What a Bagel Eatery

I know it sounds snobby, but I am usually not impressed by chains. Chains just seem so «fake» and «uncreative» to me. Yet, a friend of mine could not stop talking about an amazing breakfast she had at What A Bagel in Vaughn. What a Bagel? Seriously? I was so confused, that it actually piqued my curiosity, and just had to check out their breakfast for myself. So I made the trek to the burbs to determine whether my friend was full of shit.
First thought: Damn this menu is huge!
Second thought: Ok, it all does sound delicious! Dammit!
Our order
I ordered two scrambled eggs with home fries, and twister bagel (twister bagel is extra) and a side of avocado. I am shocked that I did not order bacon! Total was $ 6.99 plus an extra 0.75 for the twister bagel and $ 1.50 for the avocado. Grand total of $ 9.24 before tax and tip. If I could do it again, I would have ordered sweet potato fries instead. The home fries were fine, but not memorable.
My friend ordered the breakfast wrap with a croissant with a 2 egg omelet, cream cheese, tomatoes and lettuce for $ 6.99 and a side of soup (a side of soup would have been $ 3.99 but it must have been less if she was upgrading it from a regular side — can’t remember the price for the upgrade). And OMG, the soup was ridiculously good! It was a carrot and ginger soup that I found so impressive, that I had to buy some to go. In fact, it was SO good, that I bought a special blender just to try to make it at home!
Overall, I found that the portions were excellent, and our coffee was consistently refilled, and near the end of our meal we were given mini-​chocolate croissant-​like pastries on the house. Once we paid, I had a blast sticking around watching the bagels being made!
Argh! I hate to admit it, but I really did like the brunch at What a Bagel, and I would return in a heart beat. The only unfortunate thing about chains is that they are not all the same when it comes to service and quality. A What a Bagel just opened near my office, and so far it has failed to meet my expectations. But I am optimistic that they will be able to work out the kinks over the next few months. And if they don’t, I will cry.

Visited on a Friday morning strictly to see what all the fuss up is about. Our local paper, The Vaughan Citizen, conducts a survey of readers to determine the «Best Ofs» in Vaughan. Under the breakfast category, I had visited all the other restaurants, save for this one… so off the two of us went to get the low down and hopefully find another hidden gem.
I was aware of this place as it’s across the parking lot from Duffs… and to be honest, I thought you could only buy bagels there, so I never went in. That was mistake #1. It’s a bakery (selling breads, cookies, sandwiches, bagels, strudels, cake loafs), plus it has a take out counter (with salads, sandwiches), plus it has a comfortable eat in restaurant.
We opted to dine in.
I had the French toast made with challah bread. Also ordered a side fruit bowl and a tea. .The French toast was off the charts delish… challah bread is really one of the best breads to use for this dish. I would have scored this bkfst a 5 out of 5 but didn’t because:
1) The water for my tea was lukewarm. If you’re a tea drinker, you know that you cannot steep a tea bag in luke warm water.
2) the fresh fruit was anything but fresh. The blueberries were wrinkled (which means old) and flavourless, and the cantelope was pushing it’s «best before» date. Disappointing.
My dining companion had their version of eggs Benedict (there is no pork on the menu). He said it was very good, with so much food he couldn’t finish his plate (and that rarely happens). He also stated that the whole wheat bagel he selected (as his bread option) was the best he’s ever had. He also mentioned that the coffee was some of the strongest he’s ever had…3 creams changed its colour only slightly… but he said the refill was much better… and very good.
I’ve read other reviews commenting about service… our experience couldn’t have been better. Our server was fantastic… she was funny, efficient and helped make this visit memorable.
Will I go back? Definitely… and this time I’ll have to ignore my waistline and buy something sweet to take home.

We love to split salad lunch
Great breakfast, steak and eggs or
Any kind 2 eggs, home fries and super
fresh bagel with jalapeño cream cheese

We had a party of 10 with several young children. The staff were courteous and quick. The food was excellent. This place has a lot more to offer than great bagels. Great choice for breakfast.

Always busy when I come in, staff are busy and sometimes a little curt, but still to me the best bagel place around. Light crispy outside, soft middle with a nice selection.
Also many varieties of baked goods, one of my favs are the rugelach cookies.

