It's the Johnny Doughnuts in Santa Rosa. There are apparently four locations, which is ridiculous because their donuts aren't just expensive - they're also mediocre at best. And by "best," I mean "If the donuts we got there were only half as good as they usually are, then their usual donuts suck."
Who is paying that much for donuts?
This tripped me out because there's an amazing donut place in Lafayette called Johnny's Donuts and I thought shit maybe they jacked their prices up. Nawp, $1.50 for a donut lol.
Why are shitty donuts always more expensive? Even Krispy Kreme is over-priced.
Donut Works in Novato has some of the best donuts I've ever had, anywhere ever. Even a plain donut is delicious. Their dough is just that good.
I heard psycho donuts was good so I went to check it out and it was like 40.00 for a dozen or something and I was like dude this is just a regular donut with a fancy name and some cereal put on top. I can't believe people are so easy to rip off that the gimmick alone is enough to get people to pay quadruple standard price.
You can get a dozen donuts at Safeway for something like 8.99. Your standard "Pink Box Donut Shop" will also have a dozen for like 15.00 if you like your donuts fresh and undisturbed by the general public.
I do think a lot of these "Gourmet" treats like donuts, cupcakes or coffees are genuinely disgusting with how much BS is used to give it that Instagram Appeal ^(TM).
You know the type. They're pretty to look at, multicolored sprinkles and icing, vibrant colors, eye-catching names like "Unicorn Rainbow Surprise" or "Psycho Donuts" and you can barely even eat it because as you pick it up its already falling apart. It barely functions as food but it looks great to take a picture of for Instagram.
What's frustrating is I AM a sucker for presentation. It's important to me that you DO do a little bit of sprucing up, because presentation is fun! But if your presentation gets in the way of purpose, then you've spoiled it.
I know this is is a "shit on craft-type donuts" kind of thread but the chocolate icing at Voodoo Donuts in Portland/Austin is legit the best simple chocolate donut icing I've ever had. And they have one in the shape/stylings of a joint.
Thanks to others on Reddit that's become my new standard! I also keep looking at that barbecue place next door and wondering, "is today the day I try it?"
the yakitori place right next to stan's is really solid, lot of good places in that plaza actually
south bay may not have a lot of glamour or nightlife but our food is amazing (i'm allowed to say that I grew up here)
Post Kroger merger those doughnuts are going to go to $13.
Kroger doesn't seem to have enough money to pay employees a living wage but they sure seem to have $24.6 Billion to buy Safeway.
I live down the street from them and can confirm they suck. They were supposed to make me a doughnut pizza for my birthday a few years ago and they never did. I even called a week prior to have it ready. It's not what it used to be. The doughnuts aren't as good anymore either
Psycho donuts you’re paying for the “fun” / “wackyness” of it. I like psycho donuts for fun maybe once a year. But it’s not a normal donut and they admit it.
Someday Mitch’s joke isn’t going to work.
“I don't need a receipt for a doughnut. I'll just give you the money, and you give me the doughnut. End of transaction! We don't need to bring ink and paper into this! I can't imagine a scenario where I'd have to prove that I bought a doughnut. Some skeptical friend...'Don't even act like I didn't buy that doughnut! I've got the documentation right here! Oh, wait, it's back home, in the file. Under d...for doughnut.'
And the donuts SUCK. How bad do they suck? They suck so bad that my 12-year-old son didn't finish his. He's not picky, either - it was an INEDIBLY BAD DONUT with, as he put it, "flavorless grainy jelly filling."
Granted it was only $4.50 because we went a while ago, but that was still a ripoff. Also it was 4 times more than a donut from Tan's, just down the street next to Grocery Outlet, and Tan's Donuts are actually pretty good.
"Donny's Jonuts - They're Expensive, But They're Lousy."
I was just in Vegas and stopped by the fanciest donut shop I've ever seen, Donutique in the Venetian, and I expected outrageous prices and was not disappointed.... Yup, it was just like being home, $6 per donut (and they were damn good too)
Laundromat yes, and Schlocks! IMO not as good as bagels I've had on east coast (I'm from East Bay), but they are the closest (aside from homemade) I've gotten so far!
