Sam's Goes Under the Microscope

It's time to evaluate Sam's in West Caldwell, a place that actually has quite the good reputation. When mentioning the place, many folks exclaim, "Oh, they're the best!" and so on.

The store definitely comes off as though it means business. Situated in half of the old Bonanza restaurant (if you get the reference, give yourself a gold star), at the tail end of the strip mall across the street from Panera on Bloomfield Avenue, it's practically a movie set version of a bagel shop. And it's in Broadway Square.

Sam's Setup

The walls are lined with deli cases, beverage fridges, a coffee bar, and a counter – with Boar's Head deli products in it (ever think about that name?). Right down the middle is where you queue, with the line ending toward the back of the store, where the (basket-ed) bagels are.

Sam's Bagels

Speaking of which, Sam's has some nice varieties. In addition to the greatest hits lineup, there are multigrain, walnut raisin, blueberry, and low carb selections. Even if you're a regular customer, you may be saying, "really"?

The thing is that on the customer service front, Sam's is second to none. It's hard to say whether it's efficiency or having an extra worker on the clock, but Sam's is fast. Even when there's a long line (read as: constantly on Saturdays and Sundays) things ordinarily proceed in an expeditious manner.

The downside is that perhaps due to the store being fairly small, the bagels are somewhat hard to see. It's definitely a good flavor mix, though.

Plain flavor was this writer's bagel of choice during a recent visit, with the intent being to put it through the following Patch paces.

Sam's Plain

Size: Circumference wise, Sam's bagels are a bit smaller than average in the Caldwells. That made me a little nervous; a bagel must be big enough to be a meal on its own, to be able to turn into a sandwich, etc. Especially in this day and age of product shrinkage, something so inexpensive to make as a bagel should buck the trend.

Height wise, they're closer to the norm. Of note is a little twist pattern to the dough; which serves to explain the store's "home of the hand-rolled bagel" slogan. They also have a significant weight to them. Does that all indicate a good, traditional taste?

Taste: (insert chewing sounds here) Mmm, Sam's makes a tasty bagel. From the outside in, it tastes like a good baked and boiled (or, boiled and baked) bagel. It was not far from those stages of creation, either – it was warm.

The "crust" was moderately crunchy, and was a little thicker in selected spots – it was the ridges from the hand rolling coming into play. There was one bonfire burnt region, but it didn't detract from tasteful impact. The inside was thick and doughy, capable of making one's midriff the same way, but oh so good. It tasted great on its own, sans cream cheese, etc.

Overall: In appearance and taste, Sam's is pretty much a textbook good, traditional bagel. In size, it's a little small – and size matters.

Sam's Bagel and Deli

757 Bloomfield Ave., West Caldwell

Phone: 973-618-9320

Price of plain bagel: $0.90

Next time: We're going to once again be "breaking the chains," with Panera squaring off (but unlike Starbucks I hope the bagel is round) against Manhattan Bagel! After that, we'll have an "everything" (bagel) wrap-up article, complete with factoids, witty observations, and more.