Spielman’s Coffee Roasters

This place used to be Noah’s Bagel and then Einsteins Bagel and now… this! Honestly most bagel tastes similar to me when it’s spread with cheese or meat. This place got way hippity dippity after it turned into another «local brunch/​roaster» shop. Which cause for overcrowding and uncomfortable environment. I have nothing against local business but just a little less hip is good for me. All i ask is to come in and get a bagel and coffee without having to look at another bearded dude with tight-​azz jeans. Lol
Bagel’s good!

Yummy yummy! Super delicious, fast, and cheap.
The new location is very beautiful. It has a really nice deck to hang out on. It’s the best.

Spielman’s bagels are pretty good, when they aren’t out of over half of them at 11am. Unfortunately they hire the worst counter people. Rude, judgmental, short, slow, unhelpful. On top of that, having the entire communal table covered in crumbs and poppy seeds was pretty rad. Took 15min to get two sandwiches because the girl was talking and eating before she started our food.

I’m not certain why there always seems to be a crowd in Spielman’s.
The bagels are fine. Nothing spectacular, but relatively tasty and always fresh. Coffee is so-​so.
However, woe upon you if you are hungry and would like to eat within half an hour. Ordering a simple egg sandwich and a coffee will take at the very least twenty minutes to come out to you. There always seem to be at least half a dozen sullen, rude employees milling around behind the counter, so how is everything so slow? There is no easy place to wait for your food; unless you are sitting you are going to be in the way of the coffee or the schmear or the line of people waiting to order.
My only guess is that because this is a local business and not a chain, the employees don’t need to move quickly or be friendly and Portlanders will support it anyway.

Delicious bagels and cream cheese, and the coffee was good as well. The only thing I can
Gripe about is that SCR does that annoying hipster thing where you go to an eatery and basically serve yourself, for example: (and I’m nitpicking here) the shmear comes in a little cup and you prepare your bagel yourself. Similar to another place where I eat bagels… my home. I’d love it if they just slapped it on themselves. I would trust their prepping of my bagel. But you know, I will be back.

I’m sooooo in love with this place.
I try to hit it up every time I’m in Portland. The salt and pepper bagel. The topochico. I’m pretty picky about my bagel. And this bagel. Oh, this bagel. Quality is crazy good.
Dropping it down one star just because the person taking the order seems to be on consistent snob-​level-​5. Too busy jiving to the music to be pleasant or actually move? Yah, no thanks.

Good bagels BUT… Why oh WHY do the employees move at a snails pace!!!
I’m not expecting my order right away because this is not fast food. But seriously, pick it up a little guys!

First, the obvious pro: the bagels are awesome.
Now for the cons: The service is horrible. What happens when you have 5 employees behind the counter all doing a little bit of everything? Nothing gets done. It seems like nobody has a clear role. An employee will be making orders, stop mid-​order to do a couple dishes, then make a couple coffee orders, restock the cream cheese tubs, then return to original order. The result? The coffee/​creamer is always empty, no clean mixing spoons, overflowing bus tubs, and orders take forever. How have I had the time to observe all of this? Because, the orders take FOREVER. Why do I come back? Well, because the bagels are awesome.

I find it funny that this place is called Spielman’s Coffee Roasters, as it seems to me their bagels are front-​and-​center. I guess they serve coffee drinks, but most everybody I saw visiting this Spielman’s location was in it for the bagels. And with good reason, too. In my limited bagels experience, I’d say these are pretty top notch!
On my last visit, I went with the bagel with cold smoked nova lox and cream cheese. I believe it cost $ 7.50, which is reasonable considering the large portion of smoked salmon, and I also only used like ¹⁄₃ of of my cream cheese. It was definitely filling. The bagel perfectly toed the line between toasty and chewy, and since I got a salt & herb bagel, it was all salty and herby, too. Funny how that works out…
Also worth noting is the staff. They were all SUPER friendly, which always makes your dining experience that much better. If you like bagels, this is an awfully good place to get them.

