The dominant bagel purveyor in this area is a chain called, "Bruegger's." Their quality seems to be hit & miss - I suppose it depends on who is baking them (please, no nit picking, I understand how they are made).
The current street price for a "baker's" dozen at Bruegger's is $8.99. They have a "special" price of $5.99 on Wednesdays, but never have any remaining when I get there after work.
I have a problem believing the 1980's prices mentioned at the top of this thread. This possibly-faulty recollection reflects dramatically on the percentage increase, year to year. I would believe 50c each in 1980, MAYBE a few cents less.
I guess it depends where you live, the level of competition, etc. Up until about 5-6 years ago, we had a lot of bagel stores (many with fairly good bagels, some even with bialys), the price was around 50 cents a bagel. A number of those stores went under (some due to retirement of the owners (the kids don't want to get up at 3:00 AM to make bagels), some because their bagels weren't good, and some probably because the profit margin wasn't enough); now the bagels are around 90 cents each in the stores left, and you have to get there early or they're all gone.
