Einstein Bros. Bagels
http://www.einsteinbros.com
Einstein’s is my favorite morning place to stop and get a bagel. No other bagel maker pulls off the Everything bagel with the right combination of garlic, onion and salt like Einstein’s. The coffee is solid and the service is always fast for me on my way to work. I recently got some coupons in the mail for some of their lunch items that I have never tried, so I decided to stop in and see if lunch was as good as breakfast.
What I Ate: Club Mex Signature Sandwich combo; the combo includes their red potato salad but no drink for $6.75. At $8 bucks with a drink for lunch, this combo was going to have to have to be top notch in taste and quality to earn a Yes rating.
Einstein’s gives you a choice to order your sandwich with a French bread, a regular bagel or bagel thin. Looking at the ingredients of the Club Mex which included roasted turkey, bacon, pepper jack cheese, ancho mayo and veggies, I decided to go with the Everything Bagel as my bread choice. The sandwich was dry and lacking enough ancho mayo to overcome how dry the bagel was. I did not choose to get my bagel toasted and as you can see from the picture, it was overbaked when originally made leaving a burnt taste. The turkey was no better than average grocery story turkey lunch meat but there was enough to make the sandwich filling. The vegetables tasted fresh and ripe tomatoes in Indiana in March that are any good was a surprise.
The highlight of the meal ended up being the potato salad. The red potatoes were not overcooked were firm and chunky as they should be in a good potato salad. The potatoes were not drowning in the mayo and it had a good pepper and salt seasoning that required nothing additional to make this a good side to what was a disappointing sandwich.
Would I Buy It Again? No. At $8 for a combo that included a drink, the product was disappointing regardless of whether the bagel itself had not been burnt. I got my combo with a $3 off coupon making it $5 and even at that price, I’d rather have Subway, which I am not a fan of, for the price. Stick to breakfast at Einstein’s.
-EatHSE
Tags: bagels, Breakfast, club mex, einstein bros., Food, potato salad, sandwich
Even at breakfast the last time I went to Einstein’s I was shocked at how much a breakfast sandwich was and how small the bagel was.
Einstein’s is a little expensive, but I think it is worth it. I used to work right by an Einstein’s and I’d go there once a week for lunch and this Club Mex was on my preferred ordering list. I didn’t get it often, but when I did, I enjoyed it. As for the potato salad, I could not agree more. Often times, I loved the potato salad more than I loved the sandwich…it was that good. The funny part about Einstein’s (and Panera, Paradise, McAlister’s, etc.) is that people are often fooled into thinking these sandwiches are “healthy” when in fact, they are the furthest thing from that. It always cracks me up when I get into a discussion with someone about that and pull the wool from their eyes. They are always completely shocked.
@Brent…yeah, bagels are shrinking back to what they were years ago. Because of IE’s point I imagine.
@Indianapoliseater… I hear people say that all the time. With mayo and big slices of bread, you are at 400 calories already.
@EatHSE..Looking at the picture, it doesn’t look that bad really. The turkey does remind me of the stuff you get in the jumbo packets with a ton of water added.
I prefer the Everything Bagel Dogs!