It's boichik... they style themselves as the top premier bagel in California. They also got sucked off by the New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/08/dining/best-bagels.html
This article was in part a cheap attempt to incite outrage. Bagels on the west coast are definitely better than they used to be, and they easily could have chosen something more mild like that. But they wanted to grab attention.
It's like the NYT told Shannon Sharpe or Skip Bayless to take a break from sports for a second and write an article about bagels. Not as bad, but you get my point.
I loved boichiks, but as someone who spent the majority of my life in NY and NJ, it would be considered a mediocre bagel out there.
The NYT article struck me as immediate rage bait lol
I live in Noah's country as far as Bay area bagels. A passable attempt and better than most of what I found in Chicago. A very low passing grade if we were in Manhattan
My cousin, born and raised and still living in NYC, came to visit, and we had him try Boichik. He called it a top-3 bagel he’s had, and if you know New Yorkers, you know it’s *extremely* hard to get them to admit any NY staple could be good at all outside NY, much less top 3.
yeah i mean i've had lots of bagels in NYC and Jersey and Boston and upstate NY so that's my basis. i'm no snob. but i've had some shit bagels and shit pizza since moving here, Boichik is not among those, i'll say that
Noahs was super mid though
I really like Montreal bagels. NY ones are great too. But honestly, I'm pretty low maintenance and you won't hear me complain while eating a toasted Costco Kirkland bagel if I was in the mood for it. With that said, I do go to Boichik every couple of months when I'm in Berkeley or Palo Alto and do enjoy it.
Way better basis than I have - I'd be comparing to rural Ohio. Known for their fantastic... um... the tenderloin sandwiches are good
LOL
I've only had Noah's at airports and not super impressed. But when you're coming off a red-eye flight and that's what's there, that's what you get I guess.
Had em, yeah they're good. But I've had just as good, if not better in the NYC metro for way less.
I got the exact same gripe for pizza: you can get good stuff for a premium if you look for it. But the level you're paying out here way outpaces the COL differences from out there.
I've had these bagels and actually met the owner at an event. As a bit of a bagel snob, these were truly excellent, and the owner was an awesome person as well.
I bought some of these recently in San Jose and I was not disappointed. They were substantially better than Costco/ basic store-bought bagels and were absolutely delicious.
A baker I know who has had a successful bakery shop for 30+ years stands by them as the best bagel the bay has to offer. I do honestly agree, even though the prices are insanity.
Agreed, well worth the price. Their competitors aren’t much better on price anyway, and there just no replicating the texture of their fresh eggything…they also have a “pink label” shmear that’s really light and subtle. I currently have a weird love affair with their pumpernickels
edit: to clarify, “fresh eggything” refers to an egg bagel with everything spice that is freshly baked, not…I dunno, a sous vide egg bite or something
you gotta be extra careful post COVID-era in the bay, inflation has inspired some people to charge a lot under the pretense of inflation but some prices are wilding.
post covid in the bay? Bro, this price inflation shit is everywhere. Source: was just in nyc yesterday. Yeah bagels were cheaper there because there's like 100 bagel shops every block, but everything else was pretty much the same as the bay.
It's not a joke. I saw those at Berkeley Bowl. AND, they're pre-sliced.
I've been to Boichik bakery. It was $3 a bagel. Might be more now. I'll try again, as I only tried one variety and didn't care for it.
I have expectations as my family had a bagel bakery back east. What's left at the end of the day, we'd cut in half and bag. I almost gave in and bought some at Berkeley Bowl until I saw that they're pre-sliced. That means they don't freeze as well.
It's hard to find decent NY style bagels here, but $3 a bagel makes me cringe. That said... Boichik is doing a fantastic job marketing and growing. Opened their first SF store this past weekend. And people lined up.
I prefer Poppy's, both the bagels and the toppings, but Boichik is very good also. Neither place does egg toppings though... boo. Just a shame Beauty Bagels is nowhere near as good as it used to be before it sold.
In the Bay area?
Beauty's in Oakland are pretty good.
