Updated January 10th, 2022

Seattle is no longer a city with a lackluster bagel showing. There is a multitude of decent options now, and you don’t need to resort to sad, circle-shaped sponges at Einstein Bros. But we’re here to report that among the great boiled-and-baked bread rings in this town, there’s one that towers above the rest.

That’s Mt. Bagel: home of the best bagel in Seattle.

The anatomy of this bagel is phenomenal—malty, chewy, fluffy, and slightly sweet on the inside, with a crackly crust on the outside that’s just as great fresh from the bag as it is frozen and subsequently popped in the toaster. Flavor-wise, the options are pretty standard but reliably great, from a perfectly-salted garlicky everything to sesame. Also not to be missed are the various homemade cream cheese schmears, which come in varieties like spicy scallion (our die-hard favorite), chili oil, raspberry, and French onion.

To get your hands on some, you must place a delivery or pick-up order on their website when they open up sales every Monday at noon sharp. And we'll admit, back when Mt. Bagel was a one-person operation, it used to be a stressfest. They'd sell out in under a minute, leaving only the speediest mouse-maneuverers with the prospect of bagels. But now, with a scaled-up production, you have anywhere from five minutes to a half-hour (or sometimes even longer). Still, we recommend making a profile on their website, having your address and credit card information programmed to auto-fill, and setting an alarm for 11:59am. It sounds like a lot, but it's simple, and if you really want the best bagels in Seattle, you're gonna have to try a little. We've had a 100% success rate in securing an order when we follow these steps. And as you can probably tell, we've placed a lot of orders.

It's all worth it when a mysterious, beautiful stranger comes to your home and drops off a brown paper sack full of the goods (or, you can pick up said sack yourself at their kitchen in Ballard). The whole thing’s like getting a visit from the tooth fairy, except you’re the one giving the money, and nobody has to exchange teeth.

Keep in mind that you can also only order a dozen at a time, and if that sounds inconvenient, we implore you to suck it up. Share with some friends, or toss out those freezer-burnt Eggos. Just make room in your life for these bagels.

Food Rundown

photo credit: Erin Lodi

The Bagels

Perfection with a hole in the middle.

Spicy Scallion Cream Cheese

Stained orange from cayenne and loaded with fresh scallions, this cream cheese is so good that we’d frost a birthday cake with the stuff.