Forget about just spreading cream cheese for breakfast, bagels are a versatile, all-day type of food that can be enhanced with all sorts of flavors and baked in various styles.
Here in Los Angeles, where a bagel festival just took place, several unique bagel shops have popped up offering their own version of the ubiquitous baked treat. For those looking to explore this deceptively simple dish, here are five must-try bagel shops in Los Angeles County that are redefining the bagel.
Calic Bagels
2748 West Eight St., Los Angeles. It’s located inside the Markeat8 plaza, 213- 868-3330 or calicbagel.com
This Koreatown bagel shop is unlike most bagel shops around since the bagels are made using the Tangzhong technique, an Asian-inspired baking method that also fuses Jewish and New York styles. These bagels are chewy and soft because they’re stuffed with cream cheese and dipped in garlic butter, so they basically explode with flavor and are also pretty visually cool. Varieties include the Bacon Scallion Calic and the French Toast Calic.
Hank’s Bagels
4315 W Riverside Drive, Burbank; 13535 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks; 23655 Calabasas Road, Calabasas and 11725 Barrington Court, Los Angeles; hanksbagels.com
This small family-owned shop makes just about everything in-house. The bagels go through a two-day rise and are dunked in boiling water and the result is a fluffy yet firm thick sourdough bagel. The most popular is the Rosemary Sea Salt. Yes, it’s salty but in a subtle way compared to how the Rosemary engulfs the senses. It’s best paired with a vegetarian or lox spread. Hank’s also offers pizza bagels, cinnamon raisin and others. Plus there are fancy options like the vegan bagel sandwich, made with avocado, tomato, pickles, onion, radish, a mountain of sprouts and salted cucumbers. If you want some protein, add Nova Lox. For something really different, try the smoked whitefish salad bagel with salted cucumber and red onion.
ALSO SEE: The 6 best bagels in Orange County
Miopane Bagels
95 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena; 626- 239-8348 miopaneusa.com
This Taiwanese bakery specializes in soft stuffed bagels similar to the ones found at Calic Bagels in Koreatown. Here you’ll find stuffed sweet bagels with flavor options like mango cream cheese, blueberry cream cheese and whipped cream cheese with cinnamon pecans. There are also savory stuffed bagels like the new Mexican street corn bagel, the whipped tomato pesto and the Everything Bagel with smoked gouda.
PopUp Bagels
12184 Ventura Blvd., Studio City; 11710 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles and 11710 San Vicente Blvd., Brentwood; 855-747-6347 or popupbagels.com
This started as a backyard pickup window during the pandemic and later went on to earn back-to-back Best Overall, Expert’s Choice and People’s Choice awards at BagelFest in 2021-22. PopUp Bagels did this with a solid commitment to just sticking to whole bagels with no frills or gimmicks, just crispy crusts, soft crumb centers served in varieties such as plain, poppy, salt and “everything” bagels. With a motto of “Grip, Rip and Dip,” PopUp Bagels can be paired with house-made schmears (spreads) that come in flavors like Scallion Cream Cheese, Salted Butter and Sabatino Truffle.
ALSO SEE: 5 bagel shops to seek out in Riverside and San Bernardino counties
Yeastie Boys
Several locations, just find their trucks online; yeastieboysbagels.com
Fight for your right to eat bagels by finding these rolling trucks all over town. Once you find one, which is actually not that hard since they’re listed on the website, you’ll be able to try their New York style hand-rolled bagels and unique creations that in the past have included collaborations with chains like Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. But it’s best to try Yeastie Boys’ own creations like the The Mishka, made with roasted bell pepper, tomato, sprouts and schmear, and the The Diss Track, made with pit-smoked pastrami, folded scrambled egg, melted American cheese, schmutz sauce on an everything bagel.