Good bagels. But the interior is extremely worn ... booths and seating need to be replaced. Looks bad inside. Owner should take more pride in the business. read more

A fantastic bagel spot with excellent customer service! Definitely one of the best breakfast places in DeKalb

Whoa. One of the best bagel sandwiches I've ever had. Great coffee too! We took a chance and got off the highway and so glad we did.

I got a very bad experience. I left this place without food or money back. I will never comeback. read more

I want to like this place, but they are making it really hard. The woman that usually works the counter is rude, and not warm at all. She has messed up a few of our orders and instead of apologizing, she had blamed us. I thought maybe I was being too sensitive, but the last time I was there I heard her do it twice with separate customers. If you make a mistake it's as easy as saying "I'm so sorry about that!" Not "Did I make your order?" or "You said tomato cream cheese, we have sundried tomato", when she put an actual slice of tomato on my bagel instead of tomato cream cheese. The bagels are good, but they are really inconsistent with their cream cheese portions. Sometimes it's too much, and last time my bagel was way too dry, not enough cream cheese. On this same visit we were given two baskets for four bagels. So my husband and I got to eat off of napkins, while my kids used the baskets. Seemed kind of silly to not give one basket per bagel. Pretty unimpressed so far, hopefully their customer service improves so we can visit more often. read more

Oh. My. God. You guys, these are probably the best bagels we've ever had. Super soft and chewy with the hintest of a delicious crust. Hubs said he breakfast sandwich was delicious, kids gobbled up theirs as well. I had the veggie sandwich on sun dried tomato (which tasted like TOMATO!)! We also got some blueberry bagel bites which were insanely good and the perfect sweet taste to end breakfast! read more

Family shop and good atmosphere. Good homemade bagel and variety homemade cream cheese read more

Barb City Bagels - Good selection of bagels - Bagels Near Me - Dekalb, Illinois

I absolutely agree with all the other reviews. This place was a staple for me. Food is great and the owners are super nice. I also agree with Amanda and Natasha ( previous reviewers ). Today , Barb city bagles delivered probably the worst customer service I have experienced in a very long time. In fact I was shaking because I was so mad. The owner did a great job calming me down and offered to pay for my meal. I declined. I feel that restaurants comp food when problems happen to satisfy the customers, so I declined . Nothing could excuse this employee's attitude and behavior. Nothing! I told the owner today that I wouldn't be back, and I won't for a while but truth be told this place really is good. I can hold a grudge but I do love there asiago bagle read more

Wow, just read a negative review of BCB's and not sure if they were in the same place or not. This place serves consistently high quality bagels and bagel sandwiches. Plus, they have all sorts of other freshly baked items to tempt you with in case bagels ain't your thing. Coffee, juice, milk, everything. You see lots of happy families here, older people and the local bike club haunts this place early morning on the weekends. I have never met anyone who doesn't like this place. Friendly, quick service with reasonable prices make this place a joy to visit always. Money saving hint: About a half hour or so before closing, all the bagels are 2-for-1. Cuz they bake new bagels (Fresh!) every morning. So yeah, go, enjoy the dark and soothing decor and the (from what I have heard) delicious, soothing coffee (or tea or soda), you won't be disappointed. read more

I like this place and go often. The bagels always taste fresh and they put a good amount of their fresh cream cheeses on the bagel. The decor is cosy, welcoming, clean and comfortable. The only disappointment is that the bagels seem to have gotten smaller rcecntly, but stayed the same price. Now when I go on the weekends I order 3 so my boyfriend and I can split the third one and feel more like we're having a full meal. Also, as someone who manages in a restaurant myself, I always feel bad for the employees when they have to leave the line to run food out to customers in the dining room, especially when they're busy and have only a couple people working the line. I've stood near the drink station waiting for my to go order many times, watching how things operate and trying to think of a way that would be more coordinated and efficient. Anyway... it seems to work for them somehow but I feel like they could benefit from a smoother line setup or something. Anyway, it's a nice little place! I'm a coffee ADDICT and one reason I don't go here more often despite loving the bagels and it being two blocks from my house is because of the coffee bar. I don't like the options they offer for the coffee and I've had coffee a couple times that wasn't very fresh. Granted this was quite a while ago as after a couple bad experiences with the coffee I just quit getting it... I'm gonna go today actually and try the coffee again. Will update. But try this place, support local business, plus they're so tasty, I seriously CRAVE the bagels sometimes!!! read more

Great bagels. I just wish the customer service matched the stellar products. You are never greeted when approaching the counter, you're usually met with a vacant stare by an employee. I do however LOVE the younger gals that work in the am. Great attitudes! read more

This place has fantastic bagels and breakfast sandwiches!!! We crave it often. The bagel bites are a must as well.