Service so slow

I usually go to what a bagel closer to my home but today we wanted to go to my grandmas house and my dads like hey let’s bring her some bagels too since its your birthday and you get a dozen for free anyway.
So I go in and get my bagels and I have my id ready to show incase for proof. We have a good morning exchange and then the woman at the cash machine takes one look at the Id in my hand and rolls her eyes.
She’s like i know all you Chinese people do the same thing. I see you come in on your birthday and never buy anything just getting free bagels.
Now, this is very different from the way my regular bagel store treats me since I go there and buy cream cheese and pastries pretty often. But still, that’s just downright rude. Also, I’m not Chinese and I meant to say have a nice day but I just told her that actually my family is a patron of what a bagel just for her information.
She looked at me and shook her head and was like your dad is a liar bc I work here everyday and I never see your face. I got pissed and almost puked lmao because I get really bad nausea when I talk with ridiculous people. Just kidding, anyway, I should have called for her manager but I wanted to just leave bc she was being so rude to me and my dad.
So I just left but not before trying to tell her that I’m not Chinese but she just interrupted me and was like then you’re obviously philipino and I knew she was gonna say something rude again so I just shook my head at her and walked out.
For the record, I don’t think it should matter what nationality I am or what my race is; if your company wants to have a promotion, then teach your staff not to be a nasty (racist) witch like her. To be fair, I am not from Philippines either but I’ve been told I look chinese and while I am fine with being told I look similar to a certain race, I don’t appreciate her attitude and the manner in which she was telling me her opinion.
If her goal was to chase away regular patrons of this chain, she pretty much succeeded. Although, the nice people at my regular location out-​do her by 1000% so they make up for her horrible customer service.
besides, the cream cheese is to die for, so why should I have to subject myself to a cream-​cheeseless life just because of her? Thank goodness for the one close to my home: P
Anyway, i see that other people have the same opinion of this location’s customer service. Let’s just say that I will definitely NOT be advising anyone to come near here… unless they’re ready with comebacks for this race-​attacking woman with a superiority complex. And although I didn’t take a picture of her lol, you’ll know it’s her because apparently, she’s there EVERYDAY: P

Service is great, the food not so great…

the service is great, the food amazing too. i love it here!

Bagels are good. And free bagels on your birthday!
Restaurant… Find somewhere else to eat.

We had a good food experience and service experience but I wont go back…
The HOST (i believe related to owners) made some poor judgements on how and when to seat people. it was quite tragic that he really didnt understand what was the right thing to do without having to be told.
For sure lost two customers behind us who left because of this table issue. In our case the couple in front of us took a table for two and 15 minutes later when a table for 4 came up and were were told by the Host it would be ours… he took it back.
He said the couple that he seated before us had mentioned that they may have friends coming and now they do so he felt he needed to give them the table for 4 (also he knew them and was speaking in their language)
Those «friends» had not yet arrived. the couple behind us were a 2 and should have received the table they were occupying and they should have waited for a 4 if they needed a 4
Since they took the two seater — they dont get to do swapsies at the expense of us and others in the line. it causes a ripple effect and really makes people feel they were mistreated.
They may have a demented sense of reality — but the fact that the Host was unable to see this without a few people discussing the issue with him was really sad.
The couple behind us left. They went to the one a bit further south with more seating they said. We will likely do the same in the future. We got our table but instead of giving the next 2 to the couple behind us they squeezed it in to accomodate the people whose friends arrived about 15minutes AFTER we were seated.
they need to work on seating procedures and not play favourites. It was really a shame to have that experience on New Years day…

What a Bagel’s Bagel is A-​OK. better than Tim Horton.
There are 2 areas, one is set up like a bakery with cookies, bread, bagels and made to order sandwiches to go. The other area is more like a sit down restaurant serving light sandwiches for lunches and breakfasts.
The Breakfast Bagel ($ 6.99) with home fries was quite good. bagel toasted crispy on the outside and soft and chewy inside.
Coffee ($ 1.99) was not fresh… doesn’t matter how many cream I add in, it is still bittery dark… hmmmmm
The decoration is quite comfortable and overlooking the parking lot…
But why that 1 star?
The waitress is one of the rudest one I have… after I asked for my bill. I just want to finish my coffee. and then she trying to make me leave so a group of 5 ladies can use my single table while half of the tables in the restaurant is empty.
I asked are you trying to kick me out. she told me yes… WTF is this?