I tasted and ranked every bagel at Einstein Bros. Bagels. Turns out, the best ones are sweet.

I don’t think poppy seeds have a great flavor, so a plain, un-toasted bagel covered in the black seeds wasn’t a winner. This bagel had a somewhat unpleasant taste, and the exterior was a little tough.

Adding cream cheese and butter didn’t help this one, either. Even with creamy spreads, the poppy-seed flavor was too strong to mask.

I wasn’t really a fan of this bagel, but I bet it would work well for breakfast sandwiches loaded with flavorful fillings. And, if you really like poppy seeds, you’ll probably enjoy this.

Honey whole wheat sounded like it’d be pretty boring, and it was. There was the slightest hint of sweetness from the honey, but otherwise, it didn’t leave a great taste in my mouth.

This bagel also seemed drier than any of the others I tasted and wasn’t anything special, in my opinion.

The cream cheese helped bring out some flavor, but only just.

Even with butter, the honey whole-wheat bagel was still bland, and unless you really slather it with the spread, it was still pretty dry.

Unsurprisingly, this tasted like sesame seeds. The texture was definitely chewy, and it was strange to eat it un-toasted and without any spread.

The toasted sesame-seed bagel with butter was fine if a little flavorless. It was slightly better with cream cheese, but it still left an off-putting aftertaste.

I think this bagel would work well as part of a breakfast sandwich, but regular old spreads didn’t do it for me.

From the first bite, I noticed how soft the texture was, which was quite different from the chewier ones I’d eaten so far. The second thing I noticed was how incredibly spicy this bagel was to me.

I like a little heat, but this was really overwhelming.

Once I toasted this bagel, the cheese flavor came through a little more.

With just butter, this bagel was still too spicy. I preferred it with cream cheese, which definitely brought the heat down to a more tolerable level.

This unsurprisingly tasted very garlicky, and the texture was good. It was soft inside and not tough or hard outside.

The abundance of sesame seeds sprinkled on top also helped tone down the garlic flavor a bit.

The cream cheese and garlic tasted great together, creating a tangy-and-savory flavor combo. The butter was also a good pairing, but it definitely heightened the garlic flavor.

The toppings were well spread out across the top of this Einstein Bros. “gourmet” bagel. However, I mostly just tasted spinach.

I like spinach, but this was a little much — I think this could use more cheese or garlic.

I really enjoyed the texture of the toasted spinach-Florentine bagel. After a few minutes in the toaster oven, it became nice and crisp across the top with absolutely no sogginess.

Toasting this bagel really brought out its cheesy flavor, but the spinach taste I didn’t love still dominated.

I typically love blueberry bagels, but this one, at least un-toasted, left much to be desired.

The texture was tough, making it hard to bite into, and the blueberries were few and far between.

The exterior became slightly crispy upon toasting, but the interior was still pretty chewy.

I didn’t think the butter worked well on this at all. The addition of cream cheese was OK, but the bagel still needed more blueberries.

This bagel was very chewy.

The chocolate chips themselves were pretty good, but the bagel definitely could’ve used some more because the bites without chocolate were rather bland.

Adding cream cheese seemed like an odd combination to me, but it actually tasted great. It reminded me of a cannoli.

Butter, on the other hand, felt like a weird addition. It just didn’t taste right with the chocolaty bagel, in my opinion.

It was pretty hard to tear a bite off the pretzel bagel, which had an extra-tough exterior. Flavor-wise, there was a slight saltiness, but it was pretty plain.

I think it could’ve used more salt and longer in the oven, but the Einstein Bros. menu I saw depicted a darker-looking bagel, so I also might have just gotten a dud.

It took on a more savory profile with the addition of cream cheese, and the butter worked especially well on this salty bagel. Either spread is a great choice.

I couldn’t wait to try the “gourmet” cheesy hash-brown bagel, which was topped with crispy potato slices, but it was chewy and a bit tough to bite into.

Despite the texture issues, the hash browns were extra crispy and had a peppery flavor.

Toasting this bagel helped to crisp the hash browns even more.

With butter, this reminded me of a good plate of diner hash browns. And with cream cheese, it reminded me of a hash-brown casserole.

Either way, this was good, but not as delicious as I’d expected it to be — it would probably be great for a breakfast sandwich, though.

The cinnamon-raisin bagel had a good flavor on its own.

I tasted more raisin than cinnamon, which I would have liked more of, but I liked that it was soft.

