Highland Park’s York Boulevard often has a line early in the morning during the weekends. As soon as Belle’s Bagels’ window opens at 8 a.m., you can expect a half-hour wait. But it’s worth the wait since this outlet serves one of the city’s most delicious lox sandwiches with only a tiny storefront to their name.
If you lived in New York but now reside in L.A., you might lament the city’s lack of good bagel outlets. The good news is that a large number of high-quality lox-and-cream-cheese locations opened within recent years. They join some of the city’s staples like the Bagel Broker as well as Western Bagel.
The best part is that there are more outlets on the way to deliver more fresh, delicious baked goods. For example, Courage Bagels will open a branch on Virgil Avenue in East Hollywood this year. Another popular brand, Unity Bagels, will make waves since they make sandwiches, such as one with ceviche as its topping.
Best Bagels in Los Angeles
Hank’s
Hank’s Bagel is a stand-alone establishment that opened around the end of 2019. The owners of this place are the husband-and-wife duo—Kelley (33) and Trevor Faris (35). This is a cheery establishment that serves innovative bagels. Yelp
Location: 4315 W Riverside Dr Burbank, CA 91505
The Bagels
Hank’s bagels are easy to chew since they aren’t too dense. As sandwich vehicles, they’re amazing since they’re more palatable. Their most exceptional menu item is the everything jalapeno-cheddar bagel.
The Fixings
Their sandwiches have these exceptional touches such as salted cucumbers and pickled onions. It’s like a chef’s meal, giving you a premium experience. Their in-house gravlax has thicker slices, but it works since it’s delicious and fresh.
The Future
This bagel place plans to make pizza bagels and probably pizza pop-ups on the patio.
Maury’s
This bagel place, Maury’s, started as a pop-up founded by a Gjusta general manager, Jason Kaplan. It’s now a brick-and-mortar establishment that made its debut back in March 2019.
Location: 2829 Bellevue Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90026
The Bagels
They have Traditional New York-style bagels. It’s well-known for their proper, moderate size without overstuffing nonsense most bagel stores seem to do these days. They’re baked with the use of a vintage revolving tray oven, with the za’atar flavor as one of their unique offerings.
The Fixings
Maury’s serve smoked and cured fish like a traditional Jewish appetizer shop. The good news is that they also offer labneh if you want an alternative to cream cheese.
The Future
This bagel place aims to make Friday dinners possible, as well as bring more flavors like pumpernickel into their menu.
Freedman’s
The owner of this establishment, Jonah Freedman (26), grew up in Toronto. He loved Gryfe’s bagels, which are less chewy than NYC bagels. They’re smaller too, but that didn’t stop him from using it as an inspiration for his shop, Freedman’s.
Location: 2619 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026
The Bagels
Freedman says that his bagels are sweet and soft on the inside. He compared his bagels to a hybrid between a dinner roll and a bagel, like Gryfe’s. L.A. Bread prepares these bagels using Freedman’s specs.
The Fixings
This bagel store offers brunch, which features their plain, poppy, and sesame bagels topped with lox. They’re paired with egg, beef bacon, and cheese. If you want, you can substitute fried green tomatoes for a complete meal.
The Future
Freedman’s has no plans for now, but their bagels and meals are available for catering.
Yeastie Boys
This establishment first launched as a pop-up back in 2014. Founded by NYC transplant Evan Fox (34), Yeastie Boys has three trucks as of late 2019.
Location: 8495 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069
The Bagels
The Yeastie Boys doesn’t have any special tricks or gimmicks for their bagels. But they’re reliable since they’re large and quite bready. This makes them perfect for getting rid of hangovers.
The Fixings
This establishment is all about indulgent sandwiches. One of their best sellers is the Game Over—it has beer cheese, peppered bacon, and scrambled eggs. The sandwich has a lot of things happening to it, so the best vessel for all these ingredients is the plain bagel.
The Future
This establishment aims to collaborate with other establishments. One of the most likely candidates is Tacos 1986. What they’ll come up is anyone’s guess, but there’s no doubt it’s something delicious.
Pop’s Bagels
Zachary Liporace (33) was a former TV worker. But his life changed in 2017 when he started selling bagels from his apartment. Now, he has a semi-permanent pop-up at Culver City’s Platform, catering for big hits like Jimmy Kimmel. Pop’s Bagels
Location: 8850 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232
The Bagels
With Liporace baking on-site, you can count on the freshness of the bagels. The only drawback is that they’re limited in flavor. That means you can only enjoy plain, cinnamon raisin, and everything-flavored.
The Fixings
Pop’s Bagels has homemade cream cheese as well as a Santa Barbar Smokehouse Box.
The Future
This establishment aims to open a permanent spot in Culver City within this year. Additionally, Liporace also wants to add an egg bagel to his offerings.
Also, check out these 10 Best Vegan Restaurants in Los Angeles
