206- e Michigan Daily Week . Magazine -Thursday, ruary 6, 1997
BAGEL
WARS
Those who enter
into the battle:
Hours:
Place: Location: Phone:
Amer's
Bagel
Factory
Barry Bagel's
Bruegger's
Bagels
Einstein
Bros. Bagels
Jacques
Patisserie
Z ingerman's
Deli
312 S. State St.
1306 S.
University Ave.
2515 Jackson
Rd.
709 N.
University Ave.
307 S. State St.
715 N.
University Ave.
422 Detroit St.
761-6000 Monday-Friday, 7s
Saturday-Sunday,
12 p.m.
a.m.-12 p.m.;
8 a.m.-
LSA senior Chris Payne munches on a bagel at Einstein's Bros. Bagels.
BAGEL WARS
Continued from Page 3B
opposing camps.
"Our bagels are better - they're big-
ger," said Einstein's employee Randy
Howder, an LSA sophomore. "And we
have loyal customers, and they agree
we're better."
Howder did admit, however, that he
hasn't had an opportunity to compare
the two stores.
"I've never really been in
(Bruegger's),' Howder said. "It doesn't
seem like the kind of place I really want
to set foot in."
The stores' decor is another point of
contention. Bruegger's strives for an
upscale look, featuring enormous win-
dows and two levels of seating. On the
other hand, Einstein opts for a more
homey, earth-toned feel and a single
crowded seating area that helps you get
to know the people sitting next to you.
Surreal figures adorn the walls, includ-
ing a rather strange painting of a woman
clothed entirely in bagels.
"We have the big tables for studying,
and the music," said Einstein's employ-
ee Tom Herrgott, a junior in the
Business School. "This is more of a
social, friendly atmosphere."
Friendly, sure - if you like socializ-
ing in a war zone.
Fortunately, there is an alternative.
Simply walk down to the more relaxed,
fun-loving neighborhood of South
University. Just down the street from
Touchdown Cafe, Pinball Pete's and
Middle Earth is a bagel store with a
social conscience. The Bagel Factory is
a peace-loving hippie, a white dove soar-
ing over Ann Arbor's bagel battlefields.
The Bagel Factory opened in the
'60s, and it has continued its bagel tra-
dition for some 30 years. Although it's a
slightly longer walk, it offers much the
same fare as Bruegger's and Einstein's,
and at lower prices.
The Bagel Factory features 12 flavors
of bagels, along with different experi-
mental bagels. It offers sandwiches, chili
and drinks, as well as the ever-popular
Fragels - deep-fried raisin bagels coat-
ed in cinnamon and sugar. All of this
comes at a reasonable price - a plain
bagel with cream cheese is a mere $1.15.
While chain stores such as
Bruegger's and Einstein's are newcom-
ers to the area, the Bagel Factory has
roots in the Ann Arbor community. The
store donates bagels to area high
schools and local organizations, and it
has recently taken up a cause that's
close to Ann Arborites' hearts.
The Bagel Factory now sells T-shirts
- but not the kind you'd see at your
neighborhood Gap. These depict Shaky
Jake, a well-known Ann Arbor character,
holding a bagel. "We Bake for Jake," is
the Bagel Factory's new slogan.
"(Jake) is a bum, but he's kind of an
Ann Arbor legend," said Bagel Factory
employee Carolyn Munger, an
Engineering senior. "People who went
to school here will come back and say,
3-3345 Monday-Sunday, 6 a.m.-8 p.m.
2-2435 Monday-Saturday, 7:30 a.m.-
7 p.m.; Sunday, 7:30 a.m.- 3
p.m.
7-8561 Monday-Friday, 6:30 a.m.-
7 p.m.; Saturday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.;
Sunday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
1-9888 Monday-Saturday, 6:30 a.m.
8 p.m.; Sunday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
2-4700 Monday-Thursday, 7 a.m.-
7 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 7 a.m.-
5 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
3-3354 Monday-Sunday, 7 a.m.-10 p.m.
'Jake's still around?"'
Munger said that when the store sells
T-shirts, it keeps two-thirds of the T-
shirts' profits and gives Jake one-third.
For those who wish to claim neutrali-
ty in the bagel wars, a few nonaligned
bagel companies do exist.
Barry Bagel's supplies all University
cafeterias with bagels, as well as pro-
viding bagels for Cava Java and for
Eastern Michigan University in
Ypsilanti. The Barry's chain now has
seven store locations, including the 12-
year-old retail outlet in Ann Arbor's
Westgate Shopping Center.
"We provide I 1 types of bagels," said
Laura Wyvaz, a Barry's employee. "Our
bagels are cooked on pans, not directly
on the hearth, so they last longer."
There are other noncombatants in the
bagel wars, including Amer's, Jacques
Patisserie and Zingerman's.
Both Amer's, on State Street, and
Jacques, on North University, offer a
variety of bagel sandwiches, and
Jacques features a two-for-$4 deal on
bagel sandwiches.
Zingerman's is another local fixture,
one that especially emphasizes quality
and service - without flying shrapnel
to endanger customers.
"(We offer) larger bagels (that are)
fresher and softer," said Joel Miller,
bread manager at Zingerman's. "They
have larger raisins and blueberries, and
they're just really, really good."
These are the factions that fight the
bagel wars. All of them struggle to sur-
vive in Ann Arbor's cutthroat breakfast
business. As the story goes on, empires
will rise and fall. Fortunes will be made
and lost. But one thing is certain - the
bagel wars won't end any time soon.
As Miller said, "Bagels and coffee
are a way of life."
Lede
ndise
1S!
** -v
Ground Floor of the Michigan Union