Elephants & Bagels

Great bagels, good prices. Basically exactly what you expect from a bagel place. Great place to go for a quick breakfast and a nice café feel!

Just rolls with holes
They compensate for the lack of bagellyness by having tons of fillings like roasted vegetables, chicken, hummus, etc. which just makes it even less bagelly. Good bagel places have 80 kinds of cream cheese & sometimes lox but, that’s it. I’m from New York, and I’ve been warned about pizza and bagels outside the city, but I’m sure there are places in Edinburgh that do it right. It’s not a one star because if you think of it as a sandwich, they’re okay, they’re just not bagels.
Also, not a comfortable place to be, always crowded, tables close together & it smells a bit strange (maybe from the yeast).

Another «bistro» that is conveniently situated close to Campus and still in the city centre: Elephants & Bagels.
The name gives it pretty much away, they specialize in Bagels. At their bar you may choose a bagel (white, whole grain, poppy seed, etc) and then either select a combination from their bagel menu
(which is sightly overwhelming if you came in and «just» wanted a bagel… but if you «just» wanted a bagel then you could have made one yourself at home… couldn’t you?)
or you go and build your own bagel with as many toppings as you like
!Careful, after two toppings it becomes rather challenging to eat the bagel in a civilized manner… but they are very tasty.
Combine the whole thing with a tea or a coffee and there you go (or sit in)
It’s sad though that they only sell orange juice in little plastic bottles straight from Sainsbury’s, they could work on their style there… maybe also invest in a bit broader range of coffee/​tea selection to match their bagels?
What else it there to say?
Oh yes, the Elephants: well they are everywhere. The whole room is plastered with pictures and drawings of elephants that have been made by customers over the years.
I enjoy coming in and find new ones in every corner.

A great place to go for a quick bite to eat! They had a large selection of bagels and various coffee/​tea drinks. I was in a bit of a rush so I got my order to go but I wish I would’ve stayed. The atmosphere is perfect for doing a bit of studying or reading.

A decent-​enough bagel and coffee shop.
Service was friendly.
Atmosphere is nice, pretty relaxed, would be a nice spot to hang out and talk with friends.
Good location right on the Uni campus.
Bagels are good enough by UK standards, but they are a bit big, bready and chewy and not in a good way. I also agree they arent toasted properly as my wet scrambled eggs and lox turned the bagel to mush inside.
Overall a decent option. The lunch bagel sandwich menu looks tempting, but I dont see this being the type of place Id go out of my way for.

It’s really good to have an independent bagel chain in Edinburgh, especially one which offers some good fillings.
I have a seeded bagel filled with roast vegetables and hummus, this was embarrassing to eat, and definitely represented good value, considering how stuffed it was. It was tasty, quite a good budget option, and quite unique for Edinburgh.
It was not as good as the many bagel shops I found in New York, unsurprisingly, where the bagels are really delicious and fresh. Here in kind of tasted like normal bread, a bit rubbery really. As Glen pointed out, they weren’t toasted too well either, so it just wasn’t crunchy or warm enough.
The sitting area is really quite pleasant though, near to the uni, it offered me a couple of hours of ‘tranquility’ (there were people chatting away, I zoned out) whilst catching up on some readings. The cakes looked decent, though I was too full up to try it. Service was friendly and I’d rather come back here than go to that bagel chain at the station.

Hmmm, I was quite surprised doing my little once over the previous reviews here on Unilocal.
I’ve just popped in Elephants & Bagels and had a rather lovely experience. The service was great, the bagel delicious and smothered in cream cheese and the coffee surprisingly good. Rather expensive, I agree, but then, so are most things around the South Bridge area.
What I’d suggest is having a wee look for yourself, I rather liked it. The atmosphere was nice, no kids, which I personally favour in a coffee shop, and it seemed like a place to potentially curl up with a book.
All in all: omnom. Perhaps because I was hungry, but I’d definitely rate their bagels omnom.

