Nellie's Kitchen in Hallowell, Maine

Nellie's Kitchen is a small breakfast and lunch counter in Hallowell that builds everything to order. You'll find locals lingering over coffee and bagel sandwiches, along with visitors who stumble in and wish they had more time. The place runs on care, fresh ingredients, hand-rolled bagels, baked goods that actually taste like someone made them that morning.

• Fresh bagels, baked in-house daily.
• Eggs and omelettes loaded with seasonal vegetables.
• Cinnamon rolls and lemon blueberry cookies.
• Locally sourced coffee and ingredients.

Get a bagel sandwich with crisp bacon and eggs. The cinnamon rolls are worth the trip alone. A veggie omelette loaded with olives and whatever fresh produce is in stock pairs well with their sourdough toast. Grab one of the lemon blueberry cookies on your way out, and a pour of Carrabassett Coffee to sit with it.

Small and clean, with high tables that look out toward the UMA campus. It's a quiet, low-key room where people actually talk to each other.

Breakfast and lunch are the main events here. Orders come fresh and hot. The bagels are a draw, whether stacked with eggs and bacon or eaten plain. There's a visible commitment to detail in how they prep vegetables, toast, and spice things. They pour Carrabassett Coffee, a local roaster.

Guests rave about the freshness and care. One recent visitor called it "operated with a lot of heart." The bagels consistently get top marks, as do the house-baked goods and the quality of the coffee. People come back and regret they can't come back more often.