cafe international

Finding bagels in Cranston isn’t easy. I’m talking about real, fresh bagels, not the hoops of cardboard they hawk at your local Donut chain store. After the disappearance of Barney’s, cafe international has emerged as one of the frontrunners.

You have to play a little “Where’s Waldo” to spot the cafe. It’s nestled in one of many the generic, ugly brown metal-roofed buildings along Oaklawn Avenue.

Once inside, the cafe has a sense of place in spite of its location, which essentially amounts to a strip mall storefront. The cafe offers a variety of bagels, a full selection of coffees, and a deli case of cream cheese varieties. The coffee tastes pretty good, the bagels aren’t bad, and the place is usually packed. It’s a great place to see a healthy sampling of Cranstonites on a Sunday morning.