The Great American Bagel Bakery

As far as airport food goes, this is really good. The bagels are great. Perfect for a quick bite between connections. The coffee was weak or I may have given it 5 stars.

This place was alright, nothing special. The bagels were tasty although I wish they were toasted just a little bit more.

Spent $ 4.50 on of the worst bagels I have ever had. It doesn’t taste like a bagel, it tastes like a stale muffin with bland cream cheese. Go somewhere else in the airport to get food!

While not usually a big fan, I have to say this location does a good job of getting you something to eat before your flight that is actually pretty good food that travels well.
I got one of their panini sandwiches (the ham and swiss) and I have to say it was very tasty. The servers also have it down that it takes a little longer for the grilled options so they have you pay while you are waiting for it to warm which keeps the line moving along quite nicely.
Not fancy but decent food that tasted pretty good on my last flight. Sandwich with chips ran about $ 10 so the price wasn’t too bad either.

Let’s just start with the fact that at 5am in the morning there aren’t that many options. I didn’t want to get McDonalds and both Starbucks and Frontera weren’t open yet so I didn’t have a choice.
I love Bagels. I love Einsteins that I used to get it almost three times a week while I was still in school and we had one on campus. I buy Einsteins bagels from Costco and make my own sandwiches. I especially love the Asiago bagel.
This place is no Einsteins. I ordered a egg white & Swiss cheese on Asiago. It was terrible and really expensive. Extra cost for egg whites and extra cost for Asiago. It was the most bland bagel I’ve ever had in my life. The texture of the bagel itself was also inconsistent and dry. The Asiago didn’t add anything to the bagel as there wasn’t very much on it.
For someone who loves bagels, this was very disappointing.

I am rather unimpressed with the food options at this airport. I probably wouldn’t have went here if I had a single good option nearby, but I didn’t, so I went with this place. The bagel was flavorless, and had an odd texture to it. The vegetable soup tasted like it came out of a can. All in all, a rather sad meal.
I would say you can do better, but unfortunately, I’m not sure that’s true at this airport.

Decided to give them another try after hearing repeated good things about them. Same as last time – very little schmear, almost completely dry. Very disappointed. Coffee was also sub-​par.

The bagel here is nothing special. I have had far better but also far worse bagels before.
I have some gripes about how strange the layout is. You place your order and then the cash register is slightly outside but there isn’t a good spot to wait for your food without severely blocking one line or the other.

The woman behind the counter gave me the wrong order and when I returned, she accused me of stealing someone else’s breakfast and told me it was my fault. At this point the man working with her remade my bagel order, but also got it wrong. I didn’t want to deal with them again so I just ate it. To be clear, I did not have a complicated order– Everything Bagel with veggie cream cheese. I’m not impressed.

Good bagels for the Midwest. Large and fresh. Sandwiches run close to ten dollars. Nice to see a bagel shop among other O’Hare eateries.

I personally didn’t feel that it was too overpriced I mean this isn’t your grab and go, dry, non toasted Starbucks type bagel it was tasty and it was a hearty serving
super small & crowded but you’re at the freaking airport so get over that
café attendants that seemed to be just straight fed up with all of us customers! …which I have to say I wasn’t too upset about being that the group of adults that I was surrounded by at my brief time there could not seem to be able to form a line nor listen for their food when it was ready… so I give it to the rude café attendants on that one
But once I got my food somehow I just didn’t care because it was the most natural fresh looking and probably tasting food available in that airport… had turkey pesto panini on an egg bagel and it was delish id get it again… plus that Rocky Mountain choco place is connected to it — #winning

Look, when you’re at an airport at 7:30am you’ll eat pretty much anything – I realise that. And when you’re at an airport you don’t expect gourmet anything – I realise that, too. But there is really no reason at all why you cannot get a decent bagel at an airport, which is why I chose to grab an everything with scallion cream cheese while waiting for my flight. What a mistake! The bagel was closer in texture to a dense roll than anything else, and the scallion cream cheese contained a grand total of three small shreds of scallion (yes, I counted). In hindsight, I probably would have been better off with a breakfast torta (whatever that is) from Rick Bayless’ place a few yards closer to the security checkpoint. Live and learn.

My toasted everything bagel with scallion cream cheese and coffee hit the spot, before my next flight.

Wow, some people are pretty harsh here. Two things to keep in mind, this is an airport location and prices are higher inside an airport. If you are looking for a quick bagel or bagel sandwich this is a safe bet. The bagel always tastes fresh and while it’s not going to be the best you’ve ever eaten, it’s more than edible. And, much better than anything you’d get at McDonalds or even Starbucks for that matter.
I experienced good service. The woman did her best to get me in and out as quick as she could, was courteous and made sure she got the order correct. What more could you ask for from a bagel shop?

Overpriced (especially the drinks), but that’s expected at the airport.
Decent bagels; that’s a plus.
Absent-​minded (or impatient) staff. I ordered a large soft drink. It was full of bubbles and foam. When it finally cleared, it was less than half full.

The food here really isn’t bad. I would say its better than average (let’s be real– many places destroy breakfast food). Yeah, I could go to Mcd’s for my morning fix, but I’d rather have a more wholesome meal.
The egg and cheese bagels aren’t as cheap anymore (I believe someone mentioned they’re $ 3.50); they’re now $ 4.50. Use a specialty bagel and that puts you at $ 5.70.
There are other options like the sandwiches, pre-​packaged fruit/​veggie trays, Fiji water, generic bottled water, and a variety of bottled juices.
The service is efficient and quick. Unlike others, I haven’t had a problem with the work staff after coming here a few times.

Sure, you could choose to go to one of the three Starbucks locations in Terminal B (or one of the 17 total Starbucks locations at O’Hare) to get a little piece of bread or a mediocre bagel for a steep price. Why you would choose to do that, though, doesn’t make sense to me since The Great American Bagel Bakery (TGABB) is just down at the end of the terminal.
While their bagels are obviously not Long Island or even NYC bagels (really, you’re surprised?), they are big, have an OK consistency, and taste decent. And, at $ 3.30 including tax for a bagel with cream cheese, the price is fantastic (especially considering that this is an airport food vendor).
They do have some sandwich options as well that I believe are in the $ 6-​$ 8 range, but I didn’t look at them too closely, so don’t quote me on the sandwich prices.
BTW, this 4-​star rating is given in comparison to other AIRPORT VENDORS who sell similar food items. If TGABB were a restaurant outside of an airport setting, the food would earn it 2 stars, tops.

Decent option for airport food other than McDonalds and Chili’s To Go. The prices are pretty reasonable considering the location and there is a good variety of bagels and sandwich selections.

I am going to agree with the other posts. This is a great alternative to the Mc Donalds. I opted for the Chicken Salad bagel. The bagels are mediocre but what are you supposed to do when you missed your meal and need to eat at the airport? Well, there is also a great food court that has many options that are even a little cheaper.
I am not sure if I would return, but the food is AOK. just a little more expensive like every other place.

I’m so disappointed in their bagels that I had to write a review while waiting for my flight.
I love bagels and they have to have the right texture. Firm outside layer from the water bath and chewy interior. Not these. I had Bruegger’s bagels this weekend and it blows these out if the water. Perhaps I am a bagel snob but I love my bagels. And I love my bagels.
I am passing this shop next time I’m at O’Hare airport.