By Elizabeth Lucas
and Mary Trombley
Daily Arts Writers
Picture an ordinary Ann Arbor morning. It's 8 a.m. and, for a change, the sun is shining. You're standing on the corner of State Street and North University, planning to grab a bagel and coffee before your first class.
This scene isn't so ordinary, at least not anymore. There are two enemy camps facing this quiet street corner. The troops have been mobilized since before 6 a.m., and they're preparing for another hard day of battle.
The bagel wars have begun.
It's time to choose sides, and more is at stake than your preference in bagels. Your lifestyle is on the line. Will you join the smug line of Bruegger's Bagels customers, crowding out the door and clutching enormous "Javahh!" mugs? Or will you join the hip crowd at Einstein Brothers Bagels, eating a sun-dried tomato bagel and listening to Smashing Pumpkins?
It's all up to you.
This war, like any other, tends to draw everyone in. Bagels are a staple food for many busy University students who enter the war zone on a daily basis, though they may not realize the import of their decision.
"(Bagels are) a great way to get a light, low-fat meal, or something quick to eat," said LSA first-year student Katy Sharkey.
But which bagel do you choose? There are many allied nations in the bagel wars, but only two superpowers.
Bruegger's and Einstein's are Ann Arbor's bagel giants, and their armed conflict has lasted for the past two years. The shops occupy rival positions, Bruegger's on North University and Einstein's on heavily populated State Street. Both are part of nationwide corporate chains, and both are battling for your bagel dollars.
At first glance, there isn't much difference between the two stores. Both offer standard fare - a variety of bagels, drinks, cream cheeses, soups and sandwiches. The stores specialize in unusual cream cheese flavors like cheddarpeño, smoked salmon and honey walnut.
Einstein's has the edge when it comes to bagel flavors - it boasts 17 vs. Bruegger's 11 - but is a little on the pricey side. A plain bagel with cream cheese costs $1.59 at Einstein's, compared to $1.39 at Bruegger's. Einstein's also offers a variety of pre-made salads and the "bottomless cup" coffee refill. However, Bruegger's has more merchandise, including sweatshirts, T-shirts and hats.
As in any war, propaganda is everywhere, and corporate slogans abound. Einstein's walls are covered with bizarre, enthusiastic slogans such as "Bagels are music to my schmears." Schmears? Is this a Yiddish word? Sources say no - it's Einstein's term for a bagel with cream cheese. There's also "Man cannot live on great bagels alone," the slogan on Einstein's coffee mugs.
Bruegger's slogans are a bit more subtle, but just as peppy. The first thing you see when you enter the store is a sign proudly proclaiming: "We would get a life, but we're too busy making small batches of fresh, hot bagels." Considering that the store opens at 6:30 a.m., it's no wonder Bruegger's employees have little time for a social life. And don't forget those ever-popular "Javahh!" mugs.
Admittedly, there's not much difference between the two bagel stores, yet some students have a definite preference.
"I used to go to Einstein's, but I've been going to Bruegger's lately," said LSA sophomore Yvonne Wai. "It's closer and it's cheaper."
"I think they're just different," said Cyn Epler, also an LSA sophomore. "Bruegger's bagels are harder, and Einstein's are softer and chewier. I'm used to harder bagels."
Some people are called to even fiercer partisan loyalty. For employees of the two chains - the foot soldiers, if you will - the battle lines have been drawn.
"Einstein's has different bagels, but we're always test-marketing new products," said Bruegger's employee Andy Good, a Toledo resident who is training at the Ann Arbor Bruegger's.
Though the stores' ideologies and tactics are similar, employees believe there are differences between the two opposing camps.
"Our bagels are better - they're bigger," said Einstein's employee Randy Howder, an LSA sophomore. "And we have loyal customers, and they agree we're better."
Howder did admit, however, that he hasn't had an opportunity to compare the two stores.
"I've never really been in (Bruegger's)," Howder said. "It doesn't seem like the kind of place I really want to set foot in."
The stores' decor is another point of contention. Bruegger's strives for an upscale look, featuring enormous windows and two levels of seating. On the other hand, Einstein opts for a more homey, earth-toned feel and a single crowded seating area that helps you really get to know the people sitting next to you. Surreal figures adorn the walls, including a rather strange painting of a woman clothed entirely in bagels.
"We have the big tables for studying, and the music," said Einstein's employee Tom Herrgott, a junior in the Business School. "This is more of a social, friendly atmosphere."
Friendly, sure - if you like socializing in a war zone.
Fortunately, there is an alternative. Simply walk down to the more relaxed, fun-loving neighborhood of South University. Just down the street from Touchdown Cafe, Pinball Pete's and Middle Earth is a bagel store with a social conscience. The Bagel Factory is a peace-loving hippie, a white dove soaring over Ann Arbor's bagel battlefields.
The Bagel Factory opened in the '60s and has continued its bagel tradition for some 30 years. Although it's a slightly longer walk, it offers much the same fare as Bruegger's and Einstein's at lower prices.
The Bagel Factory features 12 flavors of bagels, along with different experimental bagels. It offers sandwiches, chili and drinks, as well as the ever-popular Fragels - deep-fried raisin bagels and coated in cinnamon and sugar. All of this comes at a reasonable price - a plain bagel with cream cheese is a mere $1.15.
While chain stores such as Bruegger's and Einstein's are newcomers to the area, the Bagel Factory has roots in the Ann Arbor community. The store donates bagels to area high schools and local organizations, and has recently taken up a cause that's very close to Ann Arborites' hearts.
The Bagel Factory now sells T-shirts - but not the kind you'd see at your neighborhood Gap. These depict Shaky Jake, a well-known Ann Arbor character, holding a bagel. "We Bake for Jake," is the Bagel Factory's new slogan.
"(Jake) is a bum, but he's kind of an Ann Arbor legend," said Bagel Factory employee Carolyn Munger, an Engineering senior. "People who went to school here will come back and say, 'Jake's still around?'".
Munger said that when the store sells T-shirts, it keeps two-thirds of the T-shirts' profits and gives Jake one-third.
For those who wish to claim neutrality in the bagel wars, a few nonaligned bagel companies do exist.
Barry Bagel's supplies all University cafeterias with bagels, as well as providing bagels for Cava Java and for Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. The Barry's chain now has seven store locations, including the 12-year-old retail outlet in Ann Arbor's Westgate Shopping Center.
"We provide 11 types of bagels," said Laura Wyvaz, a Barry's employee. "Our bagels are cooked on pans, not directly on the hearth, so they last longer."
There are other noncombatants in the bagel wars, including Amer's, Jacques Patisserie and Zingerman's.
Both Amer's, on State Street, and Jacques, on North University, offer a variety of bagel sandwiches, and Jacques features a two-for-$4 deal on bagel sandwiches.
Zingerman's is another local fixture, one that especially emphasizes quality and service - without flying shrapnel to endanger customers.
"(We offer) larger bagels (that are) fresher and softer," said Joel Miller, bread manager at Zingerman's. "They have larger raisins and blueberries, and they're just really, really good."
These are the factions that fight the bagel wars. All of them struggle to survive in Ann Arbor's cutthroat breakfast business. As the story goes on, empires will rise and fall. Fortunes will be made and lost. But one thing is certain - the bagel wars won't end any time soon.
As Miller said, "Bagels and coffee are a way of life."
WARREN ZINN/Daily
A fresh crop of bagels enters the bins at Bruegger's Bagels.