Carolina Bagel Bakery Cafe

Worst customer service I have ever experienced. Rude beyond words. I don’t know how this place stays open. I felt bad for coming in and being a nuisance by being a customer. And did I mention how filthy this place is? I ate here once and it will never happen again.

Oh boy, where to begin. What a horrible experience.
When we first walked in, the bakery items looked really good! Then we got to the counter… that’s when we quickly learned we had made a horrible mistake by walking into this hell-​hole.
The owner came up to the counter and just stood there without saying a word. My partner pointed at the interesting looking triangular pastry and asked «what is in this».
She rudely responded with «Huh? Huh? I can’t hear you. Whch one?»
He pointed again and tried to pronounce the name of it but it was a hard word to pronounce.
She rolled her eyes and pronounced it correctly followed by «you gentiles never know how to say that».
What?!!
Then he asked what’s inside of it? Her snooty response was «it’s delicious… very delicious»
Again, yes, we know that, but what’s in it?
Again she wouldn’t give us an answer, as if we were inconveniencing her by asking a question.
So, I chimed in and said I will take an everything bagle please.
With which she snapped «which one?»
Uhhhh…the everything one.
«Which one?» She said again. «There are two»
But she never explained that there was a white and a wheat one… how would we know that if it wasn’t labeled?!
It was a game that she clearly enjoys playing. Make the customer feel stupid for asking questions.
At this point we had had enough of her horrible customer service and I told her she was being very rude and that we were leaving.
Her response was «well, I’m not southern».
Being southern does not only equate with having manners and basic customer service. ANYONE, ANYWHERE operating a business should have this as part of their core values!
We left feeling stunned at how rude this woman was towards her customers… and we were the only ones in there! So, off to Dunkin Donuts next door, where they were very familiar with the complaints against this lady.
Do not give this place your business! The owner really has some serious issues and it is a shame since the product looked pretty good, but her behavior and attitude will leave a horrible taste in your mouth.

The bagels here are very very good I am orginally from New York and better than New York bagels. A little pricey but worth it. Got hired here though with my fiancé and the woman who works there said she would call us when we’re needed but never called back other than that though the bagels are good.

I friend of mine from out of town had the horror of eating at this place. I had no clue she was going or I’d have warned her far away from this place.
I felt it was my responsibility to write this review not only due to the fact that I’ve eaten here, unfortunately, but also because I’ve worked here. It was a long time ago but I felt it was time to spill the dirty, dirty beans so to speak.
This place is filthy. I want to be clear about that fact right off the bat. Do you see that fresh, crisp piece of lettuce? Brenda, the owner, and Darwin, the baker and her husband, once asked us to wash the brown lettuce off with soap and water in hopes of «perking it back up.» I’m not quite sure Brenda understands how lettuce works. It was brown. Water isn’t going to magically cure anything — especially if we’re pumping hand soap on it.
Behind the counter is incredibly nasty. I don’t know how many times we used to cut the mold off cheese and use it for customers. Needless to say I was a lot younger then and really just wanted to keep a job until I left for college. There is a cooler, or there was during my era, where Brenda would make us shift around the milk until we got the expired milks at the back where, she hoped, someone would be dumb enough to buy it. The same goes for chips. Make careful note of the chip bags when you buy them. Most are expired or close to being there. While cleaning the rack one evening I found a chip back a YEAR expired. I was told to leave it on there for yet another unsuspecting customer.
On one occasion I came in early one morning and found my coworker washing Brenda, the owners, dogs in a baby pool in the back of the restaurant. Why? I don’t know. Your guess would be as good as mine. Highlights of my era included the baker, Darwin, trying to climb into the bagel oven during a manic episode, Brenda constantly yelling at customers, and dealing with spoiled food throughout the day. The bad thing for customers willing to eat here is the fact that Darwin would usually go next door to the bar (I’m not sure if the bar is still there), get drunk, then come back to try and bake food he constantly ruined.
But the single worst moment of my time there was this. I want customers to read this close and remember it the next time they consider buying anything from this shop. An incredibly sweet and lovely older woman would come in every Saturday morning for a fresh pumpernickel bagel with butter. I adored her. One morning after Darwin came in drunk and didn’t start the bagels until late, we didn’t have one. So Brenda instructed myself and another coworker to go out to the dumpster, climb in, rip open a bag of old bagels, and get out a pumpernickel bagel for this woman. I literally gave a woman a bagel out of the trash. It still haunts me.
Not long after that I left for college. I warn friends and family away from there when I can. Brenda and her husband are dishonest and rude. While I left the bakery on good terms, have no ill will, I feel like customers should be treated to quality food and customer service when they spend their hard earned money somewhere.
So if you want dumpster bagels, moldy cheese, expired breads, and coffee warmed from the night before — this is the place for you!

