Of all places that deserve five [million] stars, of all places that were formative in my youth, of all places whose provender I crave on my biannual sojorn back to Madison, YOU, Bagels Forever, hold the highest place in my heart. And that's sayin' a lot!
To wit: My mother gave me a Cuisinart for Christmas. This rocked. I had to take an extra suitcase back with me on the plane to carry it, one that was one-and-a-half times as big as the actual box it came in. What did I pack the rest with? You guessed it: poppy seed bagels from Bagels Forever.
These bagels are SO AWESOME that they are the gold standard by which I judge other bagels. And yes, I've fed them to New Yorkers (the owners, IIRC, are from the Big Apple anyhow, so they're legit).
These bagels are SO AWESOME that I mailed four of them to my friend who was in another state one summer (I hope they were still good when they got there). And then I wrote a poem (caveat lector: it's really bad -- http://www.maenad.net/jnl/archives/2000/07/#7-31-00) about them.
These bagels are SO AWESOME. Full stop. I'm crying just thinking that I'm 2000 miles from them.
Good thing you can order them online!