Einstein Bros Bagels

Not sure what it is about the people they hire to work here, but for some reason they cannot read a basic order that says to toast the bagel. If employees do their job right then the customer shouldn’t have to double check their order before they leave.

Being from New York I’m pretty critical of bagels. Einstein is an okay chain. They do an okay job. They did not have the sandwich filling I originally ordered. I just changed to something else.

This place is pretty easy to locate. It’s right off the «Drag.» It has a front entrance and a back entrance. The back entrance will have parking so if you are not from around West Campus this would be the place to check first before looking for street parking.
The insides decoration is pretty standard. Wooden tables and chairs make up most of the furniture. Most of the tables sit 2 – 4 people. There are two or three bigger tables that seat larger parties. Also, near the front there is a bar-​type table that looks out onto Guadalupe with higher chairs. It can get pretty packed in here during peak hours. I’ve never had a problem finding a table, but it can get crowded in here! I guess lots of people love bagels.
I’m not sure exactly how many plugs are here for laptops/​other electronics. Usually it’s pretty noisy, especially peak hours, so I don’t know if it’s the best place to study if you’re someone who needs some peace and quiet.
The service is pretty solid. Everyone is pretty helpful. You would wait in line and there is an area where you can see what types of bagels are available. Everything is ordered up front (no need to tip). Unless you order a special coffee, it’s self-​served to the side. Once your food is ready, they call you up and you can grab it.
The shmears are amazing! I would recommend the Salmon and the Honey Almond flavors. Just awesome! I would argue it’s really the shmears that make this place.
Bonus: To use the bathroom, you need to go ask for the key.

You would think that they would have more people working earlier in the day because of the breakfast rush, but no. They had two employees working when I came in, and they were moving at the slowest pace imaginable, knowing full well that there is a long queue of customers waiting for their orders. I ordered two bagels toasted – no schmear, no toppings, nothing. The orders have piled up too much, that I couldn’t even get my simple order until after I went up to the counter 15 minutes later and just asked for my bagels as-​is.
Also, this place is filthy.

Einsteins is great when you want a quick bagel and coffee fix on the way to class. Always expect a line of students thinking the same thing though. This Einsteins is pretty spacious and thus a good spot for meet ups, but they sometimes run out of items because of it’s location near campus. You’ll also get random homeless people that like to loiter around.
In terms of food, I always try to get something different– but with the consistent vanilla hazelnut brewed coffee. This time, I got the asparagus mushroom Swiss egg sandwich. Taste will be what you expect– a nice toasted bagel with whatever flavors you ordered in your creation. You can never go wrong with the food here– some tips: change it up by getting a different schmear per half, make sure the bagel is toasted, ask for extra schmear, throw in a free topping. Customize that bagel!

Bad quality bagels no cheese on the bagels burned. I will not come to this location again. Also bad customer service.

I’m a pretty frequent customer at einstein’s, as they’re a cheap breakfast option on the go. However, they never seem to listen to anything I say. I noticed this location skimps hardcore on the cream cheese so I got in the habit of getting extra schmear (no charge, a bonus). However, 75% of the time they completely ignore it which is annoying. Today, the amount of cream cheese was laughable and I asked for more. To his credit, the guy at the register got me a huge serving in a to go container which I appreciate. It’s never a big enough to deal to stop going there or to be rude but I recommend checking your bagel before you head out.

The strawberry shmear is a classic and my go to. Fabulous customer service :) also the smoothies are delicious

You can’t go wrong with a bagel, which is the only reason this place is getting two stars.
Every single time I come to Einsteins on Guad the service is incredibly rude.
Example A from today which finally prompted me to write a review:
I ordered a large iced coffee. Went to go fill up at the ice coffee station, it was empty. I told the guy behind the register who said he would get on top of it. Fifteen minutes later I go back again, and he finally turns to whom I presume is the iced coffee maker guy on shift (?) who says he will get to it.
Um, okay, so you didn’t do anything the first time? I go back 20 minutes later after I get up and try to fill up again and nothing. New guy behind register says he doesn’t know how to make it. Bro! Figure out someone who does please, I’ve been waiting 40 minutes at this point.
FINALLY as I’m about to leave they appear to have filled up the iced coffee machine. I go to fill up and a guy appears behind me saying that it actually isn’t ready yet. I comment that it’s been about an hour and he promptly says he’s only been here for six minutes and it isn’t his fault.
More than an hour later I finally get my damn iced coffee. I didn’t ask for a refund because it was less than $ 4, but still. Learn some customer service, yo.

