On route to my brother's SAT prep, I stopped at Einstein's because we were in a bagel kind of mood. Einstein's seems pretty popular on weekend mornings, and rightly so. I had myself a turkey BAT (bacon-avocado-tomato) sandwich on an everything bagel and it was pretty dang delicious, even though I couldn't eat it until I arrived at my destination because I was driving. I can't remember what my brother got, he but seemed to like it. Good breakfast place, for sure. It's convenient and the food is good. I was able to get in and out relatively fast, too. Always a plus. :)
(4)
Steve C.
Decent bagels. Extremely hot coffee. A little dingy (unclean). Also very very loud! It seems like they could often use just one more employee on duty. Countless times the cashier has to deliver food to people in the seating area, or refill the coffee bar. That slows down checkout. And do you really want to irritate customers at THE INSTANT they are giving you their money? Make them HAPPY as they give you money!
(3)
Matt B.
Go across the turnpike. This place has serious management problems. The service was slow, the coffee was stale, the bagels were squishy, the tables were dirty, and the room was uncomfortable from the blowing cold air.
(1)
Nicole H.
Einstein's is decent. I've been to this location a few times and it seems to be a popular spot with the locals. People are constantly bumping into other people they know. Their offering/menu is alright. Prices are fair. I wish they had more variety of bagels (like sun-dried tomato and pesto!) but they are sufficient. The coffee is kept super hot! It's hard to complain about coffee being too hot but really, it was still too hot to drink after sitting 30-minutes in my cup. I imagine that for most folks that add sweeteners and cream/milk to their coffee this could create a perfect temp, but I take my coffee black so it's a little much. I do like that they encourage people to bring their own mugs for a discounted pour. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Good for you Einstein's. The staff here are friendly and well engaged with customers. All around a good place.
(4)
Mike C.
Update: We do enjoy their food, but based on numerous visits, this location does a poor job when it gets busy. During this past visit, we couldn't find a table (not their fault it's busy), but as tables became open, they were dirty and not cleaned. Customers just kept sitting at the dirty tables left by others. The carpet was a mess as well. They were out of many bagels. I ordered our usual pizza bagels and a single toasted bagel: It took about 15 minutes for my name to be called. I would probably rate the experience as 2 stars, except for two things: (1) the pizza bagels were really good and (2) the manager made his way around the place and took the time to specifically apologize to us about the wait for our pizza bagels. Conclusion: The food is good, but try to go during a non-busy time -- but don't wait too late because they run out of popular bagel choices.
(3)
Tracey C.
Cranberry turkey panini. Pretty good although they were tight with the cranberry. Very busy place, need to clean tables better. Had to wipe my own down. $12 for big panini, bag of chips, drink and yummy brownie. Good deal! Cashier that took my order was super nice.
(4)
Caroline N.
Ordered a plain bagel with cream cheese + an iced latte. The drink came out way before my bagel did; the wait was too long in my opinion. Yes, it was pretty busy Sunday around 11am, so everyone's waiting long for their food. This is actually my first time trying out Einstein Bagels; the food and latte tasted good. Besides the long wait, they said they ran out of the milk (skim) I wanted; that was a bummer. I think next time I come, I'll try other sandwiches on their menu at a non-peak hour...
(4)
Stanley R.
I have moved to the area and have given this place at least 6 different tries. I have no complaints with the actual food but service and getting the orders correct is a miss all the time. Listen if you can not get a bagel out in a decent time maybe you should nix the drive though. I always wait too long and when I get the food its wrong. I just don't think they can handle the volume of people plus a drive through at this location. the management just looked dazed and see no one taking charge.
(2)
Lauren T.
The past three times we've gone through the drive thru they have messed up our order. They never get everything we order and we have to sit there for 15-20 minutes each time while we reorder and wait. And two out of three times when we order a meal they don't give us the pickle and sides that are supposed to come with it. The food is great though, just not the service.
(2)
Brooke T.
