Your hunt for first-rate pastries and bagels ends right here. It's not surprising that there's a…read moregreat deli like this in Cary -- a city as stuffed with new Northeastern transplants as it is depleted of old Southeastern woodlands. Despite the overdeveloped bleakness, Cary is, at least, a good town to find many foods, markets, and restaurants otherwise unavailable in the region. The pastry case has a wide variety of options -- everything you might hope to find in a Portuguese or Italian bakery in New England in the 1980s (my touchstone for fundamental pastries). They are all apparently made on the premises, and have the particular look of pastries from the Northeast. Purely in the interest of scientific research, rather than barbaric gluttony, I tried an apple danish, a cheese danish, and a lemon danish. The cheese danish was faultless in taste: The filling was classic New England bakery cheese filling, and the pastry dough was very soft, and light, but not crumbly. Unlike at some Italian bakeries, it wasn't edge-to-edge filled with cheese (though it was the most edge-to-edge of all three danishes, as is customary for the cheese ones, in my experience); you can, and should, easily remedy this by ordering multiples. The apple danish was of the more cinnamon-crumble-forward style, but it was still terrific. The apples were well-coated small soft bits (unlike at some lesser pastry shops where the apples are crunchy undersweetened slices or chunks). Lemon danishes are very hard to find anywhere, and it was exciting to see one here. It was also excellent. The lemon filling sweated a little bit, so be prepared to get a little sticky (well worth it -- since this is definitely the right kind of filling for a lemon danish). The bagels are also top-notch, as you'd expect. They are a tiny bit lighter and smaller than the classic NY deli bagels were a few decades ago. Which is probably a good thing, since the New York ones seemed to be made from lead-208, all-gluten flour, and condensed dwarf star. The taste is pretty correct, though (as opposed to another bagel shop in the region which does manage to make gigantic leaden NY bagels, but which taste like dense white bread). All of the expected varieties of bagels were at the ready, and in good supply. The bagel/egg/cheese/meat sandwiches are pretty much NY deli accurate (but a little lighter -- which, again, is most welcome, compared to spending the entire morning defeating a NY bodega BEC, and the entire afternoon groaning), and carefully yet briskly prepared (with very good quality meat, and with yellow -- the tastier color -- American). (There also was a slice of chocolate cake -- it, unfortunately, was of the minimally frosted type, with some sort of ill-advised sour cream mixture between the layers. We'll just forget about that item.) The shop itself isn't quite as densely packed (with either people or pastry) as a NY deli, and is also much cleaner and kinder. The service is simply excellent. Customers are all quickly moved through the line, and the orders are prepared very efficiently. Despite the speediness, everyone behind the counter is very friendly and as patient as needed. The speed of the North is combined with the friendliness of the South -- a perfect combination, especially for those of us who are hopelessly impatient, but have no desire to ever be yelled at while at a deli counter again. A great business. I hope they flourish for a very long time.

I went to NY Deli and was honestly flabbergasted by the lack of assistance I received just trying…read moreto place an order. First, the menu is written on the wall, but it looks like it may have been written years ago because much of it is nearly illegible--as the picture I included shows. When I asked the gentleman taking my order what the menu said and what some of the options were, he seemed almost as unaware as I was. Instead of helping me understand the menu or offering a few popular choices at different price points, he began making higher-priced suggestions that really weren't very helpful. At that point, I finally just asked for an egg and cheese sandwich because I figured that was something simple and safe to try. And I'm glad I did! The egg and cheese was actually very good, and honestly, that is the only reason I didn't give NY Deli a lower rating. The food showed me that there may be a lot of potential here--the ordering experience just needs some serious attention. Please consider rewriting the menu on the wall so customers can actually read it, providing paper menus, making sure staff are familiar with the menu and can offer helpful recommendations, or preferably a combination of all three. Good food shouldn't be this difficult to order. Make the experience as good as the sandwich was, and I'd be much more inclined to come back.

