Don’t eat poop. Eat a Bagel.
At some point in the last few weeks, I unofficially declared a new weekend goal: to try AT LEAST one new (to me) lunch spots in the city each week. It’s good to have goals in life, guys. You need to give yourself realistically obtainable milestones to strive for. Goals give your life purpose and destination, and, in my case, a full belly.
About 30 minutes into what should have been a 5 minute drive to Owen’s Bagels including FOUR (potentially) illegal u-turns, I finally (wo)manned up and called Owen’s to find out where the heck they were located.
With their direction, I quickly made it Owen’s, which is smashed at the end of the Pavilion Plaza on South Boulevard:
If you don’t know what you’re looking for, you might drive by it (four times) blissfully (or not so blissfully, as the case may be) unaware.
Now normally I’d question the pedigree of a restaurant whose letters are peeling off the awning, but I haven’t had a good bagel in god knows how long and I swear if I see another bagel thin flaunting itself as a delicious bagel alternative I may go batshit.
So I made an exception. I do have goals to keep in mind after all.
Owen’s is locally owned and operated and they are all about fresh steamed bagels, which they purchase straight from an NYC bagel shop. The bagel sandwiches are made to order and come piping hot off the steamer. If you’ve never sunk your teeth into the chewy bliss that is a hot steamed bagel, I beg you to get your butt to Owen’s. Stat.
There was a whole lot going on inside of Owen’s. I spotted a couple dozen people laughing and happily enjoying lunch against a backdrop of crazy signs and oddball décor.
The quirkiness of Charlotte never ceases to surprise me. You just never know what you’re going to get, unless you take the time to look inside. I think that’s what this city is really about. Slowing down, and taking the time. Stopping to smell the bagels, if you will.
At the front of the store, you’ll see the ordering section complete with construction paper visual aids depicting their menu items.
I giggled over a few of them including the Muenster Mash, Tonya Harding Club, Ned’s Gandy Dancer, and the Booty Bagel.
After ordering, I popped a squat in a back corner and admired the writing on the wall (no pun intended).
It was EVERYWHERE. Kinda made me wonder why they don’t just stick a ladder out front and let some customer put a good sharpie to work on their awning lettering. There isn’t much I wouldn’t do for a couple free steamed bagels ![]()
After a short wait, my grub was ready!
I went with the Jake Delihome Bagel, which was loaded up with turkey, colby cheese, AVOCADO, onion, and tomato on a Bialy bagel:
I’m not sure what a Bialy Bagel is exactly, but the sandwich was awesome. The turkey and cheese and veggies were tasty, but it coulda been bologna sandwiched between that steamy bagel and I think I still would have been in heaven.
I was so so so happy to see that they had Cheddar & Sour Cream Baked Ruffles!! Cheddar & Sour Cream chips are pure nostalgia for me. They were the chip of my youth, whereas funyuns were the chip of my teenage years… mmmmmm funyunnssss…. Oh how I miss those stanky snacks.
And with this, I bid you ado:

Don’t eat poop. Eat a Bagel.
At some point in the last few weeks, I unofficially declared a new weekend goal: to try AT LEAST one new (to me) lunch spots in the city each week. It’s good to have goals in life, guys. You need to give yourself realistically obtainable milestones to strive for. Goals give your life purpose and destination, and, in my case, a full belly.
About 30 minutes into what should have been a 5 minute drive to Owen’s Bagels including FOUR (potentially) illegal u-turns, I finally (wo)manned up and called Owen’s to find out where the heck they were located.
With their direction, I quickly made it Owen’s, which is smashed at the end of the Pavilion Plaza on South Boulevard:
If you don’t know what you’re looking for, you might drive by it (four times) blissfully (or not so blissfully, as the case may be) unaware.
Now normally I’d question the pedigree of a restaurant whose letters are peeling off the awning, but I haven’t had a good bagel in god knows how long and I swear if I see another bagel thin flaunting itself as a delicious bagel alternative I may go batshit.
So I made an exception. I do have goals to keep in mind after all.
Owen’s is locally owned and operated and they are all about fresh steamed bagels, which they purchase straight from an NYC bagel shop. The bagel sandwiches are made to order and come piping hot off the steamer. If you’ve never sunk your teeth into the chewy bliss that is a hot steamed bagel, I beg you to get your butt to Owen’s. Stat.
