Jessica Boyington checks out Top 6 spots to get a bagel in Philly
Kismet Bagels, Bart's Bagels and Korshak Bagels made the list!
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- If you think bagels are just a basic breakfast sandwich, think again! Come with me while I check out some of the top bagel spots in the City of Brotherly Love.
Kismet Bagels was started by husband and wife team, Jacob and Alexandra Cohen, as a way to donate bagels to frontline workers. The bagels were so widely appreciated that they decided to start selling bagels and cream cheese wholesale. Now, you can find them in over 50 shops and cafes like Di Bruno Bros, and place orders on goPuff.
They make a staggering 17,000 bagels per week and tack on 600 pounds of cream cheese to go along with it. This spring they are opening their very first shop, and I got the opportunity to test three of the bagel sandwiches they're working on for the opening. They're probably going to sell another 17,000 a week of the sandwich they call "The Egg" which is their spin on a Mediterranean style everything bagel with fluffy egg, potato latke, bacon, cheese, and zhug sauce. They also have something that I promise you've never had, PICKLE CREAM CHEESE, made with fresh pickles from Fishtown Pickle Project.
Bart's Bagels isn't just a bagel, coffee stop, or smoked fish shop, they say, it's a way of life! It all started when owners and brothers, Brett and Kyle Frankel, toured a few different US cities in search of how bagels were done best. They brought those ideas back to Philly, gave it some personal flair and opened up Bart's Bagels in West Philadelphia. Each bagel is handmade, kettle boiled, cold fermented, and baked on a burlap board in a revolving oven. They smoke all of their house meats, including pastrami, turkey, and corned beef, and they are known for their smoked fish too. But of course, they know how to nail a classic bacon, egg and cheese.
Korshak Bagels in South Philly is guaranteed to be one of the most unique bagel spots that you've ever been to. On the outside, it looks like it could be a punk rock record store with lines out the door, and on the inside, it's something completely different...and that's exactly what owner Phil Korshak had in mind when he opened the doors about 8 months ago.
He is definitely unlike anyone I've ever met. He's filled with compliments for his employees, philosophical ideas, love for his community, and, of course, many distinctive bagel recipes. He makes a cinnamon raisin bagel with PB&J and bacon. I personally loved the BLT on a sesame seed bagel because it had the perfect amount of mayonnaise.
I might have loved the feeling I got from being there even more. He said that his mother told him, "If you want to change the world, the way to do it is in small bits" and for Phil Korshak, that looks like one bagel at a time.
