The wife and I happened upon Gotham Bagels our first day in Madison, and we've made it a tradition to go every Saturday. The bagels are amazing and I'm assuming "authentic", but who cares, they're really good. Part of the assumed authenticity comes from the brusque and curt way the staff deals with customers; it's just like being in New York!!! Generally they're nice enough and, if nothing else, you get a friggin' amazing bagel out of the interaction. How anyone rates this less than 4-stars is beyond me...