Edit:
It’s the day after I left the 3 stars. Today I received the correct sized coffee cup right away and the mounds of shmear on each side of the evenly cut bagels. Something happened today, everything is on point.
Original:
I enjoy Einstein Bros Bagels. I really do. I regularly order the everything bagel, toasted, with onion and chive shmear and a medium coffee. It’s always at least satisfactory. What I have beef with is the major inconsistency. I’ll always get the right bagel and shmear, but sometimes (occasionally) I’ll get a thin coat of shmear on ridiculously unevenly cut bagels on one extreme and sometimes (rarely) I’ll get evenly cut bagels with generous amounts of shmear, like a frigin mound — on each side!
But… For the most part, the bagel is usually fine — somewhere between the two extremes, though often closer to the former.
My biggest problem is the coffee. I typically order a medium, and more than often, I will be given a small cup only after reminding the person working the register that I needed the coffee cup. It’s not a big deal when I sit in to dine and get a bit of reading done since I can refill. But when I’m on the go getting to class, a small coffee just isn’t gonna cut it.

The honey almond shmear is a must try! I also love their ham and Swiss egg sandwich. Sometimes it gets super crowded because it’s so close to the university and they accidentally skipped my order.
This location is rather filthy. If I were to get something from here, it would most likely be to go. They don’t seem to clean the tables or floors often and every single time I’ve been here, it just looks messy.

The cashier is uneducated. His pay reflects his knowledge. I was charged 5.70 for 2 plain bagels. It should have rang up 2.40. I was too embarrassed to make a scene in front of all the rich ut parent funded kids. Screw dumb ass cashiers. They r every where. And the owners design the register to over charge so it’s not his fault. It’s the mangers fault for not trainin the cashier right. I feel RIPPED off!

Love this location! It sometimes gets too crowded and with one counter running it often takes forever to get something as quick as a bagel but the overall experience does not disappoint. The bagels are always a treat to have and it has a nice seating area for anyone wanting to sit down while they have their food and drinks. I haven’t tried the sandwiches yet but they look interesting!

It doesn’t take Einstein to know that with UT across the street, you pretty much have a captive audience here. It’s a nice, large building with fairly high ceilings and a pleasant atmosphere, and a lot of people come here to study and hang out.
So the good bagels tend to run out fairly quickly. My advice is to get there fairly early for breakfast or lunch to make sure you have the best selection.
I wish they’d clean the restrooms better. You do need to grab a key from the register, because it’s the Drag and they’re trying, but really, clean restrooms make people feel so much better about there possibly being a clean kitchen.

I’m not that big on bagels, but the location is great especially being a student. The people here are also really friendly and the service is great as well.
I had the smoked salmon, personally I’d like my bagel toasted, do they do that? But none the less it was pretty good, the portion of salmon wasn’t that much though compared to the size of the bagel

Friendly and good food! Got the healthy club thin bagel with fruit. Didn’t blow me away or anything, but decent dinner. The people here are very helpful and patient.

Nice bagel shop with a large selection of bagels, shmear + other breakfast pastries. For a cheap quick bite I recommend butter on thin bagels.
This particular location is very spacious with many tables. Even early in the morning you can see people studying, doing devotions through the Bible. Overall a very nice pleasant place that is close to UT campus.
Tip: bring your own travel mug and just pay for refill on the coffee! For a frequent visitor like me the savings add up!

The survey offer went away and all of the staff who were there turned over. It’s still nice to have as an option if I’m craving a bagel, but it’s no longer my morning go-​to.

Their bagels are decent. To name a few, I love their Asiago, Cranberry, and Everything bagels. The Honey Almond spread is so good with the Cranberry bagel. And that Sun-​dried Tomato spread… yum. I will say however their items are getting pricier and pricier.
But what surprises me is that they run out of most of the bagels in like 3 hours after opening. They don’t even restock, which I find annoying. In addition, the people have gotten my orders wrong several times, but the issues are eventually resolved.
The place is huge which is great for studying. I’m not a particular fan of their background music though. If there are any coupons for the dozen bucket, I’ll consider stopping by.

Everybody working here: you are so friendly and awesome at your jobs. Keep it up. I came in a few days ago to get a bagel bucket for the office and everyone helping me was so friendly and helpful for a weekday morning. Also, the bagel bucket is a really good deal — 13 bagels with two tubs of cream cheese for about $ 15. That’s like 15 meals, if you like bagels.
I’m assuming if you’re going to Einstein’s you already know bagels, but my favorites are the everything, the asiago cheese, and the raisin. The whipped cream cheese has a strange consistency but it tastes good.
Also, Einstein’s has donated day-​old bagels to many volunteer events I’ve helped coordinate. Rock on! Y’all are great.