Meshuggah Bagels, known for New York style bagels, has three locations in the Kansas City metro area including Liberty, Overland Park and the original location on 39th street. They will open a fourth location in the Power and Light district this spring. All locations are open Tuesday to Friday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, so make sure to satiate your bagel cravings early.
In addition to multiple varieties of bagels, their menu includes numerous savory and sweet schmears, seafood and sandwiches.
As someone who has eaten numerous bagels from Panera and Einstein Bros. Bagels, I can say Meshuggah definitely stands out, both in quality and cost. The price of a bagel and schmear is comparable to that of Einstein Bros. Bagels at just over $4. While Panera is cheaper, the quality and style of Meshuggah bagels makes it worth the extra dollar.
New York style bagels are characterized by their puffiness, crisp crust and soft inside. This style of bagel is made with salt, yeast, sugar and malt, and the mixture is boiled before baking. Meshuggah takes this to heart and makes true New York style bagels, unlike their competitors. In addition to plain bagels, Meshuggah has everything, sesame, poppy, onion, salt, garlic, rye, cinnamon raisin and whole wheat.
Meshuggah is notable because of their made-from-scratch artisan schmears. Savory schmear flavors include rosemary garlic, scallions, garlic and herb, veggie, toasted everything, jalapeño and dirty martini. Of the savory smears, I have tried the veggie and thought that this paired with an everything bagel made the perfect combo for lunch. But tread lightly: there is a lot of garlic.
I’m a schmuck for bagel and lox, which is available at Meshuggah, but sadly all that salmon can easily run your bill up. They have has the perfect solution: salmon schmear. This schmear has bits of cut up salmon in it and provides all the same flavors of a bagel and lox without the hefty bill.
Their sweet schmears include cinnamon sugar, oreo cheesecake, lemon poppy seed and german chocolate.
I absolutely love the lemon poppy seed schmear and have paired it with both a plain bagel and a poppy seed bagel. I personally preferred the poppy seed bagel, but this may be an excess amount of poppy flavor for some.
Their newest schmear is blueberry. I’ve tried this with a poppy seed bagel and enjoyed it, as the blueberry flavor was not overwhelming.
For those who cannot or do not eat dairy, they serve hummus, peanut butter and jelly.
The atmosphere of Meshuggah is warm and welcoming. Both the Liberty and original 39th street locations have a rustic theme with a few tables. While I would probably not settle down there to do homework, it is a great place to go with friends for a quick brunch or post-class ranting session.
Photo by Brianna Steiert.