There was a whole lot going on inside of Owen’s. I spotted a couple dozen people laughing and happily enjoying lunch against a backdrop of crazy signs and oddball décor.
The quirkiness of Charlotte never ceases to surprise me. You just never know what you’re going to get, unless you take the time to look inside. I think that’s what this city is really about. Slowing down, and taking the time. Stopping to smell the bagels, if you will.
At the front of the store, you’ll see the ordering section complete with construction paper visual aids depicting their menu items.
I giggled over a few of them including the Muenster Mash, Tonya Harding Club, Ned’s Gandy Dancer, and the Booty Bagel.
After ordering, I popped a squat in a back corner and admired the writing on the wall (no pun intended).
It was EVERYWHERE. Kinda made me wonder why they don’t just stick a ladder out front and let some customer put a good sharpie to work on their awning lettering. There isn’t much I wouldn’t do for a couple free steamed bagels ![]()
After a short wait, my grub was ready!
I went with the Jake Delihome Bagel, which was loaded up with turkey, colby cheese, AVOCADO, onion, and tomato on a Bialy bagel:
I’m not sure what a Bialy Bagel is exactly, but the sandwich was awesome. The turkey and cheese and veggies were tasty, but it coulda been bologna sandwiched between that steamy bagel and I think I still would have been in heaven.
I was so so so happy to see that they had Cheddar & Sour Cream Baked Ruffles!! Cheddar & Sour Cream chips are pure nostalgia for me. They were the chip of my youth, whereas funyuns were the chip of my teenage years… mmmmmm funyunnssss…. Oh how I miss those stanky snacks.
And with this, I bid you ado:

Bananas Foster Bread
So what do these have in common? Yesterday’s guesses gave me quite a few chuckles.
Maker’s Mark and bananas happen to be two of the BF’s FAVORITE things. Since we didn’t get to spend VD together, I decided to whip up a batch of Marker’s Mark Banana Bread over the weekend. I had a Cooking Light Recipe for Bananas Foster bread that I’d been DYING to try out, and Makers Mark seemed like a terrific substitute for the Cognac called for in the recipe.
Who drinks Cognac anyway? Emeril Lagasse, that’s who.
Lucky for this banana bread recipe, I’m not dating Emeril Lagasse. I’m dating Mr. Maker’s Mark.
Seriously…
Edible.
Canoodling:
This looks quite natural, actually.
First up: get your hands on some mushy brown bananas. Hopefully you planned ahead for this, because the base of ANY good banana bread recipe is some seriously overripe bananas.
These guys are actually on the under-ripe side, but they got the job done.
Next: preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9×5 inch bread loaf pan with cooking spray.
Combine the following in a nonstick skillet:
- 1.5 cups mashed up ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 5 tbsp melted butter
- 3 tbsp Maker’s Mark
Can we say yum?
Heat over medium until it starts to bubble and thicken slightly
Then you’ll want to remove this banana goodness from the heat and set aside to cool.
In the meantime, combine the following in a separate bowl:
- 1.5 cups flour
- 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground allspice
Flax!
Alltogethernah:
Once the bananas are cooled off, add in:
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup fat free plain yogurt
- 2 large eggs
Beat everything together until combined, then add in your dries to wets and mix until just blended:
Yes, I licked them.
Next is the easy part — pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour. Then let the bread cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile mix up the icing:
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp melted butter
- 1 tbsp Maker’s Mark
And dr-dr-drizzzzleeee over the warm bread:
Notice that at this point I had ALREADY cut off a small piece for sampling… That’s a key step in successful baking. Frequent and continuous testing.
Mr. Maker’s Mark said this was the best banana bread he had ever tasted because it was “delightfully moist and not overly sweet”
I agreed, it was delicious… and addicting.
Must be the alcohol.
Maker’s Mark Banana Foster Bread Ingredients List (serves 12):
- 1.5 cups mashed up ripe bananas
- 1 cup packed brown sugar, divided
- 6 tablespoons melted butter, divided
- 1/4 cup Maker’s Mark, divided
- 1/3 cup fat free plain yogurt
- 2 large eggs
- 1.5 cups flour
- 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground allspice
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar


