The Jaffa Bakery is goo-ood.
Sure, it's kind of difficult to find unless you know exactly where it is. If, for instance, you're looking for it based on a search via Google Maps, you'll probably have to ask directions from someone who works in the vicinity. (Or else momentarily assume, like we did, that the Jaffa Bakery has been transformed into another—ho-hum—Bennigan's.) When you come to your senses and realize that it's past the Bennigans and up the stairs to the right, you'll do more than just breathe a sigh of relief; you'll inhale a mountain of bagels and smoothies like there's no next week. Because that's how happy you'll be that you don't have to eat at Bennigan's.
Mountains of food are usually expensive, but fortunately for you, these bagels are as cheap as the dirt on the bottom of your calloused feet. A single bagel is 88 cents (or $2 with cream cheese or hummus); a half-dozen costs $4; a dozen is $7; and they come in 17 crazy varieties, not unlike a less-expansive bagel version of Baskin Robbins. But the goods don't stop at bagels! The smoothie selection includes banana strawberry, banana raspberry and banana blueberry varieties for $3.25 each, and there's fresh fruit available for $3. And while the cookies ($1.05), scones ($1.65), muffins ($1.65) and baklava (95 cents) are certainly less good for you, they're the perfect way to make sure you hit the four main food groups (you know—bagels, smoothies, fruit and dessert).
Jaffa Bakery isn't the kind of place you eat Thanksgiving dinner at or take a first date, but it is a great place to eat a quick, well-balanced lunch for you business types in the Loop.
Centerstage Reviewer: Benjamin Andrew Moore