| Overview (Based on experience from 4 visits)…read more + Fine amount of different bagels to choose from, including Garlic + Good variety of breakfast deli-style options other than their nice selection of bagels + Nice casual breakfast spot despite small dining area + Fast and friendly customer service + Reuben breakfast sandwich is delicious - Bagels are terribly hard to bite unlike Panera's, which is disappointing considering that NC Bagel has "Bagel" in its name. - Cost about $1 extra to add the Jalapeno Cheddar bagel in the half dozen or dozen order. - Drink selection is limited with combos. Restricted from choosing bottled soda of any of the fountain drinks. - Asiago bagel tasted Plain. I could barely taste the asiago. |Final Thoughts: There is almost no reason to choose NC Bagel over Panera or other bagel shops if you just want bagel. The hard texture is a huge letdown. I've never experienced this bagel issue in Breugger's, Panera, anywhere really. There are other breakfast options I haven't tried here so might be worth exploring but right now the only reason I'd return here is if I am craving for a Reuben sandwich for breakfast. And that mostly makes up the 2 stars I'm giving it. Really hope they improve the overall quality of their bagels. This breakfast deli spot has great potential to be "The Breakfast Spot" but it won't be able to accomplish that if their bagels are as hard as rocks. | Overall Score: 2.4/5

I ordered a BLT subbing mayo with cream cheese. For $10, I received an average bagel with a lousy…read moreamount of cream cheese and two razor thin slices of bacon on top of half a head of lettuce- not to mention the tomatoes while in season still tasted like they came from the freezer. While the flavor was not bad, ten dollars can get you a much better value at almost every other bagel shop.

I tried this place out for the first time today with my daughter before an appointment she had in…read morethe area and all I can say is WOW!!! We were both pleasantly surprised and happy. The staff/owners were so nice, friendly, and welcoming. The decor was cool! My daughter loved all of the NY pictures and decorations! I had the Asiago bagel with scallion bacon cream cheese and she had the cinnamon sugar bagel with cinnamon sugar cream cheese. Let me tell you, the bagels were toasted PERFECTLY and the helping of cream cheese was very generous and well worth the money! This was hands down the BEST bagel and cream cheese I have ever had - and that's saying a lot! It was so fresh and tasty! If she hadn't had an appointment afterwards I would have bought some more to take home! We can't wait go back!

Fantastic service, from the cashier to the owner. Service…read morewith a smile, great food as well. Thanks!! Will be back!

This is the Sunday morning ritual. Always great bagels. Service always friendly, if a little…read moredisorganized. Forget those chain bagel shops... Shop local!

Very average bagel, nothing special. The ordering process can still be a hassle with clumps of…read morecustomers jammed by registers. Limited parking as the lot is tiny. As for ambiance, the restaurant is noisy, sometimes crowded. We prefer going to Bruegger's Bagels in Wakefield - much better food and a lot more parking. Plus ordering is better managed.

Benchwarmer's is a classic in Raleigh and I am so glad they opened up this location in downtown…read more The space is absolutely gorgeous and there is a parking lot close by that offers 2 hours of free parking. There is also enough space to be able to telework here. I came recently around 10am on a Thursday and grabbed myself a breakfast bagel. Onion bagel with bacon, egg, and cheese for $9. I only had to wait a few minutes and they got it out to me quickly. It was delicious and absolutely what I needed to fuel my morning. The perfect morning pick-me-up if you're looking for one!

Upon entering you notice how spacious and clean the place is…read more Menu on wall as you enter. Nice variety of bagels and fillings. The bagels are my favorite kind- boiled! I had the everything bagel with pimento cheese. The bagel was toasted perfectly and there was a good amount of pimento cheese- the cheese itself didn't have much flavor- I enjoy pimento cheese made from sharp cheddar-overall it was good. Employees were very friendly and helpful. I got mine togo - there are plenty of seats to eat in or out. I parked up at Dortha Dix park- short pretty walk.