Stopped in on a random Friday morning, what I thought was after the morning rush. Unfortunately this was not so. You wait in line and order at one location, your order is completed in between as you wait to pay or pick up additional items at another location. The line did not move quickly, as the poor cashier at the end had to collect orders, make drinks and take money. While on the line, other workers are offering to help someone who is clearly behind on completing orders, she profusely declines the help; of course, despite a line of customers waiting for food. This system made no sense to me. My food came out before I could pay. I had to wait in line having to wait with the food which you hope would be warm....once it is actually time to eat it. I chose the everything bagel with salmon, cream cheese, and all the fixins. The bagel was fair to middling at best. I definitely had better bagels and a better salmon sandwich. There was an abundance of cream cheese and IMO an minimal amount of salmon. It just didn't match. The busyness of the location, and the inability of the staff to keep up, in addition to fair to middling bagel...nah I don't think I'll be back.
(2)
Dan M.
The store was dirty. The food was barely mediocre. The problem was the ingredients are shite particularly the tomatoes. The coffee was truly awful. The customer service was okay, but some of the workers were just subpar. I would boil this down to a management problem.
(1)
Patrick B.
There is nothing here that sets this place up for anything but two stars... Overpriced, crowded, and everything is pre-cooked. The bagels are too bad but everything else seemed like plastic. Only stop in here if you need a quick bite but do not expect greatness.
(2)
Jennifer Y.
I like the bagels here but it's not worth the wait-inside standing in line or the drive through. I don't get their system, order here ad pay there. It's disorganized and time consuming while the cashier tries to match your order. I've paid for wrong orders and it's a hassle for them to correct it. Also, how in the world do you you run out of regular coffee at 9:30am. Anyway, coffee is pretty bad being a coffee snob that I am. Oh, and I got reprimanded for confusing lox with salmon when placing my order. Yeah, not going back.
(2)
Doug H.
Out of lox? What?
(1)
Ken L.
This review comes after occasionally stopping in over a 3 year period. Nothing has changed, the poor service is a constant. The only explanation for the regular business that this establishment does is the lack of a competitor. Panera Bread would be a huge hit and you'd see Einstein disappear in a month. Why? The food is fairly good but the service is terrible. Terrible. The staff are surly and often ask you to repeat your order 3x, then they still get it wrong. Waits of 15 minutes in the drive thru are not uncommon. I rarely hear "thank you". I blame this on the management. Perhaps they are incapable of paying their employees reasonable wages. Or maybe they just have no idea how to run a business. Either way, hiring stoner kids and angry staff does not reflect well at all on the Einstein brand (other places do a much, much better job!). Here's an example. Pull up to the drive thru at end of line of 5 cars. Wait 5 minutes before reaching order station. Order 2 bagel sandwiches and 2 fruit smoothies. Get asked to repeat the order. Twice. Then a gruff "pull around". Get to the window after another 5 minute wait. Cashier takes another 3 minutes to get order to me. Smoothies are only 3/4 full in the cup. I ask where the rest is and the reply, a flippant "I'll get you next time". Dude, really? I'm really not expecting much, but the bad attitude makes me question why I hand over money to these goofballs.
(2)
Yaofu Z.
I got moldy fruit cup. Their QC could be improved for sure. When I pointed it out to the cashier, he basically took it back without saying anything, hang around and talked to another coworker. Then he probably realized that I still stand there and wait for a response. He looked around and got me another fruit cup, saying "here you go", like it is part of regular business. I will probably not come back any time soon. The sandwich is just OK.
(1)
Trish M.
I'm sitting in my car in the parking lot as I write this because my experience was so unpleasant that this couldn't wait. The food here is just OK. Nothing too spectacular to report. If you're craving a solid bagel sandwich I would tell you to drive further down the road to Panera. I do like the choice of fruit that comes with the sandwich- so there's your extra star. My main problem with this place, which is why I rated it so slow, is the service. You order in one spot, wait to pay and then wait for your food. I don't think it is a bad process, but could be done much faster with more people working. During the lunch rush there was only one person on the food line while one person took orders and another person handled the cash register. I think the man working the food line must have been in charge because he was bossy and incredibly rude to the other staff. He told one of them that he was "working with idiots today" in front of other customers and continually critiqued the process of locating customers that had sat down while waiting and offered no suggestions to improve it. This place also does not have a good concept of what their ingredient/supplies demands are. While I was eating, I saw one of the employees walking back from grocery store with lettuce, napkins, toilet paper and a few other items. Maybe if you didn't have to send our your staff to replenish staple items your assembly line would be more smooth?
