Review: Bruegger’s Bagels and Joe Van Gogh

• Bruegger’s Bagels (9th street) is a national chain that started in Troy, NY in 1983.
• Joe Van Gogh (Broad street) is a local shop that started in 1991 and now has cafes in Durham, Chapel Hill, Greensboro, and Raleigh.

My mom and I visited Durham, NC because my mom went to college there.

Better Bacon Cheddar Breakfast Sandwich

Bruegger’s Bagels are excellent on their own, but in a sandwich, they are phenomenal. When I went to Bruegger’s Bagels, I got the Better Bacon Cheddar Breakfast Sandwich. The sandwich has egg, bacon, cheddar, this herby cream cheese and of course their incredible bagels. The bacon had this maple like taste that added sweetness to the savory herb cream cheese and the everything bagel. Personally, I don’t really like eggs, but I am trying to like them. The egg didn’t overpower the rest of the sandwich, instead it pulled it all together.

My mom had the Herby Turkey Bagel. She chose it because it is under 500 calories and it sounded good. The sandwich has turkey, herby cream cheese, sun dried tomato pesto spread, lettuce, Spanish red onions. Normally it comes on a sesame bagel, but my mom got the rosemary olive oil bagel instead. What pulls the flavor all together, according to my mom, is the sun dried tomato pesto spread. She said it was slightly sweet and it complemented the herby cream cheese very well.

Joe Van Gogh Sticker

My mom and I decided not to get drinks at Bruegger’s Bagels. We wanted to find a local coffee shop instead. We found Joe Van Gogh on Broad Street. My mom knew it was a good coffee shop when we saw all the stickers on the window that said it was the best independent coffee shop in Durham for a number of years. I knew it was a good coffee shop when I saw the composting bin next to the recycling bin.

I got an Iced Chai Latte and my mom got a Nonfat Iced Latte. I am an Iced Chai Tea Latte connoisseur and this one was okay. It wasn’t too sweet, which I have found a lot of other Chai Lattes be. In this Chai Latte, it was lacking chai spice. My mom’s Iced Latte had a lot of flavor, but wasn’t too strong and it wasn’t bitter. We liked the atmosphere and the free stickers for computers and the pins. We could imagine sitting down and doing work or homework. In the end, these two places were a good stop for breakfast.