Living away from home has its ups and downs, but one of the worst feelings is when you find yourself craving food from home and realizing it’s just out of reach.
If your home base is New Jersey, New York or even Massachusetts (shoutout to Bagel World), you know what a good bagel tastes like. In Maryland, however, a quality bagel can be hard to find. An excruciating lack of bagels is the reason Allee and Oliver Cox founded Pearl’s Bagels.
Allee and Oliver Cox opened their DC-based shop in July of 2020 and named it after their sassy French bulldog, Pearl. Located conveniently in Mt. Vernon Square, this bagel joint is accessible for University of Maryland students by taking the Metro to the Mt. Vernon stop and walking roughly five minutes down the road.
Pearl’s sells a variety of hand-rolled bagels made from a sourdough starter and only six ingredients. The bagels are boiled in honey water before being baked in a brick oven. With a care for sustainability, Pearl’s sources a handful of ingredients from local companies, which they use in their tasty bagel sandwiches.
Bagel options include plain, everything, sesame, onion, poppy, whole wheat and cinnamon raisin. Customers can choose from a variety of cream cheese flavors, or a fish spread like smoked tuna or whitefish. Hummus is another option. The real treasure at Pearl’s lies in their bagel sandwich menu, which I was able to try out last month.
I got to Pearl’s around noon on a rainy Sunday in late January. The line was almost out the door. The shop itself is relatively small, housing only four tables inside. Excited customers crammed like sardines waited in line to order, but the staff was efficient, and I didn’t mind the wait.
The atmosphere in Pearl’s is cute and fun since the cafe is French bulldog themed. A rustic brick wall behind the tables showcased a sleepy bulldog, and merchandise on display featured the recognizable breed. I couldn’t help but overhear people marveling over the pink, black and white interior design.
Ordering just one sandwich was a tough decision. Menu items like the classic egg and cheese or lox were enticing. A sandwich titled “The Frenchie” featuring ham, cage-free eggs, gruyere cheese and dijon mustard was my second choice, but I opted for the “El Pollito” on an everything bagel. The egg and cheese sandwich was complemented by hot sauce, Little Wild Things microgreens, Swiss and American cheese and el pollito chicken sausage sourced from Qui Qui DC. I also ordered a cold brew, which I added ½ and ½ and sugar to at the coffee bar station, which offered different types of milk, sugar and other sweeteners.
I managed to snag a seat with some friends and was eager to dig into my sandwich, which was ready roughly ten minutes after ordering, an impressive timeline given the crowd. I was nothing short of impressed. The flavors were paired wonderfully, and the egg was scrambled to perfection. It was well worth the mess it made. My complete order clocked out at $16. While Pearl’s may not be an everyday thing, it’s a treat I plan on revisiting as soon as possible.