Bagels, Bagels and Deli Meats—All at the Garden

You could stand on a corner and look around until a restaurant sign draws you in. But we've got a better idea. Each week, Patch picks a great restaurant either in town or nearby that is worth checking out. Here's this week's choice:

Bagel Garden

Overview: Bagel Garden is just over the border from Bridgewater on Route 202 in Branchburg, and offers a variety of bagels, pastries, deli meats and sandwiches.

Décor: The restaurant is fairly plain-looking, though much larger than most bagel stores. With the left section devoted entirely to ordering and the drink refrigerators, plus the rest of the counter space, the right side has many tables for eating. It's a good size for space to look at the menus and really choose your favorite bagel, plus you have a selection of tables to choose from to enjoy your food.

The Drinks: It's a fairly normal bagel place, with a selection of iced teas, sodas, hot teas and coffees.

Entrees: The Bagel Garden has a large variety of bagels, including cinnamon, whole wheat, poppyseed, everything, blueberry, cinnamon raisin and [one I was particularly surprised to see] spinach. And from there, patrons can put all kinds of salads on the bagel, including whitefish [which I ordered for a delicious sandwich on my blueberry bagel], egg salad, tuna fish, egg and other options. And if you're not in the mood for a bagel—though it seems an odd choice to go to the Bagel Garden if you don't want a bagel—you can get a deli sandwich with choices like salami, chicken, ham, corned beef or turkey. Or you can follow my dining partner's choice and get a good old fashioned grilled chicken caesar wrap.

Desserts: The shop offers a variety of different pastries, from chocolate confections to fruity options. I admit I didn't try one when I was there, but it was not for lack of salivating over the different options—definitely delicious-looking options.

Service: I was not impressed with the service, as it appeared very disorganized to me. Patrons order their food at the counter, and then wait around until they see their food come forward. Then they can pay for it. But while collecting credit cards and money, workers at the front were also trying to take orders, and I started to feel like I was about to be paying for the wrong meal. Definitely one person at a time is the best way to go, in my opinion.

Address: 1021 Route 202 North, Branchburg
Cost: $
Phone: 908-526-6444