Bullfrog Bagels - Jeremiah (Get It?) Cohen's Bagel Mini-Chain on H Street Corridor and Eastern Market

[Josh]

Bullfrog Bagels did a few pop-ups around the city, but has now opened a permanent store on one side of the Star and Shamrock bar on the East end of H St.  I stopped in around 8:30 this morning, and there was a line of about 18 people.  The selection today included all the standard bagels as well as a reasonable looking bialy.

I needed to get in and out quickly, so decided against any of the breakfast sandwiches (egg & cheese, lox, smoked whitefish, etc.), and got a sesame and everything bagel to go, with sides of scallion/chive and smoked salmon cream cheese.  The little guy got a bialy.  The everything bagel was indeed everything.  Almost, but not quite too salty (which is the perfect amount of salty for a bagel), with a shiny, dark brown outside and perfectly chewy inside.  This was a damn fine bagel.  The sesame looked like it could've used a few more minutes in the oven, and was a bit pale and soft on the outside.  Overall, it was still a pretty good bagel, but didn't compare to the other.  I'm not much of a bialy expert, but this one at least looked like the ones I remember from NYC.  Nice softened onions and poppy seeds filled the middle.

Given the crowd, they're definitely filling a need.  Another day, another quality opening on H St.

[Mark Dedrick]

We tried them midweek, and absolutely loved our salt bagels. Great texture, right amount of salt. I'm really happy these guys are there. 

[bettyjoan]

Finally got to try Bullfrog yesterday, and while the everything bagel was delicious, I'm not sure we'll be back anytime soon.  Their ordering/service system leaves a lot to be desired, especially on a busy weekend.  First, when you enter, you have to fight your way to the front to take a number.  Then, when they call your number, you go up and order/pay.  Then you wait again to hear your number called when your food is ready.  Maybe it works better when they are not as crowded (as many things would, naturally), but I waited over 30 minutes just to put my order in - they had two stations set up with tablets/Square for orders and payment, but they were only using one (despite the fact that the other station had an employee standing there, doing what, I'm not sure).  When I finally got up to the station to place my order, the guy taking it walked away no less than 3 times before the transaction was finished.  I ordered a salt bagel with jalapeno cream cheese and an everything bagel with scallion and chive cream cheese.  Unfortunately, we didn't open the bagels until we were walking home, and we realized that my husband got a plain bagel instead of a salt bagel (given the lack of attention at the register, I shouldn't be surprised that the order was wrong).

When my folks come to town, maybe I'll pre-order a dozen and go pick them up during a less crowded time.  But, I don't see us making Bullfrog a part of our Saturday or Sunday routine - just too much time.

[bookluvingbabe]

I tried it a few weeks back on my way to work.  Loved the bagels and the lox spread.  I didn't like the whitefish salad at all.

But given that we are paleo 90 percent of the time, I don't see this being a regular in my rotation.

[Lori Gardner]

I am a huge fan of Bullfrog Bagels.  I had them once in their pop-up phase and went to the H Street location a few weeks ago and enjoyed an everything bagel fresh out of the oven. There is nothing like this anywhere in town, as far as I'm aware.

I also brought some bagels home, and they are still pretty good after being frozen.  I agree that it is a chaotic process, and takes longer than it should, but found it worthwhile just the same.  Only problem for me is the distance.  I hope to visit Little Red Fox sometime soon,as they are now carrying Bullfrog Bagels, and is a little closer to where I live.  But I regret that I'll have to sacrifice the pure pleasure of a bagel when it's fresh out of the oven.

[Pat]

It was a nice day for a little walk, so I stopped in midmorning today and got a breakfast sandwich and a bialy to go.  I can see that this space must be a nightmare on a weekend morning.  I felt like I was in the way just sitting on a bar stool waiting for my sandwich to be made, and I was the only customer there.

The woman behind the counter was friendly, helpful, and apologetic that they were out of sprouts.  I switched my order to the breakfast sandwich when they didn't have the sprouts for the one I'd planned to order.

The bialy is awaiting later consumption, but I enjoyed my bacon-egg-cheese-avocado breakfast sandwich indulgence.  The poppy bagel was just the right amount of crusty and chewy.  Wouldn't you know a great bagel place would open nearby just as we've cut way back on eating bread...

[Josh]

But, I don't see us making Bullfrog a part of our Saturday or Sunday routine - just too much time.

Bullfrog announced on twitter yesterday that you can now place online orders for pick-up Saturday and Sunday.  From the description, you have to place your order prior to 10pm the night before to ge guaranteed a pick up time, but this may help the wait-factor.

Instructions on their website

[DonRocks]

Bullfrog announced on twitter yesterday that you can now place online orders for pick-up Saturday and Sunday.  From the description, you have to place your order prior to 10pm the night before to ge guaranteed a pick up time, but this may help the wait-factor.

