With a cup of Einstein's freshly brewed coffee in hand I found a sunny seat in the dining area. I smiled at the patrons around me enjoying late afternoon pastries and tapping away on their iPads. It was a serene setting.
But then, "HOT BAGELS!" a voice suddenly shouted from the kitchen, breaking the stillness. "Hot bagels!" the girl behind the counter echoed.
"Hot bagels!" shouted another staff member while she wiped down tables next to me.
This is Einstein tradition, General Manager Jennifer Falbey explained, smiling.
"We like to let customers know when we get a fresh batch of bagels out of the oven. We're a very loud group," she said. "My group is actually quite loud. They'll announce everything. Even bacon coming out of the oven. It's just our way to make people feel like we recognize them being here."
Indeed, Einstein likes to go all out. Particularly this time of year. "Einstein is really going all out this fall," said Jennifer. "Pumpkin everything."
"Pumpkin what?" I asked.
"Everything. We do pumpkin everything. It was a huge deal last year. We kept running out of stuff so this year we're ordering a huge amount of everything," she explained.
By the end of August, Einstein will be officially rolling out its epic pumpkin-inspired menu. This includes pumpkin lattes served hot, iced or frozen. There will be pumpkin bagels, including the extra-special pumpkin crunch bagel with cookie crumble topping; pumpkin shmear, pumpkin muffins and the dessert-like pumpkin cluster.
The pumpkin cluster is made with bagel pieces tossed in butter, with sweet pumpkin spices then thrown into a tulip cup and baked. Although Einstein's pumpkin cluster, along with all its pumpkin-infused fare, is limited time only, you can try the sweet cinnamon sugar cluster or the savory Asiago cheese cluster year-round. Imagine monkey bread but with bagel dough.
"When you think fall you think warm, you think homey," Jennifer pointed out.
So in addition to pumpkin mania, Einstein is also rolling out three new fall sandwiches. There is the Napa Valley chicken sandwich made with arugula, raspberry vinaigrette, brie and fig jam and served on an artisan roll.
There is also the lavish-sounding Bavarian sandwich made with beer-cheese spread, honey mustard and chicken breast and served on a pretzel roll.
Finally, for breakfast (or anytime really - Einstein serves breakfast and lunch all day) you can try the cinnamon toast egg sandwich.
Not all good things at Einstein are fleeting, however. The standard menu offers all sorts of interesting and fresh food - the bagel dog, for example. Imagine a meal-size pig in a blanket, only made with a freshly baked bagel and an all-natural, all-beef Hebrew National dog.
It might just make you holler "HOT DOG!"