Books and Bagels

I work near this place so was very excited when it opened. It seemed promising and the owner seemed very genuine in wanting a high quality food experience. in the 2 (I think) years since it has declined rapidly. First, they stopped opening at 7 (the listed opening hour) which is extremely annoying since I will sometimes go out of my way to get a bagel in the morning and find them closed at 7:30, 8:00 even as late as 8:30.I dont mind if you open at 8:00 or even 10:00 but dont say you open at 7:00. The food used to be very fresh but since you can see everything (which is good) you can also tell that the lox is old, the pasta salads, cream cheese, etc, have been sitting for a bit. aside from the freshness, the food is ok overall. The soups btw, are probably the best deals, they're good and only $6

I found this on Menupages and decided to check it out. I went for lunch, it's bright and clean, but there were ONLY $8 paninis - you could get better choices and value at a corner deli. I got there around 3:15 and there were only 2 other customers in the store, and it looked like they were getting ready to close. I got the smoked salmon panini, which did not come with the pesto I was told it would come with. Go if you're kosher (I guess, I'm not); otherwise save your money and time. There's a lot of potential here, so I hope it improves.

books and bagels cafe is the best Kosher Cholove Israel in the city. Food is fresh every day and you can get anything you ask. bBest bagels in town "The real Thing" Plus the Paninies & toasted grileed chease remind you of Israel. I loved the Jazz Music or the classical. its clean service is great. and its open on time every day for my great coffe and bagel. its about time to have such a great place in the city.

While this place works because it's kosher. If it were not kosher, it would not be open. They dont make any of their own food other than mix their own chunk light tuna ( they wont use solid white tuna because of price). they dont have a real kitchen so everything is prepared on hot plates. i do go back because there's no other kosher in the area.

Don't expect them to be open at 7am! 8:30 now and it's still dark. Hard to rely on them for breakfast when you have no idea what time they open from day to day.

The coffee here is really excellent- you can tell it's high quality coffee.

A nice place to have lunch; if you're in the area there aren't many kosher options. And the soups are really terrific. Oh, but don't be confused by the title, its not really a books store, though they sell some books, its not a used book store plus cafe.