Ask for a plain bagel with regular cream cheese, and you may get a few raised eyebrows.

With so many flavor options and combos at Einstein Bros. Bagels, it’s almost impossible to leave with a bready ring untouched by some tasty smear, seeds or sprinkles.

Einstein Bros. Bagels opened a new store on Westlake Avenue this week – the chain’s very first in Seattle. The approximately 3,000-square-foot bagel-making shop offers more than a dozen different flavors of rolls with holes, from Asiago cheese to pumpernickel to challah.

There are even bagel poppers, which are basically mini bagel balls served by the cupful. Then there are all the spreads: salmon smear, garden veggie spread, strawberry cream cheese. The list goes on and on.

“We’re the king of bagels,” said Brian Unger of the Lakewood, Colorado-based Einstein Noah Restaurant Group. “Our fresh baked bagels are the best.” Bagels come out of the store’s oven every four hours, he said.

In addition to all the bagels and bagel-y variations, the shop also serves coffee, sweets, and sandwiches. It also has free Wi-Fi, making it a great spot for students to make a dent in their homework or workers who need breaks from their cubicles.

“We’re excited about this area because it’s all relatively new,” said Unger. “It has the energy we love our brand associated with.”

While this is the first Einstein Bros. in the city, its sister brand Noah’s Bagels has several stores in the region already. The main difference between the two is that Einstein Bros. has a wider selection of healthy options, like bagel thins and low-cal sandwiches.

“With this opening we are adding to the tremendous momentum we’ve built in the Northwest market,” said Jeff O’Neill, Einstein Noah Restaurant Group’s CEO. "We are pleased to introduce the Einstein Bros. brand to this vibrant community.”

The store, located at 2201 Westlake Avenue, is open 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday through Sunday. This week, the store is giving out free travel coffee mugs and circulating 30,000 coupons in the area.

The Einstein Bros. mascots, Melvyn and Elmo, have been riding around on the Streetcar this week to promote the store. With big plastic heads and giant feet, they’re a tough pair to miss.

Posted by DiscoverSLU on Jan. 24
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