My mother and I went in to grab lunch today. There was one table with three people already eating and only my mother and I in line. (That should have been our sign.) We stood waiting for someone to come take our order for about 8 minutes. There was a lady in the back, working on making food. She never looked up in acknowledgement, so, my mother said «Hello.» We thought maybe she didn’t hear us. She said, «Be right there.» However, she kept working and didn’t seem in a hurry to take our order. When she came out, she said, «What would you like.» I said, «A how ham and cheese on an everything bagel.» She didn’t look at me and said, «Which one.» I said, «Umm.I guess the one with the E.T. That everything.» She again, rudely this time, «Which one.» I was confused at this point. I said «Umm…» The. Very rudely she said, We have TWO. A white or wheat.” She spoke like I was stupid and as though she didn’t want to serve us. That’s when we left. I’ve heard that the owner is rude here but never experienced it til now. I will NOT be returning and will not recommend to my friends. As we left, I also noticed the sanitation score was low. My feelings are that if you don’t want customers in your bakery, then stop serving and close the doors because that’s the way you are headed.

Desserts are good… but the last time I was there I got a cherry danish. The owner said” that will be $ 2.95.” I was like wow has she went up on prices? To high for that flat danish. Owner is also kinda rude.

The bagels are good, but the owner is extremely rude with no customer service skills.

The owner is very rude to customers, the place is filthy and the bagels are not always fresh. Yuk!

Used to be good. Not so much any more.

I am a little upset with this bakery, I called today to see if they made soda bread and they did. The lady on the phone asked if I wanted to place an order and I did, I ordered two loaves to pick up Saturday for a party I was attending on Sunday and all was confirmed. Then I got a call several hours later stating they could not accommodate my two loaves for Saturday. I am surprised that they could not make two extra loaves since they had already taken the order. I tried to get them at 12 noon the next day but they said it would be 2 pm before I could pick them up my function is 1 pm Sunday. I can make them myself but I was going for convenience not happy but what’s a girl to do. L. Powell Newton N.C.

I could not believe how dirty everything was. I was very skeptical about ordering and when we received our sandwiches the meat was discolored and smelled. The owner said «we usually cut that part off»??? I asked when she had purchased it and she avoided my question. We ordered a chicken noodle soup and there was no chicken in it. We left without eating anything and our check was $ 25. No refund was offered to us.

My wife has been here a couple of times in the past few years with so-​so results. I decided to stop by there a few weeks ago instead of the Dunkin Donuts next door to «help the locals» during my weekend long walk (5+ miles). First off, I had a bagel that had excellent texture and flavor… that’s the positive part and why it’s ANY stars. I also ordered coffee (I just wanted a plain black). My bill came to around $ 6…a little high, but I was OK with it. I got a cup for my coffee, and there were probably a dozen caraffes of coffee out there — I mixed a couple I thought were unflavored… they were all cold. After I sat down, I heard other people asking if they could get their coffee microwaved… wish I had too. If you can’t maintain that many caraffes, offer less choices and keep an eye on them! It took a long time to get my bagel toasted (around 10 minutes). I took a couple of bites, but noticing that there was maybe 2 – 3 mm of cream cheese between the bagel (I like LOTS of cream cheese), I asked if I could order some more. I was walking and only had a few dollar wrapped in a rubber band, but I thought it might be 30 or 40 cents, which I still had… after the clerk/​baker discussed with the manager, she brought over a tiny salad dressing plastic cup, she said it was $ 2.12!!! I said I just couldn’t do that… I was tempted to walk across the street to Lowe’s Foods to get a whole tub for a few pennies more! The cold (expensive, for plain) coffee, and the long wait time I was OK with, but that cream cheese thing was the last straw! We won’t be going there again!

If I could score this place zero stars it would be too much! I purchase 2 sandwiches there today for lunch costing 20 $ and both sogging and disgusting! Wont do biz there ever again!

The owners are beyond crazy. I worked for Dunkin when it opened and the owners Super Glued notes on employees cars. Police got involved!!! She would scream and cuss us. Weirdo.

Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever been treated as a customer like this before. I pull up at 6:50 AM, doors are locked so I call the business to make sure of their posted hours. I’m assuming it was the owner that answered and said she had overslept this morning, she asked if I was outside and said she would open the doors in about 5 minutes. It was 35 degrees outside so I went back to the car to wait 5 minutes. After 5 minutes I go back up to the door, still locked. Assuming that she would be there in just a minute or two I decide to wait by the door. I left after 15 more minutes of waiting outside in the cold, even knocked on the door. Sad thing for the local owner is I was there to purchase a rather large order of bagels and muffins for a meeting. …she will not have to worry about me ever patronizing her business again. There are plenty of other places around that actually value their customers. 0 stars.

