R&A Sourdough

"R&A Sourdough has the best bagels in the city. They’re hand-rolled, kettle-boiled, baked onsite, and, as the name suggests, are made from sourdough. That flavor comes through in a tangy and squishy crumb that has just the right amount of loft, wrapped in a lightly bubbled crust. You can get the usual variety, but there are also flavors like rosemary and pink salt, za’atar, and oats and honey (the latter tastes suspiciously like dessert when paired with the maple cinnamon schmear). The bagel sandwiches are pretty good too—our favorite is the Youngster, which comes with cream cheese, cheddar, egg, hot honey bacon, and hot sauce. R&A is in Ravenswood and is only open until 2pm during the week and 1pm on weekends, so our advice? Go early, and go often." - veda kilaru, john ringor

"R&A Sourdough is a small carryout-only bakery in Ravenswood, which happens to have the best bagels in Chicago, and one of the best breakfast sandwiches. The Youngster is on R&A’s “special sammies” menu—and it must be special since it takes 10 long minutes to build this masterpiece. The bagel of your choosing comes with perfect layers of plain schmear, a fluffy scrambled egg, thick slices of hot honey bacon, some melty cheddar in case the cream cheese wasn’t enough, and hot sauce to cut through all the richness." - john ringor, veda kilaru

"Remember that massive sourdough moment in the stages of the pandemic? While many have since set their starters aside, spouses Rachel and Adam Beltzman have turned their socially distanced distraction into a tiny takeout-only bakery in Ravenswood and winning hearts all over town with their distinctive sourdough bagels. In addition to an impressive roster of varieties like za’atar, oats-and-honey, and rosemary with pink salt, the shop is also curing, smoking, and slicing its own nova lox, corned beef, and pastrami. Place orders for carryout and delivery online." - Naomi Waxman, Eater Staff

"R&A Sourdough is a small bakery in Ravenswood, which just so happens to have the best bagels in Chicago. They’re hand-rolled, kettle-boiled, baked onsite, and, as the name suggests, made from sourdough. Besides interesting bagel flavors like rosemary and pink salt, or za’atar, you can also get lox, bialys, bagel dogs, and sandwiches—our favorite is the Youngster, which comes with cream cheese, cheddar, egg, hot honey bacon, and hot sauce. R&A is a carryout spot only, and there’s a convenient walk-up window if you’re so late for work that you can’t spare the extra 30 seconds to go inside to place your order." - Veda Kilaru