Bodo's Bagels

What a huge pleasant surprise this place turned out to be! Drove 1.5 hours to meet a friend who was also coming 1.5 hours from the opposite direction. We had no idea what a gem this restaurant was since we aren’t from C’ville! We arrived at 11:45 thinking we’d beat the lunch rush- WRONG! They must stay really busy all day long but manage the lines quickly and efficiently. Only waited about 5 minutes to order. We weren’t even fully ready to order with all the choices they offer. 😂 Customer service? A+++ Prices? A+++ Friendliness? A+++ Food taste/Quality? A+++
I ordered a customized bagel sandwich plus soup, my friend ordered a chicken salad sandwich plus a plain bagel with cream cheese. We left nothing behind. Sooo good and fresh.
The only time I saw the order line empty was at 3:45 and staff were immediately cleaning the dining area probably preparing for huge crowds again at dinner. The only reason I gave a 4 for atmosphere was that during lunch several tables needed to be cleaned and we had to clean our own, but in all fairness they stay so busy and are working incredibly hard to get your food out to you quickly…which leaves little time to clean up when swamped. Will definitely return, and after my drive home I told my husband we should make the drive a future destination. Since I brought him home half a dozen assorted bagels- he happily agreed.

February 28, 2024 - You just know a Great Bagel, with the 1st bite . . . Charlottesville’s “KING of the bagel” at Bodo’s ! Thank God the Jews brought the Bagel when they emigrated to the U.S. in the 1800’s, via New York ! You can’t beat a NY style bagel!

For $2 you get the original “ kettled” bagel with some cream cheese! Oh that’s Devine, slightly warmed , and freshly made with your coffee in the morning!

( “Kettled” refers to boiling the raw dough first, before baking)

Why you ask, “ Kettled” ?

1. Minerals & baking soda adds dark shine
2. Constricts expansion of dough
3. Exterior luster with pretzel crispiness
4. Chewy interior

Bodo’s Bagels originally founded by Brian Fox. He built 3 locations in Charlottesville:

*1418 Emmet Street in 1988
*505 Preston Ave in 1993
*1609 University Ave in 2005

Sold the business to new owners ( Scott Smith) in 2007. Very popular, but no Gluten-free bagels on the menu ?

My wife and I stopped in for a quick breakfast. I was abit worried about the line of people waiting for their food, after they ordered. Hey, this operation is organized & efficient! Folks received their food within several minutes!

Good food & good service ! 😃👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

I’ll be back again !

Wonderful, great place to go for first timers, just visiting or any occasion. Inside seating is spacious and great for groups or individuals. The bagels are fresh, warm and the cream cheese is perfect. The service was very quick.

Casual place for fluffy bagels 🥯 I loved that they had a “no bull” ?lentil? patty and egg bagel. My friend had a garlic bagel with egg salad. They work really fast there and don’t overcharge like places I am used to from DC haha

This bagel sandwich was absolutely delicious. It’s hard to find meat substitutes for breakfast sandwiches that are good on their own, but the lentil no-bull patty was amazing (like AMAZING)! As a vegetarian who adores breakfast food I was so pleasantly surprised. The bagel itself was a delight, and the egg was fresh and fluffy too!

The staff at our restaurant were super kind and efficient. Despite the long line, we got through in a few minutes. It made our trip to UVA for my mom’s chemo much brighter! :)

Amazing!! I wish I could give more stars! This is one busy place! And for a very good reason. The food is so delicious!!

The service was very fast. And the employee who took our order was very patient with us as we perused the menu for the first time.

The bagel sandwiches were fantastic. The bagels were made the authentic way-first boiled, then baked-making them moist and chewy. We ordered a pastrami sandwich bagel, a turkey and avocado on an "Everything" bagel, a breakfast sandwich bagel, and an egg sandwich bagel. We also ordered a lentil soup, which was also really good.

The dining room was bright and cheery. And the atmosphere was happy. There are quite a few employees working here, and they are all busy bustling about behind food counter.

If I could give one negative comment, it would be that the tables were not all clean, and the floor needed to be swept and vacuumed. There were a lot of crumbs-probably from the everything bagels which have a lot of seeds on it. Other than that, I would return again, and again to eat here.

Awesome local place for everything bagel-related. The only downside I don't think they have cinnamon bagels without raisins, and no sweet tea. Otherwise, the food is great and the service good as well. It gets busy during prime hours so plan accordingly. Also open all day!

Great bagel and sandwich shop, all freshly made, fast service, friendly staff!

When researching restaurants and seeing a bagel place top a town's ratings list, it might not look great for quality food options available. After experiencing Bodo, the ratings are completely justified as one of the best bagels I've had, which includes many NYC experiences.

The line moves very fast so don't let it intimidate you!

Definitely a place to stop when in Charlottesville! The bagel were very fresh and super tasty. They had plenty of options for different toppings and different kinds of bagels. They had salads as well. Lots of indoor seating.

How is no one mentioning the prices?! They're so cheap! I feel like I went back in time to the 80's. The most expensive thing on the menu is $6.95. Most sandwiches are between $3-5 and some things cheaper. They're good too, and not "you get what you pay for." Highly recommend!

Visiting from Michigan, highly recommend for a great bagel. Vegan and vegetarian options available. Fast service. Very busy.

Five stars for food and value. Excellent sandwiches and great prices. Staff is robotic and cold. I appreciate warm and friendly, and they just didn't have it. Not overtly rude, just no "extra" in the way they interact. Restaurant itself is nothing special, but again, the food was outstanding.

Best bagel sandwich ever! My husband has been telling me for ten years about Bodo’s Bagels. We were in town and I finally got to try it. It definitely lived up to the hype. The bagel was fresh, excellent texture, and toasted to perfection. The deli meats were shaved thin and piled high just the way I like it. Definitely going to have to grab another before I leave town tomorrow.

Bodo’s holds true to a New York style bagel recipe and process and the result is excellence. They do the simple things very well - hot and fresh bagels, generous cream cheese portions, real blueberries in their spreads, thin sliced salmon, and super speedy service. They don’t take online orders for a reason - they’re insanely popular! Drive through service is also very fast and the line moves quickly. The quintessential breakfast stop for anyone - students and construction workers and business professionals.

Bodo's does bagels really well. My daughter has lived in Boston and currently lives in San Diego, and she says Bodo's has no equal in either of those cities.

Overall the sausage egg and cheese bagel was pretty good. The bagel itself was fantastic but the sausage is a bit plain.

The place has friendly staff and smells amazing. It was pretty quite when I was there so the wait was pretty non existent and plenty of seating.

I do find it funny that you can immediately tell it was an old Wendy’s building.

The hype is legit. I don't particularly like bagels but this was good. Sausage & egg & lime jalapeno cream cheese. And hot pastrami & swiss & mustard & lettuce & tomato. Wonderful. Large portions. Had to do "walk thru" in drive through which worked fine, except for the very rude woman behind me who told me from her car window to "get out of her way" then abused me for not having a car (!). She did have face tattoos and also cut in front of another car in the line though so can't be too surprised. Doesn't hurt to be nice.

I love a good bagel but decent bagel shops are few and far between in VA. So, when in Cville, I go eat one and carry put a few more. Plenty of spread options available, this time I tried their feta spread, delicious.
Only complaint I have would be that barely pink, unripe, hot house tomato.

My girlfriend is from New York and endorses the Everything bagel. Good price too.

Even with the line of the door, it only took us 10 minutes to get our bagel.