On weekends, we often trek up to BagelLand for a convenient salt bagel fix.  I prefer chewy bagels to the fluffy kind, so BL suits me just fine.  We have generally had good service and when we ask them to lighten up on the creme chese (typically a very generous slather), they do.  My understanding is that if you want good coffee, a walk across the street to Ristretto is required, however.

Well, the bagels are not the best I've ever had, but I really like them. I love that this little shop is part of our neighborhood and really enjoy walking there on the weekends to get one. I am a big fan of the salt bagel, toasted with cream cheese.

I like their bagels.  I would agree that the bagels are firm, and I expect wouldn't last all that well if you took home a bag, but I prefer a somewhat elastic texture as opposed to a cakey texture in a bagel.  My complaint is the coffee.  It is really bad.  Office coffee first thing Monday morning when you get to it before anyone has made a fresh pot that week bad.  Luckily Ristretto is just across the way so I just go there for my coffee.

I really am. ... but each time we go there, there is a little rub with something...  this last weekend the rub was that we picked them up (13 bagels) at around 11am... when I went to jam my teeth into the first everything bagel it wasn't smooth, doughy and soft, but hard, subtlly hard... and for me.. it just seems fair to think that when you pick up your bagels, if you are eating them within 20 min. of picking them up they should be fresh. The other rub this past weekend was the cream cheese..  $4.35 for cream cheese... within 1 day it was hard and almost impossible to spread on the bagels... At 4+ bucks that just seems wrong.  Portland is an underserved market for Bagels and I actually think bageland survives off the lack of competition... that is untill Kettlemans comes to NE.

I go here because it is close to where I live and I like supporting a local business owner (instead of a big business like Noah's).  But I don't really think the bagels are very good.  I usually get a dozen to take home and they get hard so quickly.  They don't seem fresh and soft.  And if you don't get here early in the morning the selection is meager.  Maybe I need to try some of the bagel sandwiches on the menu.  I'm still searching for the best bagel spot in Portland...