I didn’t love this bagel with cream cheese because there were too many competing flavors. The butter was fine, but I honestly think I’d prefer it with a richer nut butter.

This was the softest of all the bagels I tried.

It had a pleasant, earthy flavor, and the seeds coating the top added a nice crunch. Despite that, I think this bagel would definitely taste better with some type of spread.

Even after toasting, this bagel still had a nice, soft texture.

At first, the cream cheese tasted a little strange with this, but then it mellowed out to a better flavor. The butter helped the earthy flavor shine through; however, it made the dough a little too soft.

These are typically my favorite kind of bagels, but this one was way too onion-y for my liking. I still enjoyed the crunch from the seeds and crisp toppings, though.

Adding butter was fine for complementing the savory flavor of this bagel, but the onion was still overpowering. On the other hand, cream cheese helped balance the flavor of the bagel really well.

The bagel was definitely tough to bite into, but the savory, earthy flavor sold it for me. It had a really nice rye flavor that reminded me of eating a Reuben sandwich in the best way.

I found that the butter actually detracted from the rye flavor. But the cool, smooth cream cheese was a perfect contrast to the crunchy, toasted pumpernickel bagel.

Compared to the green-chile bagel, this option had more cheese and far less spice — but it definitely still brought the heat.

I toasted the jalapeño-cheddar bagel and tasted it with butter first, which didn’t really add anything to the flavor.

Toasting this and adding cream cheese to it was a delicious decision, though. I believe this bagel was really made to pair with the cream cheese. The combination tasted a lot like a jalapeño popper.

The classic plain bagel at Einstein Bros. was very chewy.

Aside from that, there was a good yeasty, bread flavor, but it definitely needs a spread to make it enjoyable to eat.

Butter didn’t do much to amplify the flavor of this bagel, but it paired well with cream cheese.

Luckily, the chewiness wasn’t as intense once it was toasted. It actually gave the bagel a nice, crispy exterior and a slightly soft interior.

Before toasting, the Asiago-cheese bagel was slightly crisp, not chewy. I also liked that the cheesy flavor was apparent even without any kind of added spread.

Fortunately, both the butter and cream cheese paired well with this bagel.

The buttered, toasted bagel had a crunchy texture with an even more prominent cheese flavor. And with cream cheese, it was still quite savory and really yummy.

Unlike some of the bagel options, the six-cheese variety had a full layer of topping — almost like a pizza.

This bagel, un-toasted, had a slightly chewy texture and a good, cheesy flavor. Considering this had six kinds of cheese, though, I think the flavor could’ve been stronger.

When toasted, the six-cheese bagel got crispier on top, and the cheese flavor came through more.

It tasted delicious with both butter and cream cheese, though I preferred it with the latter.

This cranberry bagel was so sweet and delicious. The berries weren’t overly chewy, and I really loved the flavor they added.

There weren’t too many cranberry pieces, but I didn’t find myself wishing for more.

Butter didn’t really add or subtract from the flavor, but cream cheese made it taste like a deliciously creamy breakfast pastry.

Even plain and un-toasted, the French-toast bagel rocked my taste buds.

The exterior was crispy and very sweet, and the interior was soft. In addition to a crunchy, cinnamon topping, there were little cinnamon clusters dispersed throughout the dough, so every bite was packed with flavor.

Butter didn’t change the taste of the French-toast bagel, but it did give it a nice, moist texture. The cream cheese, on the other hand, almost overpowered the cinnamon-sugar flavor, which I preferred on its own.

This bagel was so delicious plain. It tasted buttery without any spread, and the texture wasn’t too tough or chewy, even before it was toasted.

Adding cream cheese made the bagel a little too rich for me. The flavor was still nice, but the textures were overwhelming.

However, the addition of butter was pretty great. It made me nostalgic and reminded me of the cinnamon-sugar toast that I ate all the time as a kid.

Another item on Einstein’s “gourmet” menu, the apple-cinnamon bagel was yummy on its own. The topping featured a cinnamon-sugar crunch paired with soft-baked apples.

My only complaint is that all of the toppings were in the center of the bagel.

Un-toasted, toasted, with cream cheese, or with butter, this bagel was a winner.

Adding butter gave this bagel an apple-crisp vibe, and it was even more delicious with the cream cheese.

Even though warming it up made the bagel a little soggy from all of the toppings piled in the center, I really loved this cinnamon-y, sugary apple combination.

This story was originally published in October 2020 and most recently updated on July 2, 2026.