Einstein Bros Bagels

Extremely friendly staff and great food

Posvar Hall’s Einsteins Bagels is a virtual paradise found in a building of never-​relenting fluorescent light fixtures and misappropriation of architectural space. Each day at 2:33 PM, my body is drawn up from my work desk to stand in line at Einsteins. I go to purchase their 540-​calore sugar cookie– but I am primarily drawn out of my office by the scent of hope — the hope that work can be something more than feeling your eyeballs enlarging each second by the light emitted by your computer screen. That work can be a social family of sorts. That work can be chumming with your friends, slicing bagels and counting how many bacon-​egg-​and-​cheddar sandwiches you have sold each day. One woman sings to herself and she has serious talent. Another woman made my everything bagel with cream cheese rather than butter, and threw in the erroneous bagel FREE. OF. COST. A pregnant worker shines her motherly aura over the bagel bins and cream cheese tubs. From my desk, I can hear them call customers’ names. JILLIAN. ALLIE. THOMAS. The gospel of egg sandwiches. Have you heard the good word? God bless the service industry.

This Einstein is in the Swanson School of Engineering building, right across from WPIC, and I used to pass it every morning on my walk into lab. Generally in the morning there is a line, but as long as it’s not going out the door, then you’ll move pretty quickly. It’s an Einstein’s, you know– the bagels are OK. For a non-​coffee, chain restaurant, their coffee is actually pretty good. The small is huge and costs around $ 2. They’ll even give you steamed milk for free if you like to drink café au laits like me (just don’t call it a café au lait. They will have zero clue as to what you’re talking about).