PRESS MENTIONS

Chicago Tribune - “Gotham Bagels comes to Chicago”

Gotham Bagels, a New York-style bagel shop that has been a 20-year fixture in Madison, Wisconsin, has come to Chicago, launching in a shared space with Eduardo’s Enoteca, 1212 N. Dearborn St.

Cesar Manriquez adds water to the plain bagel dough at Gotham Bagels, 1212 N. Dearborn St., in Chicago on Thursday, July 30, 2020. The operation is inside the Eduardo’s Enoteca kitchen. Then, he rolls out plain bagel dough. Cooks for the pizza operation went to the original Gotham Bagels in Madison, Wisconsin, to learn the tricks.

Read the full story on the Chicago Tribune website!

The Infatuation - “Gotham: Our New Favorite Bagel Spot”

On paper, Gotham might not seem like a likely candidate for having some of the city’s best bagels. It’s originally from Madison, Wisconsin (not exactly known for its bagel prowess), and runs its carryout operation out of an Italian restaurant in Old Town. But the bagels here are excellent and will shut up any complaints about Chicago’s bagel scene. In fact, this place is our new go-to spot and will probably be yours, too.

What’s so great about the bagels themselves?? They’re big, soft, slightly chewy, and delicious. The menu has eight kinds (including an egg-everything that’s soulmates with the scallion cream cheese), sandwiches like the perfectly-proportioned BEC, and a variety of spreads. And for anyone searching for a simple-yet-fantastic lox and cream cheese, this is where you’ll find it. In fact, after ordering from here, all your bagel searching will be over.

Read the full story on The Infatuation website!

Chicago Food Magazine - “Gotham Bagels Is Now Open In Chicago”

Madison, Wisconsin’s family-owned bagel shop is now available for delivery and carryout orders in downtown Chicago (1212 N Dearborn). Gotham has been serving handmade New York style bagels for more than twenty years. They make their bagels the traditional way – mixing the ingredients in house, rolling by hand, kettle-boiling, and baking in a rotating deck oven.

Local restauranteur Jordan Himmel went to college in Madison and worked with Gotham Bagels founder Joe Gaglio to bring this bagel recipe to his hometown. Many folks claim that you need New York water to make a proper New York bagel, but they don’t buy it. Turns out, the most important factor in making a New York bagel is the New Yorker making it. Gaglio moved to Madison in 1999 for a culinary teaching assignment, but soon realized that the Midwest was sorely lacking in quality bagels. Thus, Gotham Bagels was born. “Almost every day a person will approach me at our store and thank us for being there, for caring about how we produce our bagel.” Says Gaglio, “Some will complain about our attitude, but never about our bagel. What do they expect? This is, after all, a New York bagel shop.”

Read the full story on the Chicago Food Magazine website!

Block Club Chicago - “Restaurants Are Teaming Up To Survive Pandemic: ‘New World Is About Collaboration, Not Competition’”

“A similar partnership has popped up at Eduardo’s Enoteca at 1212 N. Dearborn St. in the Gold Coast, where parent company Bravo Restaurants has partnered with Gotham Bagels from Madison, Wisconsin, to start offering its signature New York-style bagels. The Italian restaurant is still serving its pizza and pasta daily, but it has introduced Gotham’s bagels for breakfast Wednesdays through Sundays, said Jordan Himmell, chief information officer at Bravo Restaurants.

Himmel, a University of Wisconsin alumnus and longtime fan of the old-school bagel shop, said the partnership resulted from plans to open a Gotham store in Chicago that were halted by the coronavirus pandemic. “Our business had some pretty dark weeks after the pandemic started, and [Gotham Bagels owner] Joe Gaglio was going through the same thing,” Himmel said. “So we started sharing ideas on how we could get this up and running for the both of us right now and decided to roll it out in the Eduardo’s kitchen.”

Read the full story on the BlockClubChi website!

WGN Radio - “Chicago Tribune Restaurant Critic Phil Vettel: Restaurants continue to face struggles while reopening”

“Chicago Tribune Restaurant Critic Phil Vettel talks about the continuing struggles that accompany the reopening of restaurants. Those include Brindille and Gotham Bagels is finally bringing Chicagoans their coveted New York style bagels. Plus, listeners call in with their experiences on COVID safety precautions at restaurants and Phil weighs in on that.”

Listen to the full story on the WGN website!

ABC 7 Chicago -”Get your fix of East Coast bagels with a Midwest twist in the Chicago area’

“Hand-rolling, boiling and baking are the keys to good bagels. Joe Gaglio should know. The New York native opened Gotham Bagels in Madison, Wisconsin 14 years ago, after years of lamenting the local options. More recently, he opened a small satellite tucked away in the kitchen of Eduardo's Enoteca, on the cusp of Gold Coast and Old Town, for online ordering only.

"Nobody rolls bagels by hand anymore. Nobody does it. And in New York they don't do it a lot," said Gaglio. His dough consists of unbleached flour, malted barley and brewer's yeast, plus charcoal-filtered water. "We don't really want every bagel to be exactly perfect…”

Read the full story on the ABC 7 website!

ISTHMUS - “A beer, a bagel, a box of produce”

“At Gotham Bagels, “It’s going pretty well,” owner Joe Gaglio says of his added grocery line, which consists mostly of products he uses personally, like olive oils and pasta. “I’m a frustrated fine dining chef and this is cool stuff I really like.”

When Gaglio was working on his web ordering site, intended for bagels and sandwiches and other deli items, on a whim he added some one-off Greek items he had on hand — tahini and a kalamata olive paste he was doubtful anyone would want — and to his surprise, they sold. He bought a case of his favorite Giuseppe Cocco pasta, posted it online, “and it sold out.”"

Read the full story on the Isthmus website!