Crestline Bagel offers three locations for baked goods in a kid-friendly atmosphere

Crestline Bagel Brings Flavor

During the past 20 years, Crestline Bagel has delighted Birmingham tastebuds with real New York-style bagels. What was once a onelocation shop serving bagels and cream cheese in Mountain Brook has grown to include three restaurants, an extensive breakfast, lunch, and bakery menu, and full-service catering offerings. Owner Jennifer Yarbrough is committed to the business of bagel-baking: In the wee hours, preparation starts for each day with bagels chilled to proof until they are boiled and baked in time for the shop’s doors to open at 6 a.m. (7 a.m. downtown).

Crestline Bagel offers an abundance of flavors, including classic plain, everything, cinnamonraisin, blueberry, sweet onion, chocolate chip, and jalapeno. Hand-mixed cream cheese comes in combinations like veggie, honey walnut, garlic herb, and mixed berry. Seasonal cream cheese and bagel options vary, but there’s always something creative to try.

We stopped in after church one Sunday for lunch and promptly added Crestline Bagel to the post-worship restaurant rotation. My husband chose a jalapeno bagel with plain cream cheese and declared it flavorful but not too spicy. I suspect he chose this “light” lunch so he could eat the other half of our daughter’s pepperoni pizza bagel. We ordered hers on a plain bagel. It came out with lots of gooey melted cheese and plenty of pepperonis; the cheese was golden and crispy on the edges—the bagel had just-right edges but was tender and chewy in the middle. It earned the highest praise from a four-year-old: “I want to eat this again tomorrow!” I managed to grab a bite for myself and immediately offered the suggestion of pizza bagels for an after-school snack.

On Sunday, I was in a brunchy mood, so I ordered a plain bagel with bacon, egg, and cheese. The toast on the bagel was the perfect texture to hold a hearty scrambled egg, crisp bacon, and cheddar. (Good news for fellow breakfast lovers: Crestline Bagel serves it all day.) I washed it all down with a fair trade coffee and a few bites of house-made Salted Chocolate Granola. And a few more bites after that.

Sandwich selections are plentiful. My go-to is the Cranberry Gobbler, which is smoked turkey, Swiss, cranberry spread, and mixed greens. It comes on a wrap, but I always sub a toasted bagel. You can build your own, or opt for one of the specialties like Nancy’s Chicken Salad (chicken, celery, dried cranberries, and toasted pecans), Ralph’s Pimento Cheese (spicy, with bacon and tomato), or the Buffalo Wrap with Vermont Cheddar and Ralph’s Buffalo Sauce. Several salads are all delicious, but I like the variety of the Church Street Trio: Choose three from chicken salad, tuna salad, pimento salad, and baked potato salad. When the weather (finally) gets chilly, stop in for a bowl of tomato soup and a gourmet grilled cheese with Vermont Cheddar, Baby Swiss, and Gruyere.

We finished up with a sugar cookie with royal icing and sprinkles and exchanged our dollar bill change for extra quarters. On the third try at the gumball machine, we scored a golden gumball, which we traded for a token good for a halfdozen free bagels, ensuring our imminent return.

Crestline Bagel has locations in Mountain Brook (66-B Church Street, Crestline Village), Cahaba Heights (4117 Crosshaven Drive, Vestavia), and Downtown (1500 1st Avenue North, Birmingham). Mountain Brook and Cahaba Heights stores are open Monday through Friday 6 a.m–2 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 7 a.m.–2 p.m. Downtown is open Monday through Friday 7 a.m.–2 p.m. Visit crestlinebagel. com for more information.

Who says bagels are just for breakfast? Try a pizza bagel with double cheese, pepperoni, or primavera, and experience the best of New York’s two famed food offerings.