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These Are The Absolute Best Spots For Bagels In Los Angeles
Bagels are far more than just bread with a hole in it — unlike other types of bread, traditional bagels are poached in water typically seasoned with baking soda, barley malt, or lye for flavor and coloring before baking. This results in a crisp, shiny crust with a chewy inside. The types of bagels you can find vary, but most bagel spots will offer classics such as poppy seed, everything, and sesame bagels, plus sweeter variations like blueberry bagels or cinnamon raisin. However, regionally, and even within cities, styles and techniques diverge, which is reflected in this list. While some on this list, which compiles my own experiences hunting down the best LA bagel (after growing up in New Jersey, my bagel standards are high) with spots highly recommended on restaurant review websites and social media, choose to embrace a New York or Montreal style, others are completely their own, while seeking to redefine the perception of bagels in Los Angeles.
Layla Bagels
This West Side spot has taken social media by storm with its signature sourdough bagels, which have a distinct flavor thanks to the use of a naturally leavened culture of yeast and bacteria. Unlike a traditional bagel, Layla’s bagels don’t have holes and have a fluffier texture. With popular options such as the savory Laika with smoked salmon, tomato, cucumber, pickled onion, and capers over herb cream cheese, or the sweeter Pre-Jam topped with seasonal fruit, cream cheese, and honey, you can’t go wrong. Luckily sandwiches can be purchased in half or full-size portions too, making it even easier to sample more of Layla’s delicious menu. Plus, Layla’s offers an assortment of baked goods like babka muffins, chocolate miso banana bread, and oatmeal raisin chippers, along with a coffee menu. Grab a seasonal option such as a pumpkin spice latte or a sagebrush matcha to enjoy at Layla’s indoor or outdoor seating.
Courage Bagels
Unlike most options on this list, Courage Bagels offers Montreal-inspired bagels, which are thinner and crispier than its New York counterpart. Its bagels also have a larger hole than a New York-style bagel and are always baked in a wood-fired oven. Opened by husband and wife duo Arielle Skye and Chris Moss in 2020, Courage is credited with not only helping to popularize the aesthetic open-faced style across the Los Angeles area, but for converting even the most staunch New York-style fans after trying a toasty, burnt everything bagel with fresh, hand-sliced smoked salmon from Courage, which is my pick. In fact, Courage Bagels even caught the eye of the New York Times, as well as Los Angeles Times food critic Bill Addison. Courage Bagels is open Thursdays through Mondays, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., but try to go on a weekday to avoid long lines.
Maury’s
Maury’s, tucked right between Silver Lake and Echo Park, first started as a pop-up before opening a standalone shop in 2019. However, you can also grab a made-to-order bagel sandwich every week at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market. Founded by East Coaster Jason Kaplan in 2014 in response to frustration with the sparse bagel options in Los Angeles, Maury’s appeals to the New York-style purist — its bagels have the slightly soft and chewy texture with a crunchy outer layer that East Coasters generally crave. But for those looking for a bit of a twist, Maury’s doesn’t disappoint with unique offerings such as a za’atar bagel and a wasabi roe cream cheese. It also features a rotating coffee selection, an assortment of smoked fish and roe, and other Jewish classics like challah, rugelach (a croissant-esque cookie), and sweet noodle kugel. Maury’s is closed on Mondays.
Belle’s Bagels
This Highland Park bagelry, which has been operating since 2012, offers a traditional selection of bagels, but its breakfast sandwiches and “Newish and Jewish Classics” are where Belle’s really shines. The PEC, which includes pit-smoked pastrami, sweet hot peppers, swiss, and eggs, and the Loxsmith, with beet cream cheese, local nova lox, crispy salmon skin, radishes, pickled fennel, and fresh dill are customer favorites. For those not yet acquainted with topping their bagels with fish, lox, like smoked salmon, is cured fish, meaning it has been preserved in salt. Both result in briny, thin strips of salmon served cold — While the two are similar and often used interchangeably, smoked salmon can be from any part of the salmon’s body, while traditional lox is made from the belly. At Belle’s, lox is sourced from a local smokehouse in North Hollywood — this shop likes to emphasize local ingredients. Stop by any day except for Tuesdays.
Calic Bagel
Another pandemic-born operation is Calic Bagel, founded initially as a garlic bread service by husband and wife Alex and Sun Sohn. Koreatown’s Calic Bagel not only provides that perfect blend of crunchy and chewy, but features one of the most extensive arrays of cream cheeses aka “schmear” on this list, with unique flavors ranging from black sesame, fig pecan, and cacio e pepe butter. Apart from classic sandwich and bagel choices, you also won’t want to miss out on the stuffed bagels, which you may have seen popping up across TikTok — namely its signature the Calic, which includes garlic butter dipped with garlic cream cheese. Just be sure to show up as early as possible — since a recent surge in social media popularity, Calic frequently sells out early. The shop is currently open Tuesday through Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Text by Tess Kazenoff | Photo credits on tastingtable.com | Read More Here
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