(2)
Caitlin E.
Met a girlfriend to play catch up on a Thursday morning. Almost all the tables were taken! Great everything bagel and good coffee. They also have big table for parties of 6 or more. To go bagels by the dozen are offered.
(4)
Rebecca B.
Cranberry Bagels....lightly toasted with butter. Need not say more, except I wish there was a location near where I now live.
(4)
Mark E.
Nice concept; flawed in execution. Service line could not keep pace with even a modest sized crowd (see many other Yelp reviews). Indoor air temp 62 degrees. Must be 90+ decibels of a background din that hurts the eardrums. Sitting on the dining area, I could not hear myself type this review. Breakfast fare is tasty enough, but the atmosphere detracted significantly. Bottom line is this is a fine carryout venue; pricing is fair and you do get what you pay for. On-premises eating simply is too much of a negative experience in terms of creature comforts. I'll take my hard-earned rubles, yen and dinars elsewhere. I'm done here, forever.
(2)
Laura W.
So I had stopped going to this restaurant because the service was horrible. I went back last week because I had a craving for an asiago bagel dog. Soooo glad I did. The guy at the drive thru went the extra mile to recommend a side and made sure the onions were cooked. I thought I would call the manager to tell them about my positive experience. The phone was answered by a kind and polite young lady. They have my business back. Great staff!!
(5)
Trish A.
This place is pretty big, and even though we were there during a busy rush hour, it was clean and looked pretty uncluttered. The sandwiches we got were exactly what we had expected. The complaint i have is that they just sort of shove your sandwich onto the counter and mumble your name. You seriously need to stay right in front of them to make sure you get your order - we asked them three times if they had called our name, and they said no each time. And then we found our order getting cold sitting on the counter by the register. Fail.
(3)
Wayne G.
These are soft breads, not bagels except by appearance. The place is also behind on cleaning.
(2)
A L.
This place is the worst. The food was pretty decent I admit, but service ruined everything for me. I went in sunday morning, and it was crowded. But that is not an excuse for what they did. I ordered two paninis and waited on the side, and they called my name. They gave me a bag and I found out it was a wrong order when I came out. So I came back and told them it was wrong, and the worker didn't apologize, instead she looked at me up and down, and went back to her duties. VERY RUDE. I could've punched that little indian girl's face. Then I waited 30 minutes for my orders to get ready again, and I was watching the kitchen the WHOLE TIME. they didn't start my order until after I asked them at least three times how long it was going to take. And then the cashier girl kept complaining about getting off and going home..... rude rude rude rude. I was late for church.
(1)
Yaka H.
The last few times I've been here have been during the morning rush hours. Each time, after waiting in a long line, almost the entire selection of bagels have been depleted. Sadness... as a bagel shop, why not make more bagels if you anticipate a heavy morning rush? This has happened on both weekends and weekdays. It makes me sad that I have to decide between the 3 most unwanted types of bagels every time it's my turn to order at the counter... all that's left is that double chocolate, good grains, and potato. :(
(2)
Lauren W.
I love this place, maybe it's just comfort food for me but my staple is a blueberry bagel with cream cheese. I've gotten this since I was a little girl. In the fall I've broadened my horizons to a yummy pumpkin bagel with pumpkin cream cheese! In fact, I can't wait to come back here for another bagel! For lunch I have often ordered the pizza bagels which never disappoint.
(4)
Mat P.
Stopped by on a Sunday morning around 10:15am for the first time. It was crowded and there was a decent line (about 10 people in front of me when I walked in the door), but the staff kept it moving along, and it gave me enough time to see what they had to offer on their diverse menu. I tried their 'Spicy Elmo' egg wrap. I was surprised that it actually was kinda spicy thanks to the green chili and spicy red chili cream cheese and it tasted awesome. I also tried an asiago cheese bagel thin with sun dried tomato spread- also delicious.
(4)
stewie h.
microwaved bagels?? why would you microwave bread??
(2)
Sorry, we don't have Q&A for this restaurant.