A while back my wife and I brought a friend from out of town, she got a hot chocolate that tasted like warm water with a bit of chocolate in it… so don’t get that. Their coffee is pretty good though.
I have been here a few times and have constantly had a pretty bad customer service experience. The employees have been quite rude in fact.
That being said, their bagels are fantastic and their schmears (cream cheeses) are some of the best I have had. My favorite is the salt and herb bagel with smoked pepper schmear, it is just the right amount of spicy.

Spielman bagels are the best in Portland, especially the genius salt and herb. The cream cheese tastes freshly made; I’ve enjoyed the roasted veggie and the chive. They offer many options, including vegan, and serve up some tasty looking bagel sandwiches. Coffee is delightful and served in fun mismatch mugs. Everything is self-​serve but the service is still friendly. Parking can be rough, and it does get busy, but usually tables open up.

We decided to try something different this am and get a bagel, egg, and cheese sandwich. I got poppy seed and bacon. My wife got sesame seed and sausage. We both got lattes. I thought the lattes were good. The poppy seed bagel sandwich was way too dry and I only ate half. My wifes bagel was ok. I am guessing the bagel was day or two old or just over cooked. So… it was. failed experiment and we will not be back. Bagels, even when toasted, should be soft on the inside. Mine was dry and tough.

The bagels here are so good. I like to get the salt and herb bagel. I like their coffee too! They’re the best bagels in Portland!
I stopped here to get bagels yesterday, but I had to take it to go because we were going to the beach. I ate it in the car while driving. It was so good! I accidentally ate part of the paper bag it came in because the cream cheese was on it and I wasn’t looking. No regrets! Great bagels!!!

The salt and herb bagel is delicious. One of my favorite things to do is to get the breakfast sausage egg and cheese bagel and add cream cheese.
If you want a seat on the weekends make sure you get here before 9am. It can get quite crowded.
If you get the bagel and cream cheese, you put the cream cheese on yourself which means you can control how much you get.
It has a hip atmosphere with some good common seating. If you are doing breakfast solo, come hang out here for a yummy bagel at the big table. Bring your kids if you’ve gott’m, but beware the swivel chairs that can be dangerous for curious kids.
The coffee is okay– come for the bagels and espresso.
I kind of wish they would remove one of the fridges that has a cover on it, because it’s distracting.
Good for breakfast with family and seven of your favorite hipsters.

I live in Seattle, Seattle is seriously lacking in bagel culture. I’ve watched all of my favorite places close and and I mourn the loss of each bagel laden haven.
I have a pink Spielman’s punch card to remind me delicious bagels still exist, somewhere 3 hours south of Seattle. When I get to have another hole punched on that card I am ecstatic.
The space is large and welcoming, the staff have been amazing every time j come, and I dream of the herbed bagel with their house made scallion cream cheese. I’ve had many bagels in my life and I think these ones are pretty amazing, and I definitely liked them more than Henry Higgins.
I’ll be dreaming of you until next time Spielman’s, slowly filling punch card in hand.

First visit today. It is good. I ordered the pumpernickel bagel with green olive schmere. Great choice. Rebecca had the onion with spicy pepper; another good choice.
Nice atmosphere. A bit more relaxed than the previous tenant. My only complaint is the coffee tastes a bit muddy. Nice servers; good music to wake up to. Glad I stopped in.

A bagel shop that is the whole package; atmosphere, coffee, and excellent bagels.
The space is larger than most bagel shops but it maintains its beautiful coffee shop atmosphere.
They roast their own coffee and my black coffee was excellent.
The bagels were excellent. My lox platter was generous with the lox etc. My plain bagel was perfect.
One son got the vegan bagel with the blueberry cream cheese and he was quite content.
My older son got just a plain bagel with cream cheese (generous helping on the side) and thought it was «the best»

Great bagels– chewy and delicious. Try the everything or the multigrain herb and salt. I really like their lox — fresh and a good portion. I enjoy their coffee and appreciate that they roast their own — $ 2 for a bottomless cup is a deal!
Today (a Saturday) it was busy but not crammed. The space is large and airy, and there’s a mix of individual tables and a long communal table, nicely done in wood. The patrons are a mix of parents with kids, hipsters, and just plain folks. Definitely a community vibe, not your chain bagel vibe. You’ll fit in here.
I’ve always found the staff to be friendly and relaxed — seems the owners are doing something right.

