Only a couple of months ago Once Upon a Bagel, a popular delicatessen and breakfast spot, expanded from its original, 1982-established location in Highland Park to Winnetka.
This signifies the opening of the first Jewish delicatessen in Winnetka and provides Trevians and New Trier Township locals the opportunity to gorge on some of the North Shore’s best deli favorites.
Once Upon a Bagel serves up everything from traditional deli fare like corned beef Reubens and pastrami on rye to grilled items and, of course, bagels.
These bagels are the real deal though and authentically represent what it means to be called a New York bagel.
Once Upon a Bagel offers their specialty item in a myriad of flavors including the traditional sesame, plain, and onion to more interesting honey blueberry, cinnamon raisin and seven grain with soy.
The restaurant also serves bialys, which are similar to bagels only they lack the bagel’s characteristic hole, along with Kaiser and pretzel rolls. Other baked goods and offerings include cookies, kugel, and halvah.
The cookies, while a bit bland, have raisins and chocolate chips, which add a nice pop. Kugel is a popular deli staple which includes egg noodles layered in a sweet, creamed-cheese pie. Once Upon a Bagel’s kugel is delicious despite its appearance, which to many who may have not seen the dessert before, could look somewhat unattractive.
Halvah seems to be the opposite of kugel in this regard; it looks like any regular, chocolate-covered candy bar, but upon biting into it, the not-yet-acquired palette might not agree with its strong taste. Halvah is a traditional packaged deli item made predominantly of sesame paste.
It is crumbly and looks tasty, and truly is to many who are used to it, but for others, it is definitely an acquired taste because the sesame flavor is quite pungent.
While the bagels are the restaurant’s obvious mainstay, the sandwich options are also delicious. They are piled high with primo meats and cheese, and the smell of the hot sandwiches engulfs the lucky customer who is about ready to dive in.
And of course, any good sandwich has to have good bread, and what better place than a deli that specializes in bagels? In addition to these holed breakfast favorites, Once Upon a Bagel has the highest quality bread to surround their sandwiches.
Although typically Jewish deli items are the restaurant’s best offerings, they have an extensive menu. Other items include pancakes, eggs, oatmeal, and omelets for breakfast along with salads, wraps, stir fry and even a Philly Cheesesteak for lunch or dinner.
Hot dogs, chicken and fish are also available. Besides sandwiches, Once Upon a Bagel also offers authentic chicken soup with matzo balls and/or noodles that can be added.
It opens at 5:55 a.m. every day and closes at 8:00 at night on Monday through Friday. It closes at 5:30 on Saturday and 2:00 p.m. on Sunday. Once Upon a Bagel is located at 1050 Gage Street in Winnetka.