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Address :9250 Baltimore National Pike
Ellicott City, MD, 21042
Starr C.
On route to my brother's SAT prep, I stopped at Einstein's because we were in a bagel kind of mood. Einstein's seems pretty popular on weekend mornings, and rightly so. I had myself a turkey BAT (bacon-avocado-tomato) sandwich on an everything bagel and it was pretty dang delicious, even though I couldn't eat it until I arrived at my destination because I was driving. I can't remember what my brother got, he but seemed to like it. Good breakfast place, for sure. It's convenient and the food is good. I was able to get in and out relatively fast, too. Always a plus. :)
(4)Steve C.
Decent bagels. Extremely hot coffee. A little dingy (unclean). Also very very loud! It seems like they could often use just one more employee on duty. Countless times the cashier has to deliver food to people in the seating area, or refill the coffee bar. That slows down checkout. And do you really want to irritate customers at THE INSTANT they are giving you their money? Make them HAPPY as they give you money!
(3)Matt B.
Go across the turnpike. This place has serious management problems. The service was slow, the coffee was stale, the bagels were squishy, the tables were dirty, and the room was uncomfortable from the blowing cold air.
(1)Nicole H.
Einstein's is decent. I've been to this location a few times and it seems to be a popular spot with the locals. People are constantly bumping into other people they know. Their offering/menu is alright. Prices are fair. I wish they had more variety of bagels (like sun-dried tomato and pesto!) but they are sufficient. The coffee is kept super hot! It's hard to complain about coffee being too hot but really, it was still too hot to drink after sitting 30-minutes in my cup. I imagine that for most folks that add sweeteners and cream/milk to their coffee this could create a perfect temp, but I take my coffee black so it's a little much. I do like that they encourage people to bring their own mugs for a discounted pour. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Good for you Einstein's. The staff here are friendly and well engaged with customers. All around a good place.
(4)Mike C.
Update: We do enjoy their food, but based on numerous visits, this location does a poor job when it gets busy. During this past visit, we couldn't find a table (not their fault it's busy), but as tables became open, they were dirty and not cleaned. Customers just kept sitting at the dirty tables left by others. The carpet was a mess as well. They were out of many bagels. I ordered our usual pizza bagels and a single toasted bagel: It took about 15 minutes for my name to be called. I would probably rate the experience as 2 stars, except for two things: (1) the pizza bagels were really good and (2) the manager made his way around the place and took the time to specifically apologize to us about the wait for our pizza bagels. Conclusion: The food is good, but try to go during a non-busy time -- but don't wait too late because they run out of popular bagel choices.
(3)Tracey C.
Cranberry turkey panini. Pretty good although they were tight with the cranberry. Very busy place, need to clean tables better. Had to wipe my own down. $12 for big panini, bag of chips, drink and yummy brownie. Good deal! Cashier that took my order was super nice.
(4)Caroline N.
Ordered a plain bagel with cream cheese + an iced latte. The drink came out way before my bagel did; the wait was too long in my opinion. Yes, it was pretty busy Sunday around 11am, so everyone's waiting long for their food. This is actually my first time trying out Einstein Bagels; the food and latte tasted good. Besides the long wait, they said they ran out of the milk (skim) I wanted; that was a bummer. I think next time I come, I'll try other sandwiches on their menu at a non-peak hour...
(4)Stanley R.
I have moved to the area and have given this place at least 6 different tries. I have no complaints with the actual food but service and getting the orders correct is a miss all the time. Listen if you can not get a bagel out in a decent time maybe you should nix the drive though. I always wait too long and when I get the food its wrong. I just don't think they can handle the volume of people plus a drive through at this location. the management just looked dazed and see no one taking charge.
(2)Lauren T.
The past three times we've gone through the drive thru they have messed up our order. They never get everything we order and we have to sit there for 15-20 minutes each time while we reorder and wait. And two out of three times when we order a meal they don't give us the pickle and sides that are supposed to come with it. The food is great though, just not the service.
(2)Brooke T.
