CLOSED

Location: SE 43rd and Belmont, Good Food Here

Hours: Wed-Sun, 8am-3pm

The Story:

Mention bagels in mixed company in Portland and you’ll walk away with either a black eye or more recommendations than you know what to do with. For awhile the past few years, we had some great bagels in town, but when a certain chain sold, the quality declined. It was a free for all to see who would fill the gap and we’re now getting some new blood. Alice’s Bagels is the first food cart to tackle the task.

I do my best to get the back story on each cart, but for Alice’s Bagels, I got a bit turned around. Alice, who works the cart and who’s recipe and craftsmanship shine in the quality of the hand made boiled bagels, is a recent Reed College grad with a degree in chemistry. She was recruited by her Aunt Alice this past spring to launch the cart which recently housed Lardo. So, is it Alice’s Bagels or Alice’s Bagels? Confusing huh? Needless to say, Aunt Alice saw something in Alice’s skills with baking. According to younger Alice, being offered the opportunity to create her own baked goods and menu was a dream come true. Portland’s collective belly will be happy she chased that dream.

As stated, bagels can cause discussion. While I’m a bit worn out with the “it’s not like you can get back home” argument, I do understand people are drawn to what they grew up with or ate for many years. It is in our nature to seek out the familiar. I just ask that everyone open their mouth and try something new. The menu at Alice’s isn’t setup with bagels and cream cheese as would be expected. The first items listed are fried egg sandwiches with ingredients including avocado, tomatoes, onion chutney, maple butter, bacon or sausage and much more. They have five on the menu, but you could probably build your own if you like. I enjoyed the fried egg sandwich #2 on a salt bagel, inspired by young Alice’s desire to mix guacamole, sriracha and eggs with a bagel. Add bacon and you may just have a hangover cure. Everything about this sandwich screams yum. The salt bagel was lightly toasted and chewy, just as expected. The egg, avocado and sriracha offered a great mix of flavors that put this bagel in another universe. I’m sold.

Alice’s Bagels is now open at Good Food Here on SE 43rd and Belmont and is already doing a brisk business and selling out in the first week. Beyond the sandwiches you can get a lox plate or specials and salads. If you’re looking to sate that bagel fix, check out what Alice has to offer and let her know Food Carts Portland sent ya.

Sample Menu:

Bagel choices include salt, poppy, onion or plain

#1 Egg and Cheese fried egg sandwich with your choice of bagel and cheese – $4; add meat for $1

#2 Avocado, cilantro, Sriracha mayo fried egg sandwich – $6

#3 Roma Tomato, salad greens w/vinaigrette, cheddar, dijon fried egg sandwich – $6

#4 Apple-onion chutney, havarti, dijon fried egg sandwich – $6

#5 Maple butter, Frank’s Red Hot, cheddar fried egg sandwich – $6

Lox Plate – $9

Single Bagel – $2

Hours: Wed-Sun, 8am-3pm

Twitter: @Alicesbagels

Facebook: Alice’s Bagels

INSERT_MAP

Share this: Facebook

Twitter

Reddit

Email

Print