The 3.5 star rating would be handy right about now. Plenty of people have said what I want to say about this place. I come here, I come here often… but I don’t go out of my way to come here and I assume no one really would.
It’s got 3 star coffee, 3 star bagels (3 star because of the price only really), and 4 star atmosphere. The elephant drawings are a-​dorable and give a massive amount of character to an otherwise ‘whatever’ place.
The drip coffee price is fucking horrendously expensive — but they have it.
The bagel and cream cheese is weak on the cream cheese — but they have it.
The staff is obviously «at work» but they’re nice enough in the «it’s my job to be nice» sort of way.
It’s a good place to meet. It’s a great place to chat. It’s a decent place to grab take away coffee. It’s an ok place to grab sit in coffee…
Which takes me to the ONLY MAJOR ISSUE.
Guys, it’s a COFFEE shop. It’s called something + BAGELS. You sell COFFEE and BAGELS pretty much exclusively. I don’t need coffee and bagels at 3pm when you’re staffed to the brim. I need coffee and bagels at 8.45 am before I head off to that lengthy seminar on neuro-​bio-​whatever.
Be open earlier.

Cheap (ish)
Filling (ish)
Elephant (ish)
Pretty typical décor with loads of young kids’ drawings of elephants and Festival posters.
Fairly rubbish bagels, though. I’m not sure that poppy + sesame seeds count as «everything’.
Somehow the bagels are chewy without being the right kind of chewy. Here’s a tip:
Make bagel dough. Form into shapes. Proof. BOIL NOT STEAM. Bake. Repeat.
TOAST THE BAGELS PROPERLY.
The (smoked) salmon was good & plentiful.
It was fine, but i tjust wasn’t all that.

This adorable bagel shop sits on the corner in Nicholson Square just south of the Royal Mile.
They have lots of types of bagels and various toppings. They also have something called a ‘stuffed bagel’, not sure how that works.
There obviously has to be some sort of elephant connection right? There were kids drawings of elephants on the walls and several glass cases filled with elephant figurines. The place is always packed in August during Edinburgh’s festival month.
I ordered the smoked salmon deluxe bagel on a sesame bagel. It was really good! I am a huge fan of lox and cream cheese bagels and they added a squirt of lemon juice and cracked black pepper.
A great place to grab a quick bite when running to a performance during the fringe festival!
They also have free wireless but you have to ask for the password at the counter.

Awesome

What’s with all the elephants, guys?
Situated on the corner of Nicholson Road, Elephants & Bagel is a cosy, neighbourhood café that specialises in you guessed it, elephants and bagels. The former are dotted around the walls and counter and the latter come plain or toasted in a variety of flavours including sesame, poppy seed, onion, jalapeño and cinnamon and raisin. All the fillings are locally sourced and include smoked salmon, chicken, cheese and scrambled egg. I opted for a cream cheese and gherkin and whilst it kept my hunger at bay, I have to say the bagel was pretty lousy.
Maybe I was unlucky and got a random, extra doughy one but somehow, I suspect not. Maybe somebody should send the elephants to New York for a working holiday? If they spent a day in Murray’s, they’d learn what a good bagel should look and taste like!

I was always thought the name for this place was quite strange, but when I walked in it all made sense. The décor inside is filled with all things elephant related and bagels are their speciality.
Situated just across the road from the University students playground, George Square, Elephants and Bagels is an incredibly handy place for students to go for their breakfast or lunch on their way to classes.
I come here quite a lot to feed my bagel addiction as their bagels are truly amazing. Elephants and Bagels sell a vast variety of different flavoured bagels including onion, cinnamon and raisin, multi-​seed, sesame seed, tomato, and of course, plain. There is an even bigger selection of fillings to put inside, ranging from the traditional fillings such as ham and cheese, to the more obscure such as tuna and chicken curry. I have always loved the food at Elephants and Bagels, and they have a huge selection of drinks available too.
Perhaps my favourite aspect of this place is the FREE Wi-​Fi — I can’t think of a better place to go in Edinburgh to bring your laptop and to work whilst eating delicious food. The coffee available here is also worth a mention as it is really fresh and tastes delicious.
The staff are always super friendly and willing to accommodate any requests you have. Definitely worth a look.

I’ve been to Elephants and Bagels several times over the past yhear and it always delivers the same great service, tasty and decent prices. It’s linked to the restaurant ‘The Elephant House’ next door, but distinguishes itself through its bagels.
The interior décor is inviting whilst the service is friendly and efficient. They serve a range of sandwiches, soups, paninis and salads which all look delicious. I usually go for the tuna mayonnaise sandwich which is served on tasty bread with kettle chips. It only costs about £3 and goes perfectly with a cup of tea or coffee.
Elephants and Bagels is great for its central location, cosy environemnt and delicious food.

