Bagel Shop Does Breakfast Best

For local college students and early birds, there's a hot spot in Towson with a clear specialty: Towson Hot Bagels. Located on Allegheny Avenue in Towson, you'll always see a line out the door at what the locals call "THB."

The cafe recently expanded into the former Chili Man Weiners next door and is now twice as big as the original shop, with about 15 tables added and a designated area for picking up orders.

On a late Sunday morning, the shop was packed with Goucher College and Towson University students enjoying bagel sandwiches and a wide selection of coffee. There were seven different flavors of coffee, ranging from chocolate cappuccino to caramel nut. The pumpkin spice flavor, perfect for the season, was sweet and comforting.

THB serves up just about any kind of breakfast sandwich you could imagine. All of the bases are covered; sandwiches feature eggs, egg whites, breakfast meats, cheese and home fries.

The egg, bacon and cheese bagel sandwich was gooey as the cheese and fried egg melted together. The bacon was crispy and provided a nice contrast to the other ingredients. Overall the greasy sandwich was filling, satisfying and the perfect hangover food, which may be why there were so many college students there. At less than $4, the affordable sandwich is another draw for students.

THB offers almost 30 different gourmet sandwiches, each named after a different celebrity. All feature one, two, or three deli meats and a range of toppings. Most can be made on any kind of bagel or bread, and all cost under $7.

"The Boss" sandwich lacked two of the toppings listed on the menu, so it was just a plain, dry mozzarella and salami sandwich--nothing exciting. It was a real disappointment to find the roasted peppers and olive oil were missing.

The "Eddie Murphy" sandwich also was missing its onion topping, but the sweet honey mustard that covered the turkey and munster cheese was a tasty addition to a typically boring sandwich.

If you're ready for lunch, THB also has club and sub sandwiches with any kind of deli meat or salad one could think of. With all under $7, they're an affordable lunch option.

The peppered turkey club sandwich came in two halves, contrary to the typical club, which is cut into fourths. It came with that great crispy bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and turkey, which had a spicy flavor. The sandwich was pretty big and would definitely make for a delicious lunch.

The pizza bagel was simple and needed some seasoning. It was also missing pepperoni, which it was supposed to have.

It's hard to tell whether THB's forgetfulness with toppings was a result of their business or laziness. Either way, three of the orders were incorrect, which proved frustrating.

Towson Hot Bagels should stick with their namesake and focus on breakfast. Their mediocre sandwiches and order mix ups suggest they may be over their heads.