A New Yorker ate at Charlotte’s best bagel spot, and here’s what she found.
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- CharlotteFive readers voted Family Dough as the city’s top bagel shop.
- A New Yorker praised Family Dough’s flavor and nostalgic atmosphere.
- Authentic New York bagels remain unmatched, but Family Dough came close.
I feel like all New Yorkers who don’t live in the city anymore share a similar story.
You wake up one day, usually a Sunday, and you get the deepest craving for a bagel. You start salivating off of memories. Now, you’re driving 40 minutes to a spot Instagram and Yelp said were the best bagels in town.
“I’m from New York, so I know!” one review probably says.
But they didn’t know. And that bagel you hoped would taste a little bit like home tastes instead like disappointment and homesickness. That $20 bucks could’ve gone toward a plane ticket.
After this scenario happened to me in Atlanta, I’ve never gone out of my way to a bagel spot outside of New York again.
But when CharlotteFive asked readers to vote for their favorite bagel spot in the region, I told editor Melissa Oyler that I would volunteer as tribute to try the winning place and give my New York opinion.
The winner was Family Dough Bagels in Mint Hill. When I arrived, I asked owner David Sconzo to tell me the origin story of the shop, and he had a funny tale for me.
“My brother calls me one day,” Sconzo starts, waving his hands around. “And he goes: ‘Yo, I just drove 45 minutes. Threw my kids in the car, my wife in the car for a bacon, egg and cheese on an everything bagel. I just had to have it.‘ He was like, ‘Man, it wasn’t worth the ride.’ ”
Sound familiar?
Now, I was really ready to see if it Family Dough was worth the ride.
A morning at Family Dough
I stepped into Family Dough, which opened in 2022, and was met with subway-tile lined walls and bagel bins behind glass enclosures, letting customers know what baked goods were left for the day
I knew Sconzo and his family were from Brooklyn, and when I pulled up to Family Dough, it was confirmed.
The “F” and the “D” of their name on the shop’s sign mimicked the train emblems of the same letters, both of which travel deep into the borough.
“Our sign is like a bat signal for New Yorkers,” Sconzo said.
Another funny story: The family lived in Bay Ridge. And it’s a small world, readers, because I, too, used to live in Bay Ridge.
I immediately told Sconzo that my favorite bagel place in the neighborhood was Sunset Bagels, and my go-to order was an everything bagel with vegetable cream cheese.
Sounds plain but hear me out: The guys at Sunset take fresh veggies from the salad bar and whip it into the cream cheese, so the vegetables still maintain their crunch.
Sconzo said Family Dough makes its veggie cream cheese the same way. That was the first thing I ordered. Second, I got an everything bagel with sausage, egg and cheese, salt, pepper, ketchup. And, yes, you say that in one breath.
When I unwrapped my first bagel, I smiled. Family Dough doesn’t skimp on the everything bagel seasoning, and we aren’t talking Trader Joe’s here. The schmear was perfect. Bright-colored vegetables were woven throughout the thickly-spread cream cheese.
First bite: I giggled. The bagel was salty, soft, chewy with a nice crust and not rubbery. The cream cheese cut through the salt, and the veggies added small pops of crunch and freshness.
My coworker Diamond Vences asked how it was, and I couldn’t speak. Charlotte did it — I found a bagel that tastes like home.
That may be a hard description to imagine, which is why I’m not a food critic. But the taste was a pretty spot-on replica of my memory. It hit a nostalgic button in my stomach and brain, bringing me back to my Bay Ridge days.
The breakfast sandwich did the same. I pulled the bagel apart to see the layers of a perfect sunrise breakfast: the red of the ketchup, the yellow and white of the egg, the gold of the cheese and the slice of brown for the sausage.
The egg was cooked hard but still fluffy with cheese throughout. The sausage had a nice spice, and the amount of ketchup was just enough to coat all the ingredients.
Personally, it was too much egg for me. The shop uses two eggs, and I should’ve asked for one. But I took a bite, called my mom and said this tastes like the bagels that used to make me late to high school.
Then, I texted all my New York friends who live in Charlotte to tell them I found my bagel spot.
What else to order?
When I stopped eating to observe my surroundings, I saw a group of people to my left. One of them was wearing a New York Mets shirt. So, I had to ask what they thought of Family Dough.
The world got even smaller, readers. Turns out Jocelyn Reyes, Alex Reyes and Zully Caballero are all from New York. Specifically from Long Island where, you guessed it, I also used to live.
I swear I planned none of it. The group was visiting from New York, and the craving hit them.
“We were craving bacon, egg and cheese but not from Dunkin — our kind of bacon, egg and cheese,” Jocelyn Reyes said. She said they found Family Dough on TikTok.
“We visit often, and I know many people move down here and they’re like we can’t find a spot. But we found our spot,” Jocelyn Reyes laughed.
Alex Reyes continued, “It made me feel like maybe home is not too far. Like we grew up eating bacon, egg and cheeses. Now when we visit, we know there’s a place we can relate to.”
Here’s their order:
- Jocelyn: sausage, egg, cream cheese, salt, pepper, ketchup on an everything bagel
- Alex: bacon, egg and cheese, salt, pepper, ketchup on a poppy seed bagel
- Zully: bacon, egg and cheese, salt, pepper, ketchup on an everything bagel.
Sconzo said some sleeper bagel flavors include the blueberry, garlic and onion options. If you’re looking for something sweet, he’d recommend the cinnamon sugar bagel with the cinnamon honey butter, or one of the massive cinnamon rolls made in-house by his sister.
And for savory, you have to go with the classic bacon, egg and cheese on an everything bagel.
Your favorite bagel
This whole story is based on the premise that New York is the standard place for a good bagel. If you don’t agree, then my view is moot.
But if you do agree, this is for you.
Sconzo said no bagel will be an authentic New York bagel unless you’re in New York. I agree.
Sconzo and I also agree that when it comes to the “best bagel” outside the city, it depends on the experience. So, my opinion on Family Dough may be a little bit biased.
In my two to three hours at the bagel shop, I was basked in nostalgia. Remembering my days in Bay Ridge, meeting fellow Long Islanders on a whim and discussing what it means to find pieces of home in new places.
It felt like home. And the bagels were really good.
I live in University, so Mint Hill is about 30 minutes away. Was the drive worth it?
Absolutely, signed a New Yorker — and I should know.
This story was originally published September 4, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