These bagels are some of the best I’ve eaten. Really interesting flavors and several varieties of cream cheese, including blueberry and roasted vegetable. I hear the breakfast samiches are great, and the lox plate was very fresh and generously portioned. The rugelach are apricot-​y and delicious.
The Mexico coffee is excellent. Reminds me of Kona coffee in that it’s richer and fuller-​bodied than a medium-​roast should be. Honestly, 5 stars for the food and house-​roasted coffee — $ 2 with unlimited refills — whoo hoo! Also, you get to pick your own mug from an eclectic pile next to the register. Thanks, Spielmans!
Pricing (high), wait times (long), wifi availability (or lack thereof) and empty coffee & milk urns (on both visits) bring it down to 3 stars overall. They seem aware that the public wifi network only shows up on some ppl’s computers and not others, but aren’t fixing it. Sorry to complain, but it’s a little frustrating to plan a work afternoon and meal only to pack up and leave after coffee.
Great place to visit and eat. Nice windows facing the street. Not the best for a work spot or quick drop in.

The absolute best of the best. If you’re looking for a wacky combo try the golden raisin fennel with chive cream cheese. I get it every time!
Almost always a 5 – 10 minute line, especially on weekends so not the best place to stop by in a rush.

Good but not impressed. Bagels good. Cream cheese good. Tea selection lacking. Smoked salmon, find a new person to buy from. It sucked. Simple in and out bagel and coffee joint. Nothing special. Save yourself a drive and walk to the coffee shop by your house. Fine if you live walking distance but if I did I’d probably only stop in if the need was so bad I could do the drive to somewhere else.

Best bagels in Portland! That I’ve tried, anyway. I love their salt & pepper bagel. Plus they have flavored cream cheeses. Their coffee is good, but it takes a while because as far as I could tell they only staff one barista for a Saturday morning.
It gets really crowded on weekends, though. So sometimes you just have to forego the sitting down and eating, to the getting it to-​go. That is also kind of a bummer.
Very reasonably priced and good customer service. I’m becoming a regular here, for sure :)

So I live a few blocks away and we are always looking for early morning take out. The bagels are nice and fluffy and the toppings are .50 cents each. I call and order and the bagels are good. The atmosphere is a little drab but you can’t fault that because of the space. Here’s the catch though: the coffee is bad, just bad. When it opened I was happy to get my bagels to go but the coffee, oy, the coffee. Plus, sometimes the staff look like they’re hung over or just plain hipster rude that early. I mean cmon, you’re at a bagel shop… this isn’t snooty enough for snarls. Please, the bagels are good… maybe you should try one.

The staff is rude and they didn’t toast my bagel… And it’s like stop trying to be so hip. Not going back.

I like this place! I’m glad it’s in the neighborhood. The atmosphere is calm and the bagels are awesome! My favorite is the multi-​grain. The staff is friendly and place is nice and clean. You should grab a bagel and add some veggies on top! Also, the plain cream cheese was delicious! Hoping to buy one of those bear shirts someday!

Update: they finally have a new coffee type, a «Brazilian» roast. It’s completely unremarkable. I noticed that the industrial-​sized coffee urns bear labels reading «Starbucks Coffee Company.»
The coffee always runs out at 9am on the dot. Always. And if you get your coffee to go, make no mistake that you WILL lose half of it by pouring it over your wrist while walking; the lids (SOLO brand «Traveler’s Lids») seem designed to vent poorly.
This time at my request, they did not put the sheet of paper in my sandwich, and they sliced it in half without my asking (which was fine). However, they used regular cream cheese instead of the veggie cream cheese substitute I’d requested (the same thing I get every single time).
Literally nothing here is perfect; everything will have some minor thing wrong. However, if you’re from the east coast, this is where you must go to get good, much-​too-​expensive bagels.

