The New Best Bagel in Denver? 🥯#shorts

Rosenberg's has had the Denver bagel conversation locked up for years. That's not an insult to anyone — they've genuinely earned it. But when Call Your Mother started making noise as one of the best bagel shops in DC, and then announced they were opening not one but two Denver locations, I paid attention. The Cap Hill spot landed first on my radar, so that's where I went.

The place has the kind of low-key energy that works for a bagel shop. You're not sitting down for a long meal. You're in, you're ordering, you're finding a spot if one opens up, and you're eating something you'll think about for a few days. The line moved at a reasonable pace. The staff knew the menu and weren't annoyed by questions, which matters more than people give it credit for.

What's Actually Good Here

The bagels themselves are the point, and they hold up. They've got that exterior chew that a lot of Denver bagels miss — that slight resistance before you get into the interior, which is soft without being doughy. Call Your Mother does a style that's a little different from the classic New York boiled bagel, and it works. The everything bagel was good enough that I went back for a second visit specifically to get it again, which is about as direct an endorsement as I can give.

The sandwiches are where they really make their case. I got one of their loaded cream cheese builds, and it was the right ratio of bagel to filling — which sounds obvious but is genuinely harder to execute than most places manage. A lot of bagel sandwiches are either cream cheese delivery devices with a bagel serving as structural support, or they're so light on the spread that you're basically just eating bread. This wasn't either of those things.

What Doesn't Quite Land

The pricing is on the higher end. I expected that coming from a DC shop with some hype behind it, and if the bagels weren't as good as they are, it would be harder to justify. They are as good as they are, so I'm not complaining loudly — just noting it for people who come in expecting something closer to what a corner deli would charge.

The Cap Hill location is also worth knowing about in terms of timing. Go early if you can. Later in the morning on a weekend, the wait gets longer and some of the more popular options go fast. Weekdays are a smoother experience.

How It Fits Into Denver's Bagel Moment

Denver has been having a bagel moment. Westword called it the city's bagel revolution for a reason — there are more serious bagel shops here now than there were even two or three years ago. Rosenberg's still has a loyal following and deserves it. Call Your Mother doesn't replace that — it just gives Denver something it didn't have before, which is a real second option at the top of the conversation.

Two locations helps. Tennyson and Cap Hill cover different parts of the city, and if you're already on Capitol Hill and want to eat somewhere after — the neighborhood has solid options nearby, including Aloy Thai Eatery over on 7th if you want to make a half-day of it in the area.

The Bottom Line

Call Your Mother is the real thing. If you care about bagels even a little, it's worth going out of your way for. I went in with measured expectations because hype is usually working against a place before you even walk in — this one handled it fine.