Stopped in on a random Friday morning, what I thought was after the morning rush. Unfortunately this was not so. You wait in line and order at one location, your order is completed in between as you wait to pay or pick up additional items at another location. The line did not move quickly, as the poor cashier at the end had to collect orders, make drinks and take money. While on the line, other workers are offering to help someone who is clearly behind on completing orders, she profusely declines the help; of course, despite a line of customers waiting for food. This system made no sense to me. My food came out before I could pay. I had to wait in line having to wait with the food which you hope would be warm....once it is actually time to eat it. I chose the everything bagel with salmon, cream cheese, and all the fixins. The bagel was fair to middling at best. I definitely had better bagels and a better salmon sandwich. There was an abundance of cream cheese and IMO an minimal amount of salmon. It just didn't match. The busyness of the location, and the inability of the staff to keep up, in addition to fair to middling bagel...nah I don't think I'll be back.
(2)Dan M.
The store was dirty. The food was barely mediocre. The problem was the ingredients are shite particularly the tomatoes. The coffee was truly awful. The customer service was okay, but some of the workers were just subpar. I would boil this down to a management problem.
(1)Patrick B.
There is nothing here that sets this place up for anything but two stars... Overpriced, crowded, and everything is pre-cooked. The bagels are too bad but everything else seemed like plastic. Only stop in here if you need a quick bite but do not expect greatness.
(2)Jennifer Y.
I like the bagels here but it's not worth the wait-inside standing in line or the drive through. I don't get their system, order here ad pay there. It's disorganized and time consuming while the cashier tries to match your order. I've paid for wrong orders and it's a hassle for them to correct it. Also, how in the world do you you run out of regular coffee at 9:30am. Anyway, coffee is pretty bad being a coffee snob that I am. Oh, and I got reprimanded for confusing lox with salmon when placing my order. Yeah, not going back.
(2)Doug H.
Out of lox? What?
(1)Ken L.
This review comes after occasionally stopping in over a 3 year period. Nothing has changed, the poor service is a constant. The only explanation for the regular business that this establishment does is the lack of a competitor. Panera Bread would be a huge hit and you'd see Einstein disappear in a month. Why? The food is fairly good but the service is terrible. Terrible. The staff are surly and often ask you to repeat your order 3x, then they still get it wrong. Waits of 15 minutes in the drive thru are not uncommon. I rarely hear "thank you". I blame this on the management. Perhaps they are incapable of paying their employees reasonable wages. Or maybe they just have no idea how to run a business. Either way, hiring stoner kids and angry staff does not reflect well at all on the Einstein brand (other places do a much, much better job!). Here's an example. Pull up to the drive thru at end of line of 5 cars. Wait 5 minutes before reaching order station. Order 2 bagel sandwiches and 2 fruit smoothies. Get asked to repeat the order. Twice. Then a gruff "pull around". Get to the window after another 5 minute wait. Cashier takes another 3 minutes to get order to me. Smoothies are only 3/4 full in the cup. I ask where the rest is and the reply, a flippant "I'll get you next time". Dude, really? I'm really not expecting much, but the bad attitude makes me question why I hand over money to these goofballs.
(2)Yaofu Z.
I got moldy fruit cup. Their QC could be improved for sure. When I pointed it out to the cashier, he basically took it back without saying anything, hang around and talked to another coworker. Then he probably realized that I still stand there and wait for a response. He looked around and got me another fruit cup, saying "here you go", like it is part of regular business. I will probably not come back any time soon. The sandwich is just OK.
(1)Trish M.
I'm sitting in my car in the parking lot as I write this because my experience was so unpleasant that this couldn't wait. The food here is just OK. Nothing too spectacular to report. If you're craving a solid bagel sandwich I would tell you to drive further down the road to Panera. I do like the choice of fruit that comes with the sandwich- so there's your extra star. My main problem with this place, which is why I rated it so slow, is the service. You order in one spot, wait to pay and then wait for your food. I don't think it is a bad process, but could be done much faster with more people working. During the lunch rush there was only one person on the food line while one person took orders and another person handled the cash register. I think the man working the food line must have been in charge because he was bossy and incredibly rude to the other staff. He told one of them that he was "working with idiots today" in front of other customers and continually critiqued the process of locating customers that had sat down while waiting and offered no suggestions to improve it. This place also does not have a good concept of what their ingredient/supplies demands are. While I was eating, I saw one of the employees walking back from grocery store with lettuce, napkins, toilet paper and a few other items. Maybe if you didn't have to send our your staff to replenish staple items your assembly line would be more smooth?