Very good place for a bagel. It doesn't stick out-- saw it on my drive out of town and figured I'd give it a shot and I'm glad I did! It's part of my morning routine now. NIU and Kish students get 10% off too, so it's a great place for students. Prices are pretty reasonable. $2.65 (ish) for a bagel with cream cheese. Give it a try! read more

Delicious. Loved the egg sandwich with bacon on the garlic bagel. Heaven. The employees were so friendly and helpful with making suggestions. I'm excited to go back and try more! read more

I am the kind of person who enjoys new scenery for studying or getting work done. I love sitting at restaurants for hours working on a project. If you are like me than you have to check out barb city bagels. The interior is beautiful and comfortable seating awaits inside. The food is great to. The bagels are obviously what I really enjoy but they have a few other options as well. The cream cheese is delicious also. So if you are tired of Starbucks and are looking for a new study spot check out barb city! read more

Can I rate this lower than one star? You get the point. Where do I even start... First of all, Dracula would love this establishment, it's dark, dank and uninviting, everything I want to experience when I drink my coffee --NOT. One positive: they serve Intelligentsia coffee, but don't worry that positive is quickly put down by the fact that they're ALWAYS out of coffee and if they aren't out it you can be guaranteed that it's a solid lukewarm to cold temperature. For crying out loud YOU WORK AT A COFFEE SHOP, how hard is it to make sure the coffee crafts are full?? Moving on. The food, very hit or miss. Sometimes it uncooked, other times it's just plain flavorless. They're called 'Barb City BAGELS' and yet their bagels are nothing you can't buy at a gas station and I swear to the lord up above that they put a whole tube of Elmer's Glue in their cream cheese, you'll be smacking on it for hours. Cleanliness is also at its worst. Tables are sticky and scattered with leftover crumbs, immediate turn off. Should you go here? Did you even read my review? Save yourself the cash, trauma and time --DON'T. Sorry BCB, I want to like it but I've been here many times now and it seems to be consistent with these sad standards. read more

Quality and value are wonderful, but the hours are an issue for me-- I can never get there when it's open. To me, a cafe needs to be open around 3pm for that post-lunch or afternoon crash. I can't give a higher rating until I actually make it into the store, as I've only had their food when a friend brings it to me. read more

Great breakfast and lunch sandwiches! Owners are first class too! I go here 2-3 times a week and have not had any negative experiences!

Great chow, exceptional service. Options for days. lil pricey though....

The two ladies serving customers this morning seemed a bit flustered as there where about 6 customers who came in around the same time, but they appeared to be keeping it together...until I got home with my to-go order. I had asked for a cranberry-orange muffin and got a chocolate-cherry muffin, and my eggs where burnt on my SantaFe sandwich. I like getting food from this place, but I would much rather receive quality service and have to wait an extra minute or three for them to get it together. read more

Bagels were delicious and had plenty of cream cheese. We stopped in at 9:30 and they were already out of chocolate chip bagels:(. The staff seemed uncoordinated with each other. I felt like it should have been more of an assembly line and then our iced coffee would not have been overlooked. However, we enjoyed the ambiance, the food and the visit overall. read more

Great bagels, would have given 5 Stars but the eggs were not cooked in a pan, only microwaved.

Clean place, good service and a decent cup of coffee. A very nice and quiet atmosphere to relax. From my limited experience the food isn't that bad. I had a bacon, egg and cheese bagel (bacon). They have some interesting bagels and spreads. Worth a visit. read more

3 star bagel place means: comfortable atmosphere, good bagels( but no vegan crime cheese or hummus) and good coffee (only place I know DEKALB to get Intelligencia since the house stopped carrying it about 8 years ago?) All and all very happy they are independent and liking the changes it brings. I like my bagels with heart and a little bigger though. read more

This little hidden bagel shop is so good! They have every cream cheese you could think of. Their coffee is amazing too, cute little shop. Y'all should clean that fish tank though :( read more

This is my favorite place in DeKalb, hands down. Their bagels and cream cheese, their pastries, their sandwiches are all amazing! They also love promoting good causes in the community. read more

