Bagel Gourmet250 Brook St., Providence (click for map)(401) 453-55606:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily
A staple of the College Hill morning, Bagel Gourmet is a regular stop for bleary-eyed Brown students, on-the-go locals and next-door neighbors Providence Police alike.
But with lines almost out the door every morning, it's often hard to believe this breakfast institution of Providence's East Side is toasting, slicing and spreading on a level playing field - er, bagel. (Though to think how little coffee they soak my delicious cup of sugar in, I have at least one idea why the experience brings people back.)
Staffed by at least half a dozen sagacious bagelistas during peak morning hours, the dough shop serves its visitors with a remarkable efficiency one would more commonly expect of a peep show or a vending machine. And Bagel's reliability breeds loyalty, as evidenced by a slew of regular customers - many of whom believe that bagels should still be cream-cheesed by the seller and not the customer.
The fare and decor exist at the confluence of bagel minimalism and gourmet excess. On the one hand, Bagel's peculiarly unchanging staff enforces the party doctrine to a person: lots of cream cheese. But there's little to be found on the menu that is exotic, especially considering the ever-mutating demands of the American breakfaster. Bagels are served affordably to a tasteful majority while more flamboyant customers are endured by charging premium prices for breakfast burritos to go.
Notably, Bagel also serves decent Mexican food (the aforementioned item not being included in this more rigorous definition). Quesadillas, tacos and fajitas of both the chicken and beef varieties are available until closing, though these items are not to be found at especially good values. I will acquaint the reader with Bagel's well-advertised stipulation that Mexican food is only to be served after 10 a.m., with the hope that serving him with this piece of information has not been necessary. (Rules or no rules, beef fajitas seem a poor choice for any ante meridiem hour, though perhaps this is due to my personal prejudices as much as to anything else.)
Bagel's lunch menu presents the visitor with a few decisions, but most of the good options involve bagels. Egg salad, tuna and peanut butter may all be had atop a bagel that more often than not still tastes fresh from that morning, though the tragedy of lunches made from bagels has always been that good fillings (say, chicken salad) usually go well not with the best bagel (everything) but with a nonpartisan and therefore less interesting one (egg).
I should add finally that Bagel offers about eight or so colorful interpretations of ordinary cream cheese (though I have never been tempted to try one) and that it makes a very good iced coffee that is a suitable drink choice for the springtime. That said - come for the bagels, stay for the bagels.