Stopped by on a Saturday morning to try out benchwarmers which is new to the NHID- what a delicious…read morespot!! The building is very cute and inside clean & welcoming. Staff were all very nice as well. I got the bacon egg and cheese on a salt bagel- DELICIOUS! I've never had a salt bagel before and I like it way better with a sandwich than the plain bagel. Good filling to bagel ratio as well. The coffee was delicious as well- I got the iced coconut caramel (decaf) and the flavors were all great. We will definitely be back again!

Service was great but order was really screwed up and I couldn't eat mine. Ordered a salt bagel…read morewith egg, American cheese No Dukes Mayo. I got any everything bagel with wet scramble and sausage and some very hot sauce. In a hurry to get to our destination so didn't know until we were there, ugh. Very messy to eat with a wet scramble. On top of that, very expensive! $25 for two breakfast sandwiches and a coffee. Our third bagel sandwich this week and the other places were not even $20, Coffee was great. Hip and clean with a nice outside area as well.

I've had brown Bag bagels before, this time I realized, I've never written a review…read more We made our way up to CE Barnes to grab a bagel sandwich. We got there around 830 and the lady taking orders said it would be about 15 min. She was exactly right. I ordered the "That's soooo cheesy" on a bacon cheddar bagel. It was amazing with the bacon and different cheeses! Lots of flavor and wrapped in foil so the cheeses could melt together. I highly suggest this food truck, and oh by the way, I hear they're opening their own little brick and mortar location in a nearby town, cant wait to check it out!

We were lucky enough to have this food truck in our neighborhood this weekend and I was lucky…read moreenough that the dog actually let me lead him that way on our morning walk. They had a nice selection of both savory and sweet bagels, plus choice of toppings, and a few sandwich suggestions. I went with the Steak Sandwich with choice of bagel and cheese (jalapeno cheddar bagel, pepper jack cheese) for Husband. An Everything Bagel with egg, sausage, cheddar and sriracha for me. To pay all I had to do was stick my card in their charger. No touching anything. A few minutes later I was handed a brown bag and began encouraging the dog to not sniff every blade of grass on the trek home. Despite the sniffing and sauntering and the cold winter temp, because the bagel sandwiches were wrapped in foil they were still soft and warm and fantastically delicious. So good that I decided to surprise my Sister with the same order. Raced back right before they closed, ordered the same two, plus a cinnamon chip and a chocolate chip, only to find out Sis was at her beach place. Woops! More bagels for us. And I'm happy to report that the sandwiches were just as delicious rewarmed in the microwave the next morning. As for the sweet ones, I recommend eating those right away. They would have toasted them for us if we had. I made the mistake of just reheating in the microwave and they were tough to chew (although great flavor). Probably would have been better if I had toasted them instead. Prices, very reasonable for the quality! Two sandwiches were just $13.20. Loved that their sanitation was 100 also. Highly recommend not missing this truck!

Let me start by saying I DONT like English muffins but these have changed my mind…read more The Biscoff one 10/10!! Everything was fresh & cook to order . I honestly wish I had ordered some English muffins to go . They close early so make plans to get there early . Free parking! It wasn't bad customer service it just was nonchalant

After seeing this place on TikTok I decided to give them a try because my son and I LOVE English…read moremuffins. All I can say is that my kids and I were blown away! It was so amazing to actually be able to see them making the English muffins inside of the restaurant! Talk about fresh!!! The staff were so nice and welcoming and they did not rush us as we tried to figure out what we wanted to order because there were so many options! I ended up going with a sandwich with the sweet potato cinnamon English muffin that had Gouda cheese and bacon on it and it was so delicious! My son had an original English muffin with sausage, egg, and cheese on it and he devoured it lol. My daughter had the jalapeño cheddar English muffin and she loved it as well! They also sell packs of different flavored English muffins as well! We can't wait to go back!