North Carolina Bagel Shop Has ‘The Best Bagels in America’ According To Food & Wine

I'm not a huge bagel person, but I assume it's because I've never had the best. Don't get me wrong I like them, but it's not something I can say I've ever craved or absolutely had to have. But now I have a place I may just have to pay a visit and try. A North Carolina bagel shop was named among the best in the country according to Food & Wine. The publication named just under 50 of the nation's best bagel shops from "coast to coast". The North Carolina spot that made the list? Benchwarmers Bagels in Raleigh. I do spend a fair amount of time in Raleigh, it's pretty much my second home, so I will have to add this to the list.

Benchwarmers Bagels is located in downtown Raleigh on East Davie Street in the Transfer Food Hall. Their menu consists of homemade bagels in six different varieties. They also have numerous flavors of cream cheese to choose from. But where I think I just haven't truly experienced the true potential of bagels is with bagel sandwiches. Benchwarmers has 8 different options on its menu. According to its website, all the bagels are made "using fresh-milled, pre-fermented heirloom grains, extended fermentation, and a wood-fired oven." What are bagels without coffee? Not up to their true potential so you can grab a cup of fresh coffee as well.

Read the full Food & Wine list here. And get all the info you need on Benchwarmers Bagels, Food & Wine's pick for the best North Carolina bagels here.

Friday, June 2 is National Donut Day, and ahead of the celebration, Yelp released its second annual Top 100 US Donut Shops list. And apparently, NC has some delicious donuts. One North Carolina Donut shop was named the second-best in the entire country. The highly praised donuts come to us from Asheville. And 2nd best, that's some high praise. They weren't alone as 5 total North Carolina places made Yelp's list. This includes donuts from Asheville, Fayetteville, and Concord among others.

Did you know there are donut trends? There sure are! According to Yelp the biggest donut trends in 2023 are:

While my current favorite donut spot, The Salty, didn't make the cut, I'll be sure to check out a couple of these locations. I enjoy a good gourmet donut but I also can't turn down a hot now Krispy Kreme glazed donut. There just might not be anything better! The best donut I've had lately- a butterbeer one from the previously mentioned The Salty. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for my waistline) it was a limited-time offering. So how did Yelp come up with these ratings that ranked a North Carolina Donut Shop 2nd best in the country? According to Yelp, they "identified businesses in the donuts category, then ranked those spots using a number of factors, including the total volume and ratings of reviews between January 1st, 2022 and March 31st, 2023."

Keep reading to see the top 10 donut shops in the US and the other North Carolina locations that were recognized.

Have you tried HOLE? I haven't but I typically visit Asheville at least once a year so I will definitely be adding this to my list for my next visit!

This is the second time Superior Bakery in Fayetteville has made the top 100 list, though that took a substantial jump this year.

Apparently, I'm not up on my donuts, while Raleigh is my second home, I've never tried Baker's Dozen either.