Instructions on their website

Bullfrog just responded to this tweet saying their phone lines are also open now for same-day ordering.

[Waitman]

I pulled into the girlfriend's driveway and she was leaning on her rake talking to her neighbor, who is married (or something) to a former long-time employee of the Tabard Inn who was purged by the owner and her Svengali boyfriend and she says "Bob and I were just talking about Jermiah," son of aforementioned owner and also purged, who we met when he was behind the bar at 2 Amy's.  We bantered about bagels Jermiah's home life (very wholesome) and such for a bit and I said, "Every time I hear the name "Jeremiah," I think of 'Jeremiah was a bullfrog/was a good friend of mine...'" and Bob says, "Yeah, he likes that song, that's why he named his place Bullfrog."

And I slapped my forehead because for six months I've been trying to figure out why anyone would name a place "Bullfrog Bagels." Apparently, I'm not even master of the obvious.

The opening lines of this song, "Jeremiah was a bullfrog, was a good friend of mine. Never understood a single word he said, but I helped him drink his wine," are part of some wonderful song meaning speculation. A common interpretation is that Axton's bullfrog is the prophet Jeremiah from The Bible, and we've seen at least one sermon that makes that case that the song represents God's desire to unite all people in happiness (the bullfrog, with his distinctive call that stands out in nature, is God's voice in this interpretation). There's also a case for John Jeremiah, the keyboardist for the '70s Rock group Aliotta, Haynes and Jeremiah, who are best known for their song "Lake Shore Drive." Axton, however, told a different story about the famous lyric. With the chorus and melody already written, he added some placeholder lyrics where he intended to write proper verses. What came out of his mouth was that famous first line. Axton explained in the Oregon News-Review: "Jeremiah was an expedient of the time. I had the chorus for three months. I took a drink of wine, leaned on the speaker, and said 'Jeremiah was a bullfrog.' It was meaningless. It was a temporary lyric. Before I could rewrite it, they cut it and it was a hit."

 

The group didn't think much of this song when they recorded it, tacking it on to the album because they needed one more song to complete it. The song ended up being a massive hit and stayed 6 weeks at #1 on the US charts.

[DonRocks]

I pulled into the girlfriend's driveway and she was leaning on her rake 

Tom Rakewell?

(Google it.)

[Pat]

Per Capitol Hill Corner:  Bullfrog Bagels will be opening a second shop in the 300 block of 7th Street, SE, in a row of shops down from Eastern Market.  It will take several months for renovations of the space before opening.

[Waitman]

Per Capitol Hill Corner:  Bullfrog Bagels will be opening a second shop in the 300 block of 7th Street, SE, in a row of shops down from Eastern Market.  It will take several months for renovations of the space before opening.

Perfect.  I hope they don't mind when a bunch of grungy rowers, smelling of sweat and the Anacostia River, descend on it for crew breakfast.

[Pat]

It sounds like Mr. Cohen is having some issues with the neighbors re: the new shop.

The liquor license thing was something I wasn't expecting.

[monkeyrotica]

"The owner of Bullfrog Bagels "“ Jeremiah Cohen "“ didn't help his cause much when he first insulted nearby residents, and then threatened to make their quality of life worse by using even more disruptive delivery practices if he didn't get to deliver bagels through the rear entrance of his 7th Street bagel shop daily between 3am and 4am. One of their main objections is the early morning bagel deliveries."

Um, has this guy never dealt with ANC's before? I'm pretty sure commercial deliveries are prohibited in residential neighborhoods at 3am.

[Pat]

The Eastern Market location opened Saturday.  According to their website, M-F hours are 7-3 and weekend hours are 8-3.  Dinner service (and presumably extended hours) are coming in the fall.

[Pat]

I stopped in here a week ago and got an onion bagel with veggie cream cheese. It doesn't match my memories of the Hill Chesapeake Bagel Bakery, which I frequented, uh...frequently. It was good, though. I rarely eat bagels anymore for dietary reasons, but I liked this. It was not overly crammed with cream cheese.  I don't care for having to scrape off half the cheese to get something acceptable and then feel like I'm wasting food, so I liked this. I sat upstairs, which is where the dinner/bar area is at night.

Given how long it had been since a post, I figured I would write something. Apparently the H Street co-location is still going strong. A Sunday ago, I ran into an acquaintance up towards that region. I was just out taking a walk, but he assumed I was headed to get bagels because I was on the route people take to head up there.

The 7th Street location had a list of 3 soups, which also looked good. One was matzoh ball, another was lentil, and I forget the third, but it made me think I might stop in there sometimes to buy some soup to go.

 

[DaRiv18]

Bullfrog Bagel and peregrine form the backbone of the Dupont Circle Shop Made in DC space, where other concepts pop-up there for a week or so. 

Bullfrog is also featured at Little Red Fox, too.