Bagel Chateau, Madison’s bagel hot-spot, maybe isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Between the service, actual food, and competing bagel shops, Bagel Chateau is not as impressive as some Madison residents want to believe.

Located at 45 Main Street in Madison, NJ, Bagel Chateau is right in the heart of Madison’s busiest area. For this reason, it is not difficult to bring in business. But it is important to make the distinction between getting business because it is convenient, and getting business because the food is genuinely delicious. Bagel Chateau is convenient.

In general, the bagels at Bagel Chateau are rather flat, especially in comparison to Gabe’s Bagels or Bagel Nosh. When it comes to a breakfast sandwich, Bagel Chateau is not bad, but the flat bagels don’t do the sandwich justice. A good bagel is harder on the outside, softer on the inside, and filled out. No bagel should ever resemble flat bread, especially in New Jersey.

For a normal bagel with butter or cream cheese, nothing about the Bagel Chateau bagel’s stand out. Again, they are flat and small, and they don’t do anything but satisfy the customer. There is no above and beyond with Bagel Chateau, and nothing that should make a customer choose this place over another.

The service here is not bad. The staff is relatively nice and I have never heard any complaints on the service, but I do have some comments. First and foremost, I once asked for a Joe’s Iced Tea to purchase with my order. I could see the drink through the glass counter and pointed to the one I wanted. The cashier didn’t even check to see if the drink was there and simply told me they were out and I had to choose something else. I was not a happy customer. At no fault to Bagel Chateau, there are often some peculiar characters walking around. For example, a friend of mine was waiting in line to order when a man cut them in line, began yelling, and eventually ripped a banana in half from off of the counter. It may not be the best environment for bagel consumption, so please keep this in mind when deciding where to eat your bagel.

In comparison, Bagel Chateau has absolutely nothing on stores such as Gabe’s Bagels, Chatham Bagel, or Bagel Nosh. All three of these shops have better, fuller bagels and are overall more promising shops. Most Madison residents will agree with this statement, but Bagel Chateau still has customers. Bagel Chateau is in a very convenient location, and is around the corner from Madison Bagel, a joke of a bagel shop. For this reason, shoppers who aren’t too picky about bagels may have no issue going to Bagel Chateau.

As an avid bagel consumer, I would never choose Bagel Chateau over Gabe’s Bagels. I urge anyone who genuinely cares about what they put into their body to choose carefully when it comes to bagels, and always choose quality over convenience.