and going in the evenings as well, and there are few options for quick food in this area from about 4 to 8 pm — the only real option is Panera across the street. The lack of options is a bit of a pain if you have some reason to be at the hospital and don’t have time to do a sit-​down meal.

I am a carb addict. I addictively LOVE breads, and well made bagels easily turn me into Pavlov’s dog! When I was growing up in Jersey, my Greek parents used to take me to Greece every summer as a child and teen, and my grandmother’s house was located directly across the street from a traditional, old world bakery. I was usually the one in charge of getting up early, and running across the street in my slippers to pick up 2 fresh loaves of super-​fresh warm bread that were made that morning. This is what Einstein Bros Bagels reminds me of. I love the taste of their fresh, puffy bagels, and they are often warm too. Their asiago and spinach florentine bagels are to die for, and I try to make it to Lakewood at least once or twice a week to partake in bagel bacchanalia (without the wine)!
My last thought is that I hope Einstein Bros opens up another local store (I used to frequent the closer Rocky River location which closed down in 2012) in the North Olmsted, Fairview Park, Rocky River area to accomodate those of us who used to patronize the Rocky River store.