I’m a realist when it comes to bagels in Portland. We just don’t have the right climate to make a real honest-​to-​goodness NYC bagel, so I look for the high end of «good enough» which this place gets. I haven’t ever tasted a 5-​star bagel in Portland. This place is solid… I ordered a lox plate and got enough of everything, which is awesome. Usually, there’s not enough cream cheese or tomatoes or lox, but they doled out a real portion of it all. I’d go back if I were in the neighborhood and hungry for a bagel, but it’s definitely not my new addiction.

Super average bagel. Pretty hard to chew, my jaw was sore the rest of the day… Also, this is the only bagel shop I’ve ever been to that puts way too little cream cheese on the bagel, what is it made out of gold? Usually I have to scrape some off but here I pay 6 $ for a bagel and lox spread and couldn’t even taste the spread at all! Won’t be back, this place is the new Einstein.

Okay bagels. But very overpriced. People who work there are not very talkative and nice. The coffee is very good.

Best bagel sandwich in PDX. Nice variety of authentic, delicious bagels, chill, Portlandesque atmosphere. They roast their own coffee beans. The staff is excellent, always friendly and helpful. Highly recommended!

Oh Spielman’s…what a love-​hate relationship we have, huh?
My review touches on some points that others have mentioned, and I’m unsurprised to see that my fellow bagel seekers out there have encountered the same issues slash service I’ve experienced.
Service: So hit or miss. I’ve frequented this bagel shop, I’d say at least 10 times, and I can honestly say that I’ve never had an «excellent» customer service experience. I’d say ⁷⁄₁₀ times I’ve gone, I’ve had my plate walked out to me… the other 3/​10, I’ve had to go up to the counter to get my bagel, which I don’t mind doing, but where is the consistency? What are customers to expect?
The people at the register seem disinterested and and they don’t have an eagerness to provide information or assistance.
Coffee: Far too often I’ve gone to the coffee urn only to be disappointed… there is no coffee. Today, like a number of times before, I had to wait for coffee to be brewed. An employee kindly offered an Americano as I waited, so kudos to him… But A) this was the only time this has happened (offering a replacement as I waited) in comparison to the other times and B) if I wanted an Americano, I would’ve ordered one. I kindly rejected his offer. But c’mon guys. You have two of those huge urns, you need a better system to have coffee going all the time during your peak hours! To add insult to injury, the cream was out today… I laughed about it because of the snowball that again became a not so great experience… There is no excuse. I’d be ashamed of calling myself «roasters» when you can’t even provide your product to your customers who’ve already had to wait in a long line to order…
…which brings me to my next point…
Long lines: Unnecessary? Inefficient? Bothersome.
Get it together people. I anticipate long lines on a weekend… but there has gotta be a way that you can manage this more effectively.
Two POS platforms? More prep staff?
I gave them two stars. I’m more of an experience kinda guy. I could care less about the décor (though it looks cheap with the handwritten signage everywhere… not like, cute-​artsy and hip. Just cheap…). I really like the bagels. I really enjoy the coffee (when they have it brewed and I don’t have to wait in a second line for it), but they need to get their service together. I keep going back because I like the coffee and the food, but if they can’t step up their service, then they’re sure to lose loyalty in their customers.

I ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel. Turned out to be very standard, nothing special. I found out that coffee is self serve after asking the cashier about the coffee I had ordered. I usually prefer buying coffee that’s freshly brewed, not out of a huge commercial coffee maker. Coffee wasn’t bad. It is surprising that Spielman’s considers themselves roasters. How can a company claim to be roasters and put their precious beans in a commercial coffee maker. Something to think about ya’ll.

Yum! Great bagels. The chai was tasty.
Not such a fan of the line setup or the fact they offer deals but don’t mention them. You have to read the different cheeses and bagels once you’re to the front of the line… Which means it takes longer for the line and I felt very rushed. :(
We grabbed ours to-​go and though there is seating, it looks uncomfortable and uninviting. We had to stand in the walkway while we waited as there was a larger group and no where to sit…
All this, might I mention, after driving around SE trying to find their location, which was apparently being moved across the street… But no signs or anything. Eventually I called the Broadway location and she explained. We had been at Lloyd Center mall, drove to SE location only to drive back and be next to the mall again! FRUSTRATING!