(2)Caitlin E.
Met a girlfriend to play catch up on a Thursday morning. Almost all the tables were taken! Great everything bagel and good coffee. They also have big table for parties of 6 or more. To go bagels by the dozen are offered.
(4)Rebecca B.
Cranberry Bagels....lightly toasted with butter. Need not say more, except I wish there was a location near where I now live.
(4)Mark E.
Nice concept; flawed in execution. Service line could not keep pace with even a modest sized crowd (see many other Yelp reviews). Indoor air temp 62 degrees. Must be 90+ decibels of a background din that hurts the eardrums. Sitting on the dining area, I could not hear myself type this review. Breakfast fare is tasty enough, but the atmosphere detracted significantly. Bottom line is this is a fine carryout venue; pricing is fair and you do get what you pay for. On-premises eating simply is too much of a negative experience in terms of creature comforts. I'll take my hard-earned rubles, yen and dinars elsewhere. I'm done here, forever.
(2)Laura W.
So I had stopped going to this restaurant because the service was horrible. I went back last week because I had a craving for an asiago bagel dog. Soooo glad I did. The guy at the drive thru went the extra mile to recommend a side and made sure the onions were cooked. I thought I would call the manager to tell them about my positive experience. The phone was answered by a kind and polite young lady. They have my business back. Great staff!!
(5)Trish A.
This place is pretty big, and even though we were there during a busy rush hour, it was clean and looked pretty uncluttered. The sandwiches we got were exactly what we had expected. The complaint i have is that they just sort of shove your sandwich onto the counter and mumble your name. You seriously need to stay right in front of them to make sure you get your order - we asked them three times if they had called our name, and they said no each time. And then we found our order getting cold sitting on the counter by the register. Fail.
(3)Wayne G.
These are soft breads, not bagels except by appearance. The place is also behind on cleaning.
(2)A L.
This place is the worst. The food was pretty decent I admit, but service ruined everything for me. I went in sunday morning, and it was crowded. But that is not an excuse for what they did. I ordered two paninis and waited on the side, and they called my name. They gave me a bag and I found out it was a wrong order when I came out. So I came back and told them it was wrong, and the worker didn't apologize, instead she looked at me up and down, and went back to her duties. VERY RUDE. I could've punched that little indian girl's face. Then I waited 30 minutes for my orders to get ready again, and I was watching the kitchen the WHOLE TIME. they didn't start my order until after I asked them at least three times how long it was going to take. And then the cashier girl kept complaining about getting off and going home..... rude rude rude rude. I was late for church.
(1)Yaka H.
The last few times I've been here have been during the morning rush hours. Each time, after waiting in a long line, almost the entire selection of bagels have been depleted. Sadness... as a bagel shop, why not make more bagels if you anticipate a heavy morning rush? This has happened on both weekends and weekdays. It makes me sad that I have to decide between the 3 most unwanted types of bagels every time it's my turn to order at the counter... all that's left is that double chocolate, good grains, and potato. :(
(2)Lauren W.
I love this place, maybe it's just comfort food for me but my staple is a blueberry bagel with cream cheese. I've gotten this since I was a little girl. In the fall I've broadened my horizons to a yummy pumpkin bagel with pumpkin cream cheese! In fact, I can't wait to come back here for another bagel! For lunch I have often ordered the pizza bagels which never disappoint.
(4)Mat P.
Stopped by on a Sunday morning around 10:15am for the first time. It was crowded and there was a decent line (about 10 people in front of me when I walked in the door), but the staff kept it moving along, and it gave me enough time to see what they had to offer on their diverse menu. I tried their 'Spicy Elmo' egg wrap. I was surprised that it actually was kinda spicy thanks to the green chili and spicy red chili cream cheese and it tasted awesome. I also tried an asiago cheese bagel thin with sun dried tomato spread- also delicious.
(4)stewie h.
microwaved bagels?? why would you microwave bread??
(2)