You may have strong opinions about bagels.

We certainly have ours.

Seven staff members of The Banner Montgomery are very vocal on the doughy discs, if our recent blind taste test is any indicator.

We meticulously sampled nine bagel shops in Montgomery County, in what is by far the most ambitious food review we’ve ever embarked on in our short-lived existence. And what we found was revealing.

New competitors in the county’s bagel scene have emerged. Washington, D.C.-born local chain, Andy’s Pizza, announced this month that it is piloting a run of bagels at its Bethesda location, using a 72-hour fermentation process. PopUp Bagels will also try to win the hearts of Bethesda bagel lovers in 2026. The buzzy shop, which started in Connecticut, doesn’t slice their bagels and encourages ripping and dipping them in spread.

But what makes a great bagel?

Our panel leaned toward the looks of a more traditional, glossy New York-style bagel — imagine a bagel in your head and bingo. Any visual deviation from a picture-perfect bagel was met with curiosity or skepticism and often didn’t work in a shop’s favor.

It turns out that the criteria for how a bagel should taste changes depending on who you ask.

One colleague said that the quality of bagels was akin to how he felt about pizza: A bad bagel is still good food. Another said her ideal bagel is a vehicle for a sandwich. And let’s not get started at this moment on whether a bagel should be toasted or eaten with cream cheese, butter or nothing at all.

So, to try and give shape and structure to the formless void at the center of a bagel, I created some criteria on how to judge each one.

They would be judged on a 0-5 scale based on appearance, taste and freshness, and each store has been awarded an average from those scores.

I did not participate in the formal testing because I could not provide a blind assessment as the wrangler of this rodeo.

But, typically, my eyes turn to the microblisters on the surface of each bagel, which indicate an adequate boiling plus high-temperature bake. On taste, I’m agnostic on the New York vs. Montreal vs. the world debate, but partial to everything seasoning — egg everything if they have it. But my colleagues got their choice of everything, plain or sesame.

Freshness was a chance for folks to weigh in on toasting, with 0 indicating “please, toast this right away” and 5 meaning “perfectly warm as is.” I prefer untoasted for truly fresh bagels, but sometimes you just run into one that’s been sitting around too long.

A clear top five stood out, but one colleague perhaps put it best: Montgomery County is blessed to have so many good bagel options.

9. Ize’s Deli & Bagelry

11622 Rockville Pike, Rockville

This bagel shop along Rockville Pike has fueled Olympic gold medals.

Swimmer and Bethesda native Katie Ledecky has shouted out Ize’s as a childhood favorite after swim practices, and the shop’s wall behind the register boasts signed pictures of the nine-time gold medalist.

But our panelists think the shop is getting lapped by its competitors.

Ize’s received only one 5 across the board from our panel — for freshness. One panelist noted a pleasant sour taste in her sesame bagel, but two others noted Ize’s similarity in taste to what you’d find from a grocery-store bagel.

Score: 2.7

8. Royal Bagel Bakery & Deli

19725 Germantown Road, Germantown, and 3490 Olney Laytonsville Road, Olney

Royal’s Germantown location keeps its baskets of bagels next to freshly-made doughnuts and behind a dazzling display case of cookies and other treats.

Maybe our panelists will opt for one of those other offerings if they ever return.

Royal received only one 5 across the board from our panel — for appearance. Almost every taster noted Royal’s reliance on onion in its everything bagel. Some appreciated the striking look and flavorful punch.

But one colleague was less impressed. “Very aggressive onion slices that could be divisive and alienating in a very small office,” she said, perhaps gesturing at the confined room she herself was contained in. But beyond any look or smell, she wrote: “This tastes like bread. Onion bread. It’s fine!”

Score: 2.8

7. The Bagelry

36 Vital Way, Silver Spring

The cozy Colesville shop has grown its menu to around 30 bagel varieties, such as tie-dye, over its more than 30 years in business.

However, some panelists had some critiques of their standard flavors.

For starters, three tasters were miffed by the sesame seed coverage on this batch of bagels. “Why are the toppings only on one side?” one colleague wondered. “The tops look excellent. Truly! But no seeds on the bottom?! You’re gonna stick half your guests at a breakfast party with plain bagels?! This is an egregious sin in my book,” another panelist said.

Even after the initial shock of its appearance, our panel was so-so on the Bagelry’s taste and less pleased with its density. “Not a fan of the seasoning, a little too dense for my liking,” a colleague said.

