The Best Panera Bread Bagels, Ranked by a Food Editor (and Jersey-Born Bagel Snob)

• What Is It: bagel lightly sweetened with brown sugar
• Price: $2

The first thing I noticed about the plain bagel (and all the bagels, really) was that it didn’t have a shiny top. This likely means it wasn’t boiled before baking, a process that gelatinizes the starch on surface and leads to a shiny top, extra chew and a crisp exterior. (My biggest bone to pick with all Panera bagels is their lackluster texture; toasting them certainly helps, but for the purposes of this review, I tasted them untoasted.) As a result, the plain bagel’s texture felt particularly old and underwhelming, though I did like its slightly sweet aroma. My verdict? If you’re craving a bagel—even if you’re a picky eater—go for a different one than the plain.

• What Is It: bagel made with dried infused blueberries and blueberry flavors
• Price: $2

I know blueberry bagels are sacrilegious for many, but I grew up in a dedicated blueberry bagel household, so I love them. However, this one looked more like a plain bagel with a few bluebs tossed in. A true blueberry bagel should have a grayish-lilac hue, IMO, infusing every bite with flavor. That said, the blueberries were tart-sweet and tender, albeit sparse.

• What Is It: sourdough bagel swirled with cinnamon, cinnamon-flavored chips, brown sugar and raisins
• Price: $2

Much like the blueberries, the raisins were plump, succulent and soft, but scant. However, I preferred this one due to its deeply cinnamony aroma and warm-spiced sweetness. I’m betting it’d be particularly tasty with the chain’s honey walnut cream cheese.

• What Is It: bagel flat made with whole wheat, rye and seeds, topped with oats
• Price: $2

Sure, it was a bit smaller than the other bagels, but it’s both studded and topped with additional components, so I let it slide. It had an earthy profile and some much-appreciated textural diversity. But my favorite thing about this Panera Bread bagel was its wheaty, ever-so-slightly-honeyed (there’s no honey listed in the ingredients, so I’m guessing it’s brown sugar and molasses that I’m tasting) flavor. Toasted, this probably makes a great base for a sandwich.

• What Is It: bagel studded with cinnamon- and vanilla-flavored chips, topped with sweet cinnamon crunch topping
• Price: $2

These are super nostalgic for me, but one thing that’s different from what I remember is that the bagel was more sticky than crunchy on top. (Toppings from other bagels will stick to it in a communal bag, FYI.) Still, there were plenty of coarse sugar crystals on top. I tasted the tiny chips on the inside, which seemed to have melted completely when baked. I didn’t note a distinct vanilla flavor, but more a general sweetness, plus cinnamon. This is a very sweet choice for a bagel, but the texture of the crunchy sugar on top paired with a thick layer of contrastingly salty cream cheese will definitely hit the spot.

• What Is It: bagel topped with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried garlic, toasted onion and kosher salt
• Price: $2

I’m certainly biased due to my Jersey upbringing, but if you ask me, everything bagels should be almost completely covered in seasoning. While Panera Bread’s seasoning contains all the essentials (except in my experience, the salt is usually coarse; here, I didn’t see any on the exterior of the bagel), there could’ve been more of it. That said, it was still one of the more flavorful options of the bunch. I think its taste would’ve been even more robust if it was a touch saltier, but all in all, this was one of the top choices.

• What Is It: bagel baked with chunks of Asiago cheese inside, topped with Asiago cheese
• Price: $2

These were a stellar savory base for the chain’s limited-time Asiago Bagel Stacks, but they don’t need to be piled high with steak and fresh produce to be delicious. In all my years of eating these, I didn’t realize the cheese morsels baked inside; I loved the chewy, slightly sticky effect it had on the texture of the bagel. But the real highlight was the cheese on top, which was plentiful, salty, savory and just a little funky. Toasted, its funk and cheesy scent shined even more. I’m betting this would make a great start to a tuna melt or roast beef sandwich.

• What Is It: bagel topped with sesame seeds
• Price: $2

The sesame bagel seemed a touch drier than the rest. That said, it was very generously coated in sesame seeds, which offered crunchy texture (in lieu of that crackly top I’d been missing) and earthy, nutty splendor to every bite. Toast this one and slather it with cream cheese, and it’s probably the closest you’ll get to a standard bagel shop bagel, in terms of the conventional varieties Panera Bread offers.