You’ll often here the odd toff spurt out ‘yah yah yah… meet in Elephant in Bagels for brunch?’ when wandering around Edinburgh university’s campus.
The shop seems to be more of a fashion statement that anything else but does nonetheless house some unique and tasty bagel concoctions.
Prices can be a little daunting and as a result Elephants & Bagels is often a lunching spot I often avoid.

The most noticeable aspect of this café is the fact that it really does smell of hippie. Regardless of how good the food is, the scent of mung beans, sweaty sandals and free love is all a bit much for me and as a decidedly unfree spirit I prefer to sit at the outside tables when I visit.
And I do visit fairly regularly, as ill-​informed lefties aside, it’s pretty good. The bagels aren’t always the best value but there’s a lunchtime meal deal on for 5 pound odds that certainly fills the gap. There’s a huge selection of fillings but I tend to play it safe and go for salmon and cream cheese option, a habit which I should really knock on the head on my next trip here.
The contrived beatnik shite is all a bit annoying, and I can imagine the owners sitting round a table before it opened, sniffing glue and mumbling stuff like «Elephants man, that’s so like, random» when deciding on the name and general ambience. It doesn’t take away from the good quality nosh though.

Bagels were a pretty cool, add-​a-​bit-​of-​excitement to your lunch invention, let’s be honest. Stick a hole in the middle of some bread material, then make it circular so it looks a bit more fun to eat, then fill it with a variety of tasty fillings so it never gets boring. Am I the only one who enjoys eating food more when what you’re eating looks amusing? Probably.
Anyway, I’m sure there’s much more to the bagel’s history, recipe and formation than my simplistic description, but you’re finding your staple cheese sandwich a bit boring and you want to shake things up a bit, then this is a great place to climb onto the bagel wagon. Any filling you require, and various different bagel varieties are provided here, and they’re all very tasty. This is actually a really nice wee café for sitting in too, and they have free Wi-​Fi, which can be hard to source in Edinburgh sometimes.

What a great sandwich shop! The name first got me interested in the shops — what an odd combination — but I think that’s precisely what they were going for. An odd combination! You can have anything your heart desires in this small-​ish bagel shop. I always have a simple ham and cream cheese on a poppyseed bagel with pomegranates and it’s delicious. My only criticism is how difficult it is to eat the darn things! I used to nip across here when I was in the University Orchestra and i would always have to take myself to the bathroom, shamefully with pomegranate all down my front.
I would definitely advise you take-​away too, because in all the times I’ve been I’ve never once seen a seat free.

Aaah, Elephants and Bagels are two of my favourate things — so generally, right from the off, Elephants and Bagels is in my good books.
Its great then that this place lives up to its name, because aside from the large amount of elephants on the walls (not literally) there is also a huge amount of bagels to choose from. And thats just the actual bagels, not the fillings which you can put in them! The filling seem to go from the conventional to the crazy — but the best is the traditional smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel, which frankly is amazing.
The queue in here are always large, but this is a combination of being so close to the uni and the choices that must be made when creating a bagel. The wooden seats and tables are somewhat uncomfortable, and a bit too close together, but other than that its really nice — you can even take your food away if you are so intollerant of the chairs.

The clue for this place is in the name… The theme for the décor is all things elephant-​related and bagels are what’s on the menu.
What’s good about this place is the sheer variety, not only of fillings to choose from but also the type of bagel itself. However, with almost 10 types of bagel to choose from, from seeded to sundried tomato to cinnamon and raisin, and the endless amount of fillings ranging from maple syrup to salami to peanut butter, the wait in the queue is often a long one.
What’s more, the prices aren’t as cheap as you’d think. The average bagel with three fillings can cost up to £6, which in my opinion is a little excessive for a midweek grab-​and-​go lunch. In addition, there are only 5 tables which usually means a takeaway is your only option, which again makes the price a little less appealing especially given how many other cafés there are within 2 minutes walking distance.
In theory, it’s a great concept but in reality I would say it’s one of those places that has been around for years and has become a bit complacent as a result. I wouldn’t say avoid it, but nor would it be my first choice.