Bagel Wars: 

Spot v. Cafe Fresh Bagel

By Madison Collins, Staff Writer

January 31, 2022            

Spot and Cafe Fresh Bagel are both very well-known bagel shops in Norwood and it is time to get to the bottom of which one is the better bagel shop.


I wanted to get some insight on what the high school students of Norwood thought about this competition and let the students decide who wins the battle, Spot, or Cafe Fresh Bagel.


Natalie Gale, a sophomore at NHS lives right next to Cafe Fresh Bagel and thinks that it’s just as good if not better than spot. Gale says “Cafe Fresh is so good and I honestly don’t get the hype about Spot that you would wait over an hour for a bagel.”


Bert Martir, also a sophomore at NHS has a different opinion. Martir says “Spot all the way. No competition”.


Not only am I going to be judging the taste but I’m going to be testing how long it takes to get a single bagel and if it was really worth the wait.


Round one: Wait time 


My first stop was Cafe Fresh Bagel and so far so good. I was able to get a parking spot, always a plus. To truly put it to the test I went on the busiest day with the most chaotic time- 9 a.m on a Saturday. 

The wait was slightly out the door but the line moved surprisingly pretty quickly. As I was waiting I noticed a system that made the line go quickly. Customers get their tub of cream cheese from the fridge if they were getting a dozen bagels and either go to the cash payment spot or the card payment spot. Each worker had a job to do based on what the customer ordered so there was no mix-up or chaos behind the counter. 

I waited 25 minutes for one single bagel on their busiest day so that is pretty good in my book. 

When it came to Spot, getting a bagel took quite a bit longer.

On Spot’s busiest day and time, I went to see if I could get a bagel. I did get the bagel but it took 1 hour and 9 minutes to get one singular bagel. 

Final Round: Taste 

You would think that each bagel would have the same taste but apparently, that is not the case. The biggest difference between the bagels I found was the thickness. While Cafe Fresh Bagel's bagels were bigger, Spots bagels were smaller and fluffier. 

It depends on which type you prefer. For me personally, I would have a Cafe Fresh Bagel more for breakfast and a Spot bagel for lunch, but that is just my preference. Although that is not the question we are answering today.

If I had to choose between Cafe Fresh Bagel and Spot my vote would go to Cafe Fresh Bagel as the winner. I chose Cafe Fresh Bagel because you get more for the same price as Spot and I personally prefer the bigger bagels that are on the thin side, not too fluffy but not too thin and that is exactly what Cafe Fresh Bagel provides.