Once Upon A Bagel

We visited Once Upon a Bagel this past weekend for the first time. It wasn’t a planned visit, but more of a place we walked by whilst looking for a place to grab lunch. After walking by numerous other restaurants with no customers in sight, we saw that Once Upon a Bagel had a very long waiting line. To me, this was a good sign. Any food worth waiting for will have a line. And by long wait, I’m only talking 20 min. The vast menu threw us off at first without having any idea what to order, but after eating there I honestly think you can’t go wrong! I had a sesame bagel with cucumber chive cream cheese and a bowl of chicken soup with matzo ball. Both were outstanding. I have been to many bagel shops including those in New York which are known for their bagels. This place was on par if not better than those in New York. They also have a vast array of pastries and cookies which we indulged in and were fantastic! Because it is so busy, you would think it would be hard to find a table, but they have wait staff turning around the tables very quickly. As far as the price goes, my mom and I spent $ 20 for the two of us and got more than we could eat. Definitely worth the stop!

I give this place 5 stars even though they forget things in my orders. Sometimes they Are human and I LOVE THEIR FOOD! I always get my matza ball soup with my skinny wear bagel for take out. It’s my favorite before bed snack! They know me which makes me happy love talking to employees.

Once Upon a Bagel is fabulous. The food is excellent deli food, great value, excellent quality, wonderful service. Trying to be good, I usually get the chicken soup with just chicken, vegetables and broth, and there is none better. The pasta/​rice/​kreplach/​matzo, etc. is all great, too. Everything I’ve ever eaten here has been delicious, high quality. The people who work here are great, too. Get you your food (whether carry out or dine in) quickly, while it is still hot. The carry out line can be long, but that is because their food is so good, at such a great price. You won’t go wrong dining here or taking some home. The bagels are fabulous, too, as are the BLT’s, turkey club, rueben, corned beef, cinnamon kiddish (the chocolate is wonderful, too).

I have never visited. I purchased a gift card based on a referral of the bagel-​shaped gift card. Was let down on delivery of the gift card, as well as the gift card itself (business-​card like). I had a very hard time connecting with the owner, but once I did he was more than accommodating. He was compassionate and accepting of the problems I ran into. If I was local I would support this business based on the customer service I received

Maybe the best bagels and deli in Chicagoland. It looks small from the outside, but when you walk in you will see that it is a very different story. Much of the food is made from scratch and they also supply bagels to many local shops and grocery stores.

I didn’t think that it was that special. I over paid and the food was okay at best. The skillet was burned at the bottom that created hard pieces and then they mixed it all together and there were hard pieces throughout.

It would be remiss of me to say the bagels here are the same as NYC or even NJ. But for not NY or NJ they are pretty darn good. The outer shell is crispy when toasted and the interior has a nice chew. It’s not perfect, but it is by far the best I’ve had in the Midwest — and I get around.
Staff is friendly and performs well under pressure of the morning rush whether it is on the weekend or during the week. The coffee is really good. But there is not a non dairy option to dilute the coffee. I do wish more places had soy or almond milk laying around.
They make a great BEC and that is totally reminiscent of home. BECs are completely lacking in the puddle. But Jewish delis rarely disappoint with a BEC regardless of where they are located. It’s a cultural staple.
The pickles are super tasty and really big. I’ll sometimes buy one at breakfast and save it for lunch or dinner. And they also have elusive sprinkle cookies — these are a rare treat in the area too.
Great find for me. Will continue to return for breakfast eats.

Some days the characters in this place remind me of the diner scene out of the movie Legion.
On this particular lunch stop with my hubby, we were surrounded by couples of all sorts. In the corner sat the writer on his computer sipping coffee with his partner in crime, who looked like she was a casting director right out of New York City. In the middle of the room sat the guy who ordered the tuna salad lunch special with a side pile of pickles so high, I couldn’t believe he finished them all! The conversation with the guy behind the counter, who shared stories about longtime customers… priceless.
Once Upon A Bagel is a local Jewish diner/​institution, and one of my favorite places on the North Shore. maybe even the earth. They serve quality food, consistent most of the time, with large hefty portions and guaranteed leftovers. I confess to recently eating here two days in a row. Truth is, I could eat here every day and still probably only make it through half of the ginormous menu. Today I ordered up a corned beef egg white omelet with a toasted sesame bagel. If you’ve read my Unilocal profile, you know I love corned beef. My omelet was loaded with veggies and corned beef goodness. Their bagels are the best in town… toasted outside soft on the inside. The night before, we ordered up their infamous chicken soup (for the soul) from the *to go* counter. Loaded with veggies and matzo balls, my picky eater kids won’t touch any other deli soup (and we live around the corner from another Jewish deli in town).
Come for classic Jewish deli food, great service, great $ value, great stories, and the best people watching around. Heck, with mirrored walls, you can even watch yourself!