Score: 3.0

6. Bethesda Bagels

4819 Bethesda Ave., Bethesda, and other locations across the region

Bethesda Bagels has cooked up a small, regional empire from its original 1982 home on Bethesda Row. It has four locations across Montgomery County, including Rockville, Potomac and another Bethesda outpost, and one each in D.C. and Virginia.

A few panelists mentioned their personal fondness for Bethesda Bagels. One colleague said she and her family would make specific quests during the pandemic to obtain a precious sack of bagels.

But sentiment was trumped by a bagel that landed in the middle of the pack.

A few tasters were taken by the size of Bethesda’s offering. “Intimidatingly large and doughy looking,” one panelist said. It cut the other way for another: “Great size, great exterior, great amount and variety of seasonings,” she wrote. This landed it in a mushy middle, earning some praise for its salt level but otherwise not standing out from more impressive bagels.

Score: 3.5

(tie) 4. Andy’s Pizza

4600 East-West Highway, Bethesda

The newest player in the game has spent years building a beloved chain of pizzerias, which opened a second location in the county in November.

It’s certainly off to a promising start, according to some of our panelists.

Andy’s bagels were the most striking contender looks-wise with a darker, blistered exterior. That worked to its detriment among our panel. Three tasters asked in varying degrees whether it was overcooked or downright burnt — “That’s not the color a bagel should be,” a colleague said.

But most of the skeptics were converted by the taste. “You know what, the burnt-ness actually really brought out the flavor of the seeds. The outside is crisp, and the inside is soft,” another taster said. “Dang, I really love this bagel.”

Score: 3.8

(tie) 4. Neal’s Bagels

113 Commerce Square Place, Gaithersburg

This Kentlands shop has been around Gaithersburg for more than 30 years. It also offers specials such as homemade challah for traditional Jewish holidays.

One colleague fondly associated eating Neal’s with her high school swim practices, and other panelists seemed to agree that it was a solid bagel.

Most of the panelists paused at the size of Neal’s creation — it was dwarfed only by Bethesda Bagels. But once they sunk their teeth in, many were impressed by the balance, but a bit split on the saltiness of the everything bagel.

“Reminds me of a NYC bagel,” one colleague said, “which is the highest compliment I can give to a bagel.”

Score: 3.8

3. Bagel Towne Deli

9749 Traville Gateway Drive, Rockville

Even among the MoCo natives in our panel, this Rockville shop surprised many because they had simply never been there or heard of it before this competition.

Perhaps that will change after my colleagues gave the spacious deli and cafe high marks.

Some thought it was a decent enough bagel with a good flavor, even if it could’ve used a bit more crunch. But a strong consensus grew over the appearance of its bagels.

“Great size, great exterior, great amount and variety of seasonings,” one taster wrote, also giving it a 5 for freshness.

Score: 3.9

2. Call Your Mother

11807 Grand Park Ave., North Bethesda, and other locations across the region

Bagel enthusiasts across the region have probably rendered their verdict on Call Your Mother, which opened its flagship D.C. store in 2018 and has expanded into Maryland, Virginia and Colorado.

The self-proclaimed “Jew-ish” deli has made its name on bright branding and, our panel would agree, tasty bagels and sandwiches.

“The picture of a bagel you’d see next to the definition in the dictionary,” one taster said of the appearance. Another colleague went one step further on the taste. “When I say I want a bagel, this is what I’m talking about,” she said. “I would eat this entire bagel as is with nothing else.”

But it just missed out on our top spot because of some scores from that same taster who noted its picture-perfectness. “I’ve learned an important life lesson today — to never judge a bagel by its cover,” she said. “This was a perfect-looking bagel with an aggressively regular taste. It’s a vehicle for a sandwich.”

Score: 4.1

1. Goldberg’s New York Bagels

4824 Boiling Brook Parkway, Rockville, and 9328 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring

Goldberg’s has been in operation for 21 years, and its owners can cap off the year by knowing it’s making The Banner Montgomery’s favorite bagel in the county.

Both locations are low-frills, spartan shops where customers can stream in and out. This translated to the shop’s bagels, which earned fair marks across the board on appearance but stood out to our panel for taste and freshness.

“It has a great bite. Great mouthfeel. Just a solid, tasty bagel,” one taster said. Two colleagues complimented the blistering achieved on the fresh batch. “Very nice, incredible blistering, lovely taste,” one said.

Score: 4.2