Benchwarmers Bagels And Coffee

its not possible I have not written a review for Benchwarmers before. They are a staple for the family. Do they delete them!? I see the pizza pictures below are from 2019!! SO I guess i started it and forgot to finish? Ok. Way overdue for sure. Before we get to pizza lets talk about where they are then bagels then the pizza.Benchwarmers is a fixture in downtown Raleigh's transfer hall. The empanada place there is also outstanding but thats a different review. Transfer hall is actually on the southern edge of downtown Raleigh. Coming from North Raleigh its a bit of a trek for sure but well worth it. So when you get there, especially on the weekend in the morning say, parking is a challenge. there is an L shaped parking lot so you loop around that and hopefully find something. Failing that you look at street parking on the other two sides of the L. Failing that, and I typically don't, go up to Chavis way and park on the street there. You can then cut thru to Transfer hall. Transfer hall is a lively echoing hall. You can sit inside our out. they have staff at the hall to keep things clean and organized. Benchwarmers is a nationally ranked bagel place so even if you are not into bagels you should give it a try. Their wood-fired ovens give bagels a distinctive flavor. I am on the edge when it comes to bagel passion. But the family is all in, especially when my eldest was living in Brooklyn. Great debates about which city had the best bagels between Philly, Brooklyn and Atlanta, etc. Benchwarmers has largely settled that for us. They are the best for us. For this review I am choosing our visit on April 17th which is a pretty standard order for us. I got the Za'atar, Egg and Cheddar cheese bagel. As an out of town nephew put it when visiting "that is the best breakfast sandwitch in the world, period". I could not agree more. We also got an egg, everything bagel. Then we each got a cardamom bun. I hear this pastry is a swedish thing. So great. They run out of these pretty quick. Then we got a dozen everything bagels to go and thats the key to the logistics issue. They freeze wonderfully so whomever goes gets a dozen then shares with family members who freeze them. That and coffee came to $45+tip and taxes.So what about the pizza in the pic. I can't believe I can't find a pic of the zaatar bagel but anyway. So I am a fairly basic pizza guy. There is pepperoni then everything else. Thursdays/Fridays/Saturday evenings they offer pepperoni or cheese standard. The wood baked crust is amazing and they are generous with the pepperoni. Quality pizza is all about the crust. We typically order it online before they open and then swing by when they open at 5pm for pizza and pick it up. Works really well. Staff is outstanding for both pizza and bagel operations. When lines are long for bagels (not usually for pizza) the staff works thru it really well. Btw, the coffee is not an afterthought. In collaboration with their buddies over at Jubala they have outstanding coffee as well. And speaking of local connections, same team started Boulted Bread which is ALSO downtown and ALSO nationally ranked. And finally Bright Spot donuts is also from the same team. A great asset to the community. These guys really helped us get thru covid with their outstanding online operation and counter staff. A real credit to the operational focus. Thats why I am so surprised I have not written a review before now.

Awesome bagel shop run by the Boulted Bread folks! I tried Sandwich #4 with lox and deviled egg spread, as well as a cardamom bun and oat milk latte. All fantastic.Also had a bite of the plain bagel, which was great and had sourdough vibes. Note: Located inside the Transfer food hall.

The most delicious bagels, warm and toasty, with so many options to choose from. I had everything bagel with cream cheese and it was heavenly. There was also ample seating.

So this was brill. We had been disappointed that - without any warning online - the whole of the Transfer Co. Food Hall was locked down for renovations on the far more beautiful day that we initially tried to visit.Today we returned, and enjoyed our espresso drinks, our whitefish bagel with pickled corn and chips, and the trial Zaatar bagel & Maitre d' lemon herb cream cheese we were gifted.One of us liked the homemade butterscotch latte more than the other, but the barista skills were on point. Don't miss the specials menu.We loved the industrially artistic interior. The outdoor seating area was so pleasant we stayed for a bit despite obligations pulling us back home.The city skyline and the character of the Mordecai neighborhood surroundings had us hopping on Zillow looking for listings.A fun place to visit and bring visiting guests.

Favorite!! Chewy flavorful bagels and they are generous with the cream cheese or sandwich fixings.The zaatar bagel is my favorite. And if they're out, the herby cream cheese on sesame/poppy bagel is fiyaaaa.Friendly service, and great vibe at Transfer Company Food hall. Lots of natural light, places to sit, and other dining options if others want a dif meal.

So this is only for the pizza here - not the bagels. We will come here every so often for the bagel breakfast sandwiches and thought we should give the pizza a try. Now we read about how you shoulder order ahead and time and they sell out. I placed an order and arrived for pickup and sure enough several signs were out saying sold out. Pizza was still cooking which was fine that means it will be hot. Not sure what we were expecting but it was a big let down. The pizza is basically dough and cheese that is so burnt that a hard layer has formed. I love sauce, the more the better and I couldn't even taste it. Husband even mentioned that and he was the least amt of sauce. We also don't know how big the slices weee so we got the big pizza which was pretty expensive end we ended up tossing it because we just couldn't eat anymore. We both have had Sicilian style pizza before or even Detroit style but this was not it. We will stick to the breakfast.

We came here for breakfast twice while we were visiting Raleigh and it was great! The bagel with the vegan spread was great and my favorite thing that I got. Definitely would recommend if you're visiting Raleigh!

First time trying Benchwarmers and the Lox bagel. Pleasantly surprised. Service was fast. Tucked away in a food hall with many other options.

I had heard about this location in Bon Appetit magazine. They bake their bagels in a wood-fired oven, and they are quite chewy, which is a good thing. I feel the bagels are quite good, although a little bit small when compared with New York bagels. You should be prepared to wait in a lengthy line, although service is relatively fast. I suggest getting a plain bagel with some schmear, because I tried both their lox and their smoked fish spread, and neither were especially tasty. If anything, they took away from the bagel. So, keep your focus to the bagel and don't try and make it fancy, and then you'll be good.They also have good coffee.Overall, I think it's solid, but not necessarily worth going out of your way for.

The food is decently good, but it's just unfathomable to me that they run out of 2/3+ the menu within barely half an hour of opening consistently. And a bad attitude. Unfortunate.