Great breakfast spot. The Greek omelette rocks. Tasty feta cubes, just the right amount of salty, not too much. And of course the bagels are also fantastic. It looked like they were making them onsite. I don’t know when or why I will ever be in this area again but if so, I’ll go here again.

The North Shore is filled with restaurants but not too many home town deli’s. Sure you have your Einstein Bros. Bagels & a few other large chain options like Starbucks but this is the place to go if you want a fresh deli where the food doesn’t feel like it came out of a box that was shipped USPS.
I have been a big fan of the Lox N Bagels sandwich for a while but lately my regular places have been letting me down, then I found this gem. I ordered a Lox N Bagel & the awesomeness ensued. The bagel was nice & fresh & most importantly the salmon was fresh. The workers & staff here were very friendly & quick to complete my order. The place was also very clean & had a decent amount of seating.
Another positive about this place is that they can deliver bagel platters to businesses in the area. This is very useful if your office is looking for a quick breakfast snack. This restaurant has a plethora of different bagel & cream cheese flavors & none of them have let me down yet.
Overall the workers & the service is very good. The restaurant is clean & most importantly the food is delicious. I would definitely come here again.

I just tried this place for the first time yesterday and lets just say i was back today to get more bagels! I ahve never had such soft delicious bagels in my life! i can not wait until i try all there other items as well. if you have not been here and or ordered anything from them you have to go here and make sure you pick up a ton of bagels so worth it !!! soooo good!

I can’t say enough good things about this place, but admittedly I may be a little biased. I worked right next to Once Upon a Bagel for about a year and a half, and I would come to Once frequently for breakfast and lunch. Their bagels and cream cheese are fantastic, and they have particularly good chicken and wild rice soup. This place is totally affordable for a budget and you get great quality food for the price. Another thing I loved was the salami sandwich — they would PACK it with meat so it was nice and fat.
I really miss Once Upon a Bagel and am now debating taking a road trip up to Highland Park to get it.

Had an hour to kill in Highland Park, so I stopped into this place near the Metra Station. It very much has a New York Deli kind of atmosphere (if with New York prices to match), and while the Toasted Asiago Bagel with Chive Cream Cheese I got is any indication, if it doesn’t quite reach the heights of NYC bagel, it’s a pretty good west-​of-​the-​Mississippi substitute. Selections looks wide and interesting. If I’m in the area, will probably stop by again.

First of all the the menu has more items than I’ve ever seen in a restaurant.
Décor is a little worn on the edges, but hey, who’s complaining — it’s a deli.
Good bagels (all the varieties that you could ever want — thick, thin, long) with more shmears than you could ever imagine.
Can’t think of anything that they don’t serve — even huevos rancheros. Oy!

Amazing huge selection of food. If it’s related to breakfast, you can order it without looking at the menu, even once.
Plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, it’s fast without having to worry about it being too hot or too cold, and I really like the self-​serve coffee… waitstaff are awesome, but I don’t like having to adjust my cream/​sugar ratio because of an unexpected fill-​up!

This once upon a bagel story ends unhappily ever after. The bustling, chaotic environment of this diner-​y deli transported us to a New York-​style feel, though the food didn’t live up to anything like a Katz’s or Russ and Daughter’s.
When you first enter, it’s extremely confusing and unorganized because you’re not sure where the line starts and whether to grab a number (the black numbers at the door are for customers who want take out/​pick up). If you intend to dine in, like us, then there’s a line that starts further down, where you’ll place your order, pay, and receive a number for the table. Plenty of seating in the back (some tables and chairs stickier than others), which you would never guess from initial look.
I opted for the Nova lox plate, and the lox was better than it looked («that’s a weird compliment», my husband said), but I was expecting more from the Asiago bagel. It was supposed to be toasted, but kind of just tasted like soggy bread. Side of corned beef hash had less corned beef and more green peppers than expected, and husband, who usually doesn’t discriminate very strongly with any food that is cooked and on a plate in front of him, said the steak wasn’t the best cut of meat. Skip the decaf coffee (can’t vouch for the regular coffee): it tastes like plain ol’ hot water.
This goes down as one rare occasion when I strongly disagree with the Unilocal average.

Best Kosher deli belongs to Once Upon A Bagel! I’ve been coming here for years and everything is great here! I decided to take my husband here today because he had never been to this deli.
We came in during lunch hour, and ordering was fast and efficient. Both my husband and I ordered a hot corned beef sandwich on a garlic bagel with mustard. We shared a side order of their Cajun curly fries. The corned beef was served warm as we asked with not a lot of fat on it. I’m not fan of fatty corned beef. The bagel was soft and fresh with the perfect amount of garlic along with the perfect amount of mustard. The pickle of course tasted crisp and awesome. I was impressed with their Cajun fries they weren’t spicy and tasted hot and fresh.
Being a first timer, my husband was thoroughly impressed. We are looking forward to dining here again and also want to try their Northbrook location.

I eat here about once a week. Food is consistently good and service is even better. My only gripe is that it is about 25% more than other breakfast places but I guess it is highland park.