I worked here years ago one of my first jobs out of high school as a college student. She paid minimum wage and treated her employed like crap! She used to scold me in front of customers and make me feel like an idiot. Her husband used to go get drunk at the bar next door and leave me there by myself. One day the register I was using came up $ 20 short, which we all used the same register, no way to keep up with each person. I ended up finding a better job down the street. She took $ 20 out of my check TWO weeks in a row.
But back to the actual review, they keep the same bagels day after day. They are NOT baked fresh daily. They also charge ridiculous amounts for the bagels and cream cheese. Also charging for each extra jelly or butter or sugar! She told us just to add the charges in without even telling the customers, that they will never notice it. And most of the time they didn’t! I’m glad dunkin donuts and Panera Bread and other shops have opened up to put competition up. Hopefully she will reconsider her prices and ethics to keep her restaurant in business. I also see I’m not the only one with this opinion. A manager should never belittle employees in front of customers or engage in arguments with paying customers.

When here one morning and ordered a breakfast bagel sandwich. The bagel was dry the egg was overdone and the cheese was processed. If I wanted something like that I would go to McDonald’s what I was hoping for was a great local bakery experience. It didn’t happen.

I’d been wanting to try this local bagel shop since we moved to town a couple months ago and today was the day. Got excited when I walked in… it smelled like a bagel shop, the muffins looked delicious, and the menu was extensive.
Waited just a moment for the owner (I think?) to come up front. Placed my order and was immediately shocked at the unexpected rudeness (I had neglected to specify which type of bagel I wanted my sandwich on). Then after I mentioned being new to town, she went on and on about the merits of her place… things I would normally be interested in, but as a former long-​time server and current retail worker, she lost me at rude. Sorry. Too bad, because the bagels were very good. Had planned to order more, but thought better of it.
The irony of it all? A sign posted near the register states, «Now hiring pleasant people.» Ha! I can only hope the pleasant new hire will deal with customers while the owner stays in the back baking.

I was a loyal customer to Carolina Bagel for some time, despite feeling berated every time I visited the café. There is no bagel or pastry good enough to be treated so poorly. Most of the staff appear to be friendly, but look so worn down by negativity that mediocre service is all they can muster. If I was treated politely, there are some things I would be willing to overlook (like constantly old milk and creamer sitting out for coffee… it’s a easy fix, but shouldn’t be a common mistake). I will always prefer to buy and eat local, but given the choice here, Panera (just a block away) is the better option. Part of what makes local businesses so exceptional is their friendliness — sadly, not so at Carolina Bagel Bakery.

Longing for something other than a chain-​restaurant order by number special for a recent breakfast while working in town, I came upon Carolina Bagel and am happy I did so. The focus is homemade bagels that are rather large and made in the old– European style. Have yours with either a spread of cream cheese or with egg and fixings and you’ve got more than enough breakfast for one. The bagel itself is commendable– slightly firm on the outside but with a great chewy tooth on the inside. No doubt these are homemade and fresh. Lots of options to pick from, with some interesting whole wheat options.
Having been impressed with breakfast, I recently returned for lunch. Sandwiches galore on either a bagel or an assortment of home-​baked breads. Plenty of options to choose from. On my visit, though, I was a little sketched by the fact the sandwich was not prepared on the counter in front of me, but rather in the back kitchen area. I was later told it was because that was where their working ‘fridge was located, but it did little to assuage the fears I had with watching my bagel run to the back room only to return transformed into a fully complete sandwich. I might have also had a wee bit ‘o panic when my server asked her companion, «Do we still have any hummus anywhere?» Thoughts of food-​borne illnesses aside, it worked out okay. Sandwhich was loaded with hummus and veggies and was quite tasty. Personal note to self: Add to list of things never to say in front of your customer.
My prime issue here is that I have been the only customer inside the store for each order I’ve made. Admittedly I took my food to go, but that was in part due to the fact the rest of the place was a ghost-​town. Whenever trying someplace new, a distinct lack of other folks trying the same is a detriment to my overall confidence that I am in the right place to begin with. I can only imagine the other regular patrons (cue crickets chirping) must feel the same.
Aside from the bagels and sandwiches, there are a couple of pastry and baked good display cases that tempt all who pass their way. Shelves of tremendous looking pies, cookies and other tender pastries all look divine. They are also a bit pricey in my experience, as are most non-​breakfast offerings here. And while everything looks good behind the glass, with so few people around, I am always debating with myself, «How long has this been here?»
Until this and other mysteries are answered, I’ll stick to breakfast and go with what I know, which is that Carolina Bagel Bakery deserves more credit for being home to a skillfully baked breakfast that isn’t premade and frozen weeks beforehand. For that alone, I’ll return.