Gems House of Bagels (RT-35, Hazlet)

"For a place with “bagels” in their name, they don’t seem to have any type of talent in making them or preparing them. I might suggest a name change to “Yesterday’s” because the bagels you get here are definitely a day old. What’s sad is it’s a very “carby” item so it’s nice when they are good.. but I can barely call the item ingested food, let alone good. Empty carbs, empty taste, and somehow the store isn’t empty as well…. Yet. They have everyone fooled, including me, until now. If you value your time, your money, and food… go elsewhere."

"No prices for menu items? Shady AF! When asked why there are no prices they said, oh well it'd be ridiculous if we had to do that because prices of cold cuts change. I've never once heard this type of dismissal. Kudos for originality, but that along with the pathetically small amount of ingredients in my wrap sealed the deal that I'll never go back. $12 for a thin skimpy wrap! The girl behind the counter seems to have dumped a gallon of pepper juice into the wrap because it drenched thru everything and was completely soggy by the time I got to eat it 5min later. How do you like your overpriced sogwich? With wrapping and paper bag stuck on you say? No extra charge for that. Overall shady customer service, pricing and not even good quality finished product. Sad. Really sad."

"Living in Virginia you just don't get the kind of bagels you need to soothe your soul so whenever I travel North I always have to have one! But this Rocket was fabulous! I was starving and I needed it. If I lived close I would absolutely eat here at a minimum of once a week. And as a Realtor I have to say I just loved the decor! Thanks guys keep up the good work!"

"Vegetarian review: Gems bagels no longer serves fresh jalapenos cream cheese with their bagels. That being said - the bagels themselves area too bit small and has very little cream cheese for the price. This place is expensive. That being said, the owners are genial who try as hard as possible to satisfy your expectations. I wish them success otherwise in their establishment. The pot coffee was excellent and it is NOT bottomless like some other establishments - again for the high price it would have been nice however. The side of potatoes are utter junk however - just chips of potato (slices) deep fried with no seasoning. They taste bad and feel bad too. My peeve with the restaurant though - is the absolute lack of cleanliness in the seating area - see my pictures. It is wretched. The tables are grimy, the floors are disgusting and the bathroom doors are all nasty. Considering how beautiful the decor is - the lack of hygiene in the customer facing area is a disappointment and a tab bit unsettling."