Bagelheads

We walk into Bagelheads on a Saturday morning around 9 and the sizable bakery is bustling with activity. Friends and family sit around tables, mingle at the bar in the center, and peruse the menu of sweet and savory bagels, pastries, and sandwiches. Bakers in the back are already whipping up more of everything, as the line is not letting up.

We start with a huge blueberry muffin, served warm. It is top-heavy (a good thing); its dense, crumbly dough is dotted with berries.

Bagelheads bakers use 100% red hard spring wheat flour. This high-protein, enriched flour is never bleached and makes for a deliciously chewy bite. A jalapeño cheddar bagel, toasted and spread with jalapeño cream cheese is just a tad spicy, but more on the cheddar side. The cream cheese tastes freshly spiced with big chunks of jalapeño.

A snickerdoodle bagel isn’t overly sweet, but definitely tastes like dessert. Top it with apple cinnamon cream cheese, which is more like apple butter than cream cheese.

One of my favorite things is the turkey Reuben on an everything bagel. The bagel has tons of pumpernickel and sesame seeds and there’s a good ratio of 1000 Islands to fresh turkey and tangy sauerkraut. 

The Bagelzone: eggs, hashbrowns, and cheddar cheese stuffed inside bagel dough and baked. Add bacon and you’ve got a Brunchzone. The latter is an interesting theory, but not as good as it sounds.

Coffee is roasted in house using fair-trade, sustainably-grown, 100% Arabica beans, and both the flavored pour (such as mint chocolate) and regular coffee are first-rate.

Seats outside afford diners a sweeping view of the Pensacola Bay, making Bagelheads a lovely way to start the day.