If you ever get up early and crave a delicious breakfast sandwich but aren’t great in the kitchen, then you’re in luck because Dublin, Pennsylvania, has multiple spots to chow down for a breakfast bite. The Dam Good Cafe, the newly opened Manhattan Bagel, and Brown’s Doughnut and Pastry Co. are all spots in Dublin that you can go to and get a breakfast sandwich without having to make a mess trying to make your own, but which one is the best? The Phelan family went to these three locations to try and decide which one had the ultimate breakfast sandwich.
The Dam Good Cafe was founded by Staci and Shane Dam and is located at 161 N Main St, Dublin, PA. According to Dam Good Cafe’s website, Shane has always wanted to own his own restaurant, so getting to open the Dam Good Cafe with his family was a dream come true. The Dam Good Cafe serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We walked into the cafe and didn’t have to wait. There were a good amount of tables, and the atmosphere was cozy and decorated nicely. We had a nice table with plenty of room, and the service was quick and friendly. Their breakfast sandwiches contain eggs, the customer’s choice of breakfast meat, and the customer’s choice of bread. I got the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on a bagel, and Matthew Phelan got the sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich on a bagel. Matthew said his sandwich was a “good size for a breakfast sandwich,” but he thought the bagel should have been fresher. The sandwich “lacked real flavor.” I would agree with those thoughts. I thought the sandwich was decent, the meat was good, and the eggs were cooked very well, but I don’t think the bagel was as fresh as it could have been. The sandwich also came with a hashbrown, and it tasted like the frozen hashbrowns you can find at the grocery store. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but it’s something I would be able to do myself in a couple of minutes. Overall, I liked my meal at the Dam Good Cafe, but it’s nothing that blew me away. I would say the Dam Good Cafe is what most people would expect from a breakfast sandwich at a family diner.
Manhattan Bagel is one of the largest bagel chains in the country. The company was originally founded in 1987 by brothers Andrew and Jason Gennusa. The Dublin location opened on October 4, 2023, at 161 N Main St, Dublin, PA. This is a smaller location because it is located in a shopping center, but when you walk in there, it smells like bagel heaven. This time, the whole family got sausage, egg, and cheese sandwiches, and they were wonderful. Keri Phelan described her sandwich as “delicious,” and Matthew Phelan said his sandwich was excellent, and his only critique was that the bagel “wasn’t toasted quite enough.” I thought the sandwich at Manhattan Bagel was great. The eggs were cooked perfectly, and the way the cheese was melted was the cherry on top. The sausage was definitely fresh, and I loved the bagel. All the elements came together to make an amazing breakfast sandwich.
The last place we went to was Brown’s Pastry and Doughnut Co. Brown’s first opened in 2018 at 161 N Main St, Dublin, PA. It was founded by a couple with the last name “Brown,” and according to their website, they fell in love working at a bakery. Brown’s is small inside, but they still make an excellent impression. There are doughnuts and different sweet treats everywhere. There’s so much to look at, and it smells fantastic. Once again, we all got the sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich, and I thought this one was the best-tasting sandwich. The bagel tasted like they had just finished toasting it, the eggs and cheese were blended together perfectly, and the bagel was top-notch. I loved every bite of that savory sandwich. However, it was the smallest of the three sandwiches, and I wanted a little more. Matthew Phelan summed up the sandwich by saying that it was “as good or better than Manhattan Bagel.” The advice he gave was that “if you’re hungry, Manhattan Bagel provides more nourishment, but if you want the best quality flavor, the bakery is the way to go.” I would agree with that assessment.
All three locations are good spots to get breakfast. The Dam Good Cafe is easily the least impressive out of the three, but it is still an enjoyable breakfast that I would be willing to eat again. However, the real competition is between Brown’s and Manhattan Bagel. Both places have amazing breakfast sandwiches. I think Brown’s tastes slightly better than Manhattan Bagel, but Manhattan Bagel gets you more bang for your buck due to the larger size of the sandwich.
