Barrister’s Bagel Co

Love the bagels. Get get in early on the weekend to insure they have your favorites.

If these bagels weren’t so delicious and the local competition so lame, I would never go back. The service is bad — no shortage of scowls, eye-​rolling, and general indifference. Be prepared to have the person taking your order turn and walk away while you are still talking. Unfortunately, mind-​reading is not the skill they concentrate on in lieu of civility, so your order is likely to be incorrect. Visiting this store is a love-​hate experience, and is tipping toward the latter with every additional visit.

I routinely buy bagels here for my work group. I especially love the everything bagels. They are a little crunchy and crusty on the outside but moist and soft on the inside… just like a bagel should be. Several other groups in my department have asked where the bagels come from because they loved them and now this is the go-​to place for early morning meeting snacks.
Despite the great bagels the staff is only OK. They sometimes seem bothered to help you and aren’t very quick. Fortunately I can tolerate OK service for a great bagel!

Let me just start off by saying that I was born and raised in New York, meaning that I am no stranger to authentic bagels and a large selection of flavored cream cheese spreads. This place is the first authentic bagel I have been able to find outside of New York. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and if it’s not boiled then knock me over with a feather!
The Pros:
Great flavor selection
Various Cream Cheese flavors
Friendly service — after visiting only two times so far the lady at the front counter remembered me and was very welcoming.
The Cons:
Wait time — both times I visited after 9 AM on a weekday. The first time there was only one person in line ahead of me the other time there were 4 – 5 people in line ahead of me. That second time I waited at least 20 minutes. There really should be someone else behind the counter to prepare orders while the other deals with taking orders & money.
The price — A bagel with cream cheese was a bit on the pricey side.
Order accuracy– again, I have only visited twice and both times my order was incorrect. One bagel was ordered toasted but it wasn’t. Sadly, this was before a road trip and I didn’t realize until I was halfway through Chester county.
The So So:
The coffee– wasn’t horrible but didn’t knock my socks off. It was also luke warm.

This place continues to get worse and worse. Too many Sunday mornings and they are out of many bagel types. You’re a bagel shop and it’s Sunday morning and you are out of bagels?! Look elsewhere

Food is great but service is awful which is a shame because they really have good bagel sandwiches. The girl who took my order had to ask me four times what it was I had and about her four times if I paid. I was one of three people in the place. Just be prepared to wait at least 15 – 20 minutes for your order.

I really enjoy the bagels. Everything is very good with savory, salty flavor. Have to go early to get a good selection. I have always found the service to be adequate. I wish their prices were a little lower, but the quality of bagel is good.

My wife had a bagel from the barrister truck at the Sanatoga outlets and raved about how good they were. Transplanted from NYC to North Coventry a little more than 2 years, it is extremely hard to find a kettle boiled bagel in PA, so Wegmans and giant bagels had to do! After my wife had the bagel at Sanatoga we looked up the shop and found that barristers boiled their bagels. This morning my wife had a craving for a salt bagel with scallion cream cheese so I made the 15 minute drive to barristers in Royersford.
Before I go any further with my review, I owned a bagel store in NYC for years and worked in bagel shops for 5 years prior. I am writing this review for a most likely «absent» owner because someone who invests in a business like this would not let it fall into such disrepair if they worked there everyday.
My visit was at 10:30AM I asked for cinnamon raisin bagels «don’t have anymore» egg bagels «we are all out» large scallion cream cheese «we don’t have enough to make a large» ??? When all was said and done, I paid and left when I checked the bag and found that the 2 salt bagels I ordered were plain and had to go back to get the salt! The young man at the counter was not very good. They did give me my 2 salt bagels and did not take back the plain which was a nice gesture.
When you go here note the following: how filthy the front glass and doors are, the amount of dust on the top of the coca cola cooler, the black mold growing on the soda bottle slots, the filth in the cooler door tracks, the coffee carafes look like they’ve never even been wiped down & I can only imagine what their bagel proofing boards look like. Overall the place has a dingy feel and look. The bagels were OK, definitely needed another rotation or 2 in the oven as they were very pale and not crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside which is the signature of a kettle boiled bagel. A positive note the city roast blend coffee was very good. I don’t think I will make the drive here again, first impressions are important and lasting. I hope they can make some changes because it’s tough to find a kettle boiled bagel anywhere in this part of the philly burbs.

Started going here after a co-​worker recommended the place. The breakfast sandwiches are good, but the woman working in the morning is horrible. Previous reviews about her are pretty much on point — not sure why the owner keeps her? I hope the poor service doesn’t start to outweigh the good bagels.
*The only bad food I’ve had here is the hash brown — seems like the woman just threw a frozen one in the microwave.

