"Miami was not a bagel city. Then Miami was a bagel city. And the axis between these two points in time is a king guava on an everything from El Bagel. When this food truck first popped up in 2017 behind a Wynwood brewery, it served brutally delicious reminders of what we’d been missing, and sweaty locals forgave the hour-long wait after a bite or three. Today, El Bagel operates in two locations in Miami: the original MiMo shop and the somehow more minuscule Coconut Grove location (as well as one in Las Vegas, for some reason). photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc The El Bagel empire is built on a bagel that’s fluffy and firm in the right places. The exterior has a blistered crust full of tiny bubbles, but rip one open and the puffy center springs back if you poke it. And, crucially, El Bagel covers their seeded bagels generously with seasoning—never only on one side, which is the gravest bagel sin in our eyes. You could take home a bag of them with a tub of schmear, but these bagels shine brightest in sandwich form, stuffed generously and wrapped tightly in parchment paper. There was a time you had to set an alarm on a Saturday morning to place an order before they sold out. That’s not the case anymore. Order online before noon, and a half hour later you can waltz right past the line of tourists who don’t know better. Plan on taking your food to go, unless you’re comfortable sitting on a partially shaded bench in what was once their lone parking space. (Legion Park is also across the street, which is ideal for picnics and also hosts a stellar farmers market on Saturdays.) More than five years in, El Bagel has become like Courage in LA or Apollo in NYC, the kind of shop that acts as a new-school bagel ambassador to a world all too eager to declare the line not worth it. You can probably find people who’ll say that about El Bagel, but it’s far easier to locate someone who rightly signed a lease because it was within walking distance. That’s the power of a foundational bagel shop—it becomes part of the city's routine, evolving Miami's breakfast culture and officially declaring our stance as a bagel city. Food Rundown photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc King Guava An only-in-Miami bagel at an only-in-Miami bagel shop. If you like a sweet and salty flavor combination, this combination of guava marmalade, papitas, and a fried egg is as magnificent as it is messy. Don’t eat it on a date. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc The 69th Street It’s practically impossible to find great pastrami in this city. But the pastrami they use on this sandwich—a spiritual cousin of a reuben—is excellent. It’s rich, and portioned judicially, so as not to overwhelm the whole operation. We like this one best on a rosemary salt bagel. EB Original The EB comes with thick bacon, scallion cream cheese, and (the best part) roasted jalapeños that add just enough heat to let you know they’re there. This one is so good, it makes a case for roasted jalapeños being a top-three bagel topping. photo credit: Tasty Planet Whitefish Girlie The soft whitefish salad is supported by a crisp layer of cucumber. There are a lot of salty, heavy options on the menu. But this one is almost refreshing. photo credit: Tasty Planet BEC We won’t waste time explaining what a BEC is to you. But we will pause to acknowledge the perfectly cooked egg, which is jammy but not a yolky mess. video credit: Ryan Pfeffer Black & White Cookie Another classic that’s hard to find properly done in Miami. While we could do with a millimeter thicker layer of icing, we have no notes on the spongy cookie and mathematically even ratios of dark chocolate and vanilla-lemon icing." - Ryan Pfeffer