While in town visiting granddaughter, we were looking for a new breakfast experience. We came across Barb's City Bagel and were delighted from the moment we walked in. The place had great ambiance and a small town feel. The young ladies behind the counter were friendly and went out of their way to help us with a gluten free & dairy free bagel option. They even provided directions on how to prepare the specialty bagel. Will definitely be back, when we come back to visit. read more

I went here for the first time today after hearing great things about it, both from Yelp and from asking friends. It is most definitely worth a visit. The staff are friendly and the service is quick. I went in the late morning and it wasn't terribly crowded, not a long line and plenty of seats. I got a chocolate muffin and some coffee and they were both good. A little pricier than I expected even with the discount for niu students, but I didn't even mind it because the service was wonderful. read more

With a friendly staff, a very nice beverage bar, and some good breakfast and lunch bagels and sandwiches as well. This place is like a local Panera, with more reasonable prices. read more

The worst place you can get some breakfast or anything. I asked for non vegan cream cheese and what they did is give me vegan cream cheese witch taste like absolute sh#*. read more

We stopped here for breakfast. Some friends we were visiting recommended their bagels. They are great! The iced coffee is self serve which is strange to me. Usually when I pay for coffee I want someone to make it for me; that's sort of the point about going out for coffee. The coffee is good, at least. Much better than the other cafe in town, the house. The bagel bites were my favorite little treat. They were like a dessert! Next time we are back in DeKalb we will come to barb city. read more

Nice atmosphere, nice employees, and NIU students get a %10 discount! The bagels were really good, I just wish they're open later for some night-time studying. read more

I really love this place BUT, as a student I would LOVE LOVE LOVE if there were more outlets in this place. It makes it difficult to come and study while I eat. There's like one outlet by the fish tank and that's it. But anyway, great place with great food and decent coffee if that's what ur looking for. read more

I was super excited to find a place with Inteligentisia Coffee in DeKalb. Totally disappointed that they don't even have real cream for the coffee. They offer three varieties of crappy concentrated Coffee Mate creamer that probably has a ton of chemicals in it. If your going to serve great coffee please consider putting the real deal out for your customers. read more

Good bagels, great coffee, but really bad customer service. Went in today and was ignored by the owner working the counter. He was too deep in conversation with the customer in front of me. When I thought they were done talking and he would maybe ask me for my order he took that deep breath that signals that the conversation will probably last another hour. I left. It's really rude not to acknowledge a customer standing in line waiting. It's worse when the owner of the place has absolutely no customer service skills. read more

My boyfriend and I visited Barb City Bagels and we ordered an asiago bagel sandwich with bacon, cheese, and egg; an everything bagel with scallion cream cheese; and two iced coffees. The bagel sandwich was good but the everything bagel with scallion cream cheese was better, though a little too salty for my taste. The iced coffees were good, not weak but not strong. I really liked that the syrups were free to add to the coffee and that I could add them myself. A lot of other places add way too much of the flavored syrups so it was nice to be able to control the amount. Overall I enjoyed the food and will be visiting again. read more

The scummy fish tank with the dead fish in it was the least appetizing thing I've ever seen in the dining area of a restaurant.

i usually love barb city bagels. however, i went there today at 1:25pm (knowing they close at 2:00pm). i was excited to go there and enjoy my bagel & coffee and they were closed. they were closed over 30 minutes early. read more

I came back in this morning and enjoyed another delicious iced coffee. And the wifi worked wonderfully! BCB is definitely a prime work space for those like me who like to spend a couple of hours in a coffee shop away from the distractions of home. The comfy couches near the fireplace are really cozy (for a short person like me, I can't say that of many couches!), and the natural light that comes in through the windows nicely complements the refined, rustic cabin feel of the space. BCB reminds me of coffee shops in bigger cities with one crucial difference: there's no problem finding a place to sit even though the place gets a good amount of customers coming in. read more

I love Barb City Bagels! They have a huge selection of bagels and cream cheeses. Love how expansive their menu is as well, although I have never tried any of it. Pizza bagels, wraps, salads, breakfast sandwiches, as well as typical coffee shop baked goods like cinnamon rolls. The decor is cute and the atmosphere is casual and comfy. My one problem is how gross the fish tank is! The water is so dark it's hard to see through! However, my orders are typically to-go, so this is not a huge problem for me. read more