Great bagels and love the cream cheeses! Service is pretty slow in the morning. Should have more than one person working the counter.

One of the better places to get bagels around here. Still not quite an NYC bagel, but way better than anything else in the area! I’m especially a fan of the lox, cream cheese, capers, and onion sandwich. Service is no frills, but pleasant and relatively quick. I’ll be going back.

I came in on a Sunday morning to purchase a ‘Barrister’s Bunch’. I got there a few minutes after opening on Sunday (7 AM). There were two people ahead of me with one order between the two of them waiting for their order. Three employees working.
I stood waiting to place an order for over 10 minutes at the counter while every single employee looked at me. I didn’t get greeted, I had to ask to be helped when the other customer’s order was brought to the front. It felt like it was a chore to just order the bagels for my family and extended family from out of town. Needless to say customer service was very lacking and disappointing.
As for the bagels though. They were exceptional. If the bagels weren’t consistently as delicious as they are we wouldn’t be coming back due to the lacking customer service. My family from out of state raved about how good the bagels are. I wish more emphasis would be placed on the guest experience.

We where looking for a great bagel shop, and as far as the food goes we found our new favorite place. I wish I could say the same for the service. Out of the 3 girls working there 2 of them were complaining about closing up that day, who forgot to order water and cups, etc. Meanwhile the other girl looked like she felt extremely uncomfortable. Personally I think you should keep your gossip to yourself when the store has customers. You can have the best food, but bad service will lose you business.

I get bagels by the dozen from Barristers for my coffee shop weekly, always fresh and taste great, consistently. Thanks guys…

I used to like this place but problems are getting worse. Until today the worst that I’d experienced were long lines, hard bagels (and I’m a NYer) or sloppy sandwiches. Seriously, they leave the one girl (Sheila) working on her own practically all the time, so the line tends to backup a lot.
But today, I went in and again Sheila was the only person working the counter, and the line was 10 deep. The guy on the fryer was wiping down the counters for the 5 minutes I waited. The owner was also in the back, despite all the bagel bins being filled and the growing line at the door. He didn’t even step up to help when Sheila had to stop helping the customers to take a phone order.
Here’s the issue… I watched the owner touching the food without gloves. I am very clear on this, as I stood there to watch him to ensure that what I was seeing was really happening. When I got there, we was in the back making bagels with no gloves on. I watched him drop a tray on the floor, pick it up and place it back on the counter. He looked up, right at me, put on ONE glove and proceed to touch the food with both hands.
The bagels were okay, but not worth potential dangers of bacteria. And curiosity got the better of me. While I was typing this I popped on MontCo’s Health Dept inspection reports and there are repetitive unsanitary comments.

Since finding this bagel shop, I haven’t bought them elsewhere. Ive brought their cards and info off at all the business meetings I take a dozen bagels to just to help keep them around.

Awesome NY bagels; crispy on the outside, soft inside. Forget the Wegmans/​Panera/​giant bagels, go get these!

Barrister’s is tops! Shiela’s weekday service is exceptional, as is
the quality of the bagels! She is highly organized, efficient, and
caring, making your bagel just the way you like it. Move over, NYC — best bagels on the East Coast are now right here in Royersford. Go, Shiela! Bravo, Barrister’s!

Bagels are actually as good as New York bagels. Much better these days and service too

The good — Lots of bagel flavors to choose from and they taste very fresh, at least when I’ve been there to get them first thing in the morning. Good prices.
The bad — Starting coming here about a month ago for a couple dozen bagels. First three visits the order was messed up. Two times I was shorted bagels and the other time the types of bagels I asked for was wrong. The first visit the two young girls behind the counter were yapping and joking around so it didn’t surprise me so much that I was shorted bagels since the girl getting the order wasn’t paying attenting. That visit aside I’m not sure how they’re so consistent about getting the order wrong since they write down what you ask for on a sheet of paper.
The ugly — Mentioned to girl at counter on my last visit that out of three previous visits the order hadn’t been right yet and that on two of the visits I was shorted bagels. Without any expression of concern she asked how many I had been shorted and I told her. She didn’t respond either verbally or otherwise — no expression on her face at all. No «I’m sorry about that» or «can I give you a couple extra this visit to make up for what we previously shorted you». She just matter-​of-​factly took the slip with the order I just gave her and walked back to the bagel racks.
Such a shame when an otherwise great place is marred by unattentive and apathetic staff.