Really disappointing.
I had high hopes about a local bagel shop coming back into this space (formerly Kettlemans, formerly Einsteins). The bagels are mediocre at best. The service is just bad (3 visits… order was wrong each time). Very overpriced. And, the long lines are ridiculous and unwarranted. This place is one of those Portland hipster traps to avoid. Makes me miss Kettleman’s even more.
Hell, it even makes me miss Einsteins (I can’t believe I said that… but it is true).

Great atmosphere, tons of space to sit, and friendly workers. Sesame bagel was tasty. Had the Lox Crème Cheese with Capers Onions. Costs little more than some other places for lox. But was in a convienent area and ample street parking. Worth checking out

I might be perhaps a bit overly excited about this place because they took over Einstein’s ‘Bagels’ and we all hate Einstein’s with a fiery passion because they bought out the beloved Kettleman’s bagels and then destroyed our happiness by turning all those locations into Einsteins even when they promised they wouldn’t. (Plus their bagels were the WORST. Seriously Einsteins, just because you put a goddamned hole in a loaf of bread doesn’t make it a f***ing bagel)
But I digress. This place has super legit bagel sandwiches. They have morning star veggie sausage as a vegetarian option (the evil bagel empire which shall not be named couldn’t be bothered with a veggie option… In Portland.) and the people are super friendly. They roast their own coffee, have killer walnut chocochip cookies and really you can’t ask for more from a bagel place than what these guys offer.

We love this place. Great bagels (my favorite is the very unique golden raisin and fennel, I’m totally addicted!), delicious spreads, and tasty coffee.
Also, the staff is always friendly and great at their jobs. The atmosphere is perfect for writing, reading, using a laptop (tons of outlets!), or visiting with friends.
They’re usually playing really good tunes in the background and the simplistic/​semi industrial décor adds to the appeal. It’s very clean and has a lot of natural light.
We do wish they were open a little later, but 4pm is better than some coffee and bagel shops.
And, BONUS! All of their bagels have a sourdough base, so those with wheat/​gluten sensitivities will have a much easier time digesting these scrumptious bagels.
I’ve come a few time during the week, but we usually stop in on Saturday afternoons, generally around 1 or 2 pm. So, in regards than older comment I saw on here that said they usually run out of bagels by 1pm on weekends, this has not been our experience. The may be running slight low, but we’ve always been able to order exactly what we want.
As I said, I almost always get the golden raisin/​fennel bagel (though the pumpernickel bagel is also very good, as well as the salt/​herb, and the plain vegan bagel is impressively yummy) with plain cream cheese, while my boyfriend always get the egg/​cheese bagel sandwich. He loves that it’s only $ 4 and always comments about how it’s a great deal for such a delicious sandwich. AND they offer bottomless coffee! A writer’s paradise.
We’re very glad they’re in our neighborhood.

This is a review by a vegetarian
Fairly good real bagels. Two major deductions.
Price: it’s $ 1.50 for a bagel with nothing added and $ 17 for a bakers dozen. There is no other volume level discount. So I paid $ 9 for 6 which is off the charts considering how fantastic a bagette one can get for $ 2.75 in this town (or 2 artisan whole loaves of bread for $ 4.50 each).
Holes: I should be able to get my thumb in there but it should be snug (That’s what she said!). These are like 3-​finger bagel holes. Makes them hard to cut safely and difficult to use for sandwiches or as pizza-​bagels.

Awesome place. Great coffee, great bagels, and great people. These are arguably the best bagels in PDX.
A couple warnings for those who haven’t experienced the original Spielman’s on Division:
1. This isn’t a quick in quick out bagel place, it takes awhile to achieve perfection, so be forewarned if you’re just stopping in while in a rush.
2. Society has unwritten rules, people. Order your food at the counter THEN sit down at a table. Otherwise the whole system gets messed up and people who ordered before you wind up without a place to sit.
With this in mind, come enjoy the best, (and locally owned!!!), bagel place in town.
For those who’ve enjoyed the Division location, the new spot on Broadway has tons of space in a beautiful location. Here’s hoping they get a tape deck up and running ASAP.