Detroit is a bagel town
A 1960s ad in the Detroit Jewish News Digital Archives declared that "Detroit Bagels Are the Best." Those are fighting words for a New York Jew , so I drove myself to Detroit to see about some bagels.
I visited Detroit last year, before I started writing about the quest on Substack. I had lived in Ann Arbor from 1989 to 1996 and made plenty of trips to Detroit. But as I think about all the places I visited and foods I ate in Detroit, I have no memory of looking for a Detroit bagel. I didn’t really worry about a good bagel back then when I lived in Michigan, and not just because I always had a dozen NYC bagels in a ziplock bag in the freezer. When I lived in Ann Arbor, a bagel was just a bagel...it wasn't the symbol of my Jewish existential identity crisis. I didn't dwell on my Jewish identity because there were plenty of Jews in Ann Arbor, and I was young and thought I would be back in New York soon enough. But it turns out that Ann Arbor was just the beginning of my Midwest life.
When I started researching for my self-appointed bagel quest last year, many articles pointed me in Detroit’s direction. I knew Detroit had some deep bagel roots, so I wanted to be well prepared for my visit. I posed some bagel questions to the 'Detroit Jewish History' Facebook group, and a few folks suggested I search the Detroit Jewish News Digital Archives. This was an incredible treasure trove of bagel history. I typed "bagel" into the search engine and in the blink of an eye, 7,936 entries presented themselves to me. I skimmed through one hundred years of stories, and advertisements (and more advertisements), and more bagel jokes than I thought existed. This was a fascinating deep dive into how bagels were talked about between 1920 and today.
Between the close to 300 comments I got from the Detroit Jewish History Facebook group, singing the praises of the Detroit bagel, and all the entries I skimmed from the Detroit Jewish News, it is clear that people from Detroit love their bagels. And they are not afraid to go bagel-to-bagel with New York City bagels. After spending a day eating Detroit bagels, I can safely say that I share their confidence in the Detroit bagel.
My overall opinion on Detroit bagels
I hadn't been back to Ann Arbor since the start of the Pandemic and was glad to have the bagel quest as an excuse to visit some old friends. I drove with my husband, Matt, and we stayed with my good friends, Michael and Ruth. During my Ann Arbor life, their home was my Jewish home away from home, so staying with them was perfect. Ruth is from Rye, NY, so she joined me as I visited, tasted, and judged bagel shops.
I settled on four bagel shops: New York Bagel and Detroit Institute of Bagels(DIB) in Detroit, and Bev’s Bagels and Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor. For the purposes of this Substack entry, I am only talking about Detroit Bagels, but Max (ie Bev’s Bagels), an Ann Arbor bagel maker, made his way to Detroit after Detroit Institute of Bagels closed abruptly. So I am including Bev’s Bagels in this review and not DIB. I will say that all four bagel shops used traditional bagel-making techniques...some were hand-rolled, some were generous with toppings...and all were great bagels.
Judging: I have very specific - and New York-centered - judging criteria. You can read my full description here.
Category one: Will I walk half a mile out of my way to buy and eat one of their bagels? This is admittedly a high bar. I grew up eating bagels in NY, where the turnover was high and the bagels were coming out of the oven fresh all day. Upshot: does this bagel taste amazing enough to put in the effort to get to it?
Category two: Would I buy a dozen bagels for a proper bagel spread? Upshot: How Jewish is this bagel?
New York Bagels: Opened in 1921, New York Bagel shop was on the top of almost everyone's list. The 'best of' foodie blogs, most of the comments from the Detroit Jewish History Facebook group, acquaintances of mine...all said to go there. I am a sucker for a good family-owned business story, so I was looking forward to checking out this fourth generation bagel business. New York Bagel started its life in downtown Detroit, but as the Jewish community moved north to the suburbs, so did the bagel shop. I met with Phil, the current owner, whose very succinct description of how they make their bagels I really enjoyed. I tasted some bagels from their Ferndale shop. Walking into the Ferndale store was like walking into any NYC bagel shop. The look of it, the smell of it, and the bins and bins of bagels were just what I was hoping for.
Would I walk half a mile out of my way to eat a New York Bagel bagel: YES! The crispy crust exterior had a lovely crispiness without being tough to bite into. The dough was particularly flavorful. The mark against this bagel is how few seeds were on the sesame and everything bagel.
Would I buy a dozen bagels for a bagel spread: YES! New York Bagel would easily be my first pick for a bagel spread. All the Michigan bagels I tasted were quite good, so quality being almost close to equal, I would go for the much less expensive bagel for a dozen.
Bev's Bagels: I was very much looking forward to trying these bagels. My friend Michael clued me into Max Sussman, an artisanal bagel maker running a weekend pop-up out of his house. I started following Bev's Bagels on Instagram, and the bagels looked gorgeous. To give the bagels even more bonafides, his Ann Arbor bagels were raved about in the comment thread in the Detroit Jewish History Facebook discussion of best Detroit bagels. True, it was his aunt praising the bagels, but I took it for confirmation. I liked the whole set-up of the pop-up...the very homey vibe was nice. The entry room to the house had his oven, and mixer and bagel racks and the bagel check-out operation. I have not been inside the new Detroit location to know what it feels like in there, but you can now buy Bev’s Bagels in their Detroit location.
Would I walk half a mile out of my way to eat a Bev's bagel: YES! These bagels were outstanding. First of all the bagels were warm when we ate them, which already gives them an advantage. A bagel is at its best in the hour after it comes out of the oven. The exterior crispiness was perfect. The amount of seeds was incredible, covering every inch of the bagel. The interior taste was quite good but not fully great..maybe it was the hint of sourdough...not sure.
Would I buy a dozen bagels for a bagel spread: YES. These bagels are gorgeous and tasty and would elevate any bagel spread. (But I might only invite good friends since the bagels are pricey.)
