There are some things only townies can understand. One of those things, for me, is a sudden intense craving for an Irving’s breakfast sandwich from Bagelmen’s. For those that don’t know, this iconic breakfast sandwich contained an egg slab, melty white cheese, and Canadian bacon on a bagel of your choice. It also no longer exists. Bagelmen’s was a sandwich shop at 1401 W Kirby that closed about ten years ago. The space is currently home to Niro’s Gyros. Like most bygone Champaign restaurants, it’s hard to explain what made Bagelmen’s so great. It had a convenient drive through, but true fans will remember the smell of baking bagels as soon as you walked into the back door (did anyone actually use the front door?). The sandwiches were simple but I think that’s what made them so good. To my younger self there was really nothing better than a perfectly foil wrapped, hot and melty pizza bagel, or a poppy seed bagel with a two-inch thick swipe of veggie cream cheese, or the simple joys of a plain bagel with butter and cinnamon-sugar. I could literally go on because I have about 12 more favorites and nothing in Champaign-Urbana has come close to scratching that nostalgic itch for me. I could find approximately zero pictures of a real Bagelmen’s sandwich so if you have one, send it my way!