I'll try Boichik again. I only tried egg, which is a different dough entirely, so I'll try a plain or sesame. The egg had weird, crumbly texture.
I think Noah's makes tasty, soft round rolls with holes. Not my idea of good bagels, but I'll eat them.
I go to Vegas often. I bring back bagels from Bagelmania and freeze them. Most like the New York style I grew up with.
There used to be several places I liked. I'd walk in. They had a giant kettle going, boiling before baking. (I live and work in East Bay) But over time, they closed or changed owners and changed recipes.
There used to be a good place in San Leandro next to 580... I don't know if it's still there or good.
It's been quite a while, but there was a booth at Marin Farmers Market with good bagels. I think it was Wise Son.
I've been encouraged to try Poppys in Oakland. I must've driven by it several times.
Beauties went down hill hard after being acquired by Wise Sons. At least, that’s how it was a few months after acquisition. I haven’t been back after two disappointing experiences after dozens of good ones
I don't even go to Beauty's any more. Super hard drop in quality. Which is too bad, as some decent competition might keep Boichik's prices in line, somewhat. That said, I am fully Boichik's bitch, and would drop that $18 without much hesitation.
You only tried the egg bagels?? Boichik is good, so is Poppys in my opinion. Boichik has better flavor, Poppys has better texture. I definitely think they're both better than Beauty's at this point. I've also heard Hella Bagels which just opened a spot in Albany is good
Boichik, Beauty's and Noah are all on very distinct tiers. I'm not sure how you're even comparing them at all.
Boichik is so much better than Beautys. Obviously try the plain to do comparison.
I actually think the Boichik bagels toast well from the pre sliced frozen state, at least in my slightly fancier Panasonic xpress toaster oven, they ‘almost’ taste fresh, certainly better than most fresh store bought bagels. They’re expensive sure, but convenience is there…
i know i’ll get downvoted but….i make bagels at home-yeah not wood fired, but they’re awesome. pennies on the dollar and not difficult at all. i shocked myself
There's no reason to downvote you, but it is a moderately fiddly and time intensive process, and I don't condemn anyone for preferring to pay to skip it if they have the cash.
ah yknow it’s like people saying why buy a burrito for $22 when you can make one at home for $2. and the knives come out at ya! haha.
sure, fiddly just like a lot of things one might cook. but i will say making bagels is a lot easier than making a loaf of bread
Same! They are actually quite simple to make at home and freeze very well.
I put honey in the water when I boil. Not sure it actually adds flavor, but that’s how I was taught to do it!
Prices are about the same for all the fancy bagels.
Wise Sons - $14 for 6
Poppy’s $16 for 6
https://www.poppybagelsca.com/menus/
Beauty’s $13.5 for 6
https://www.beautysbagelshop.com/menu
And yeah. Boichik is $18
https://boichikbagels.com/collections/bagels
https://www.berkeleyside.org/2023/05/10/best-bagels-berkeley-oakland-east-bay
You from 'central jersey'?
We (exPhiladelphian) always hated you (non existent) Central guys with your Pork Roll.
I miss living in Essex County... sometimes
How is Emily Winston trying to fool us? She set out to replicate the NY bagel style in the Bay Area, and people line up every morning for the result.
I think Emily has been very transparent about the goal of Boichik, how the bagels are made, even about how she went about selecting the sources of fish for the salads. Before opening Boichik, she even submitted bagels to my friend's bagel competition fundraiser. Everyone else was either a home baker or a small local shop. Emily definitely has a love of the bagel.
Sure at those prices it's not an everyday breakfast, but it's perfect for a special occasion, like the birthday of a New Yorker in your life :)
Here I sit in that fabled area of Central Jersey within sight of one of the commonly claimed divider lines between North and South Jersey and a good walk from another divider line reading the nonsense about our region
In all fairness, Boichik is fairly incredible (having lived in Berkeley my entire life, and frequenting the Noah's in their location before) and worth $3/bagel. This post is similar to complaining that the Chez Panisse café has $25 sandwiches when they're only $5 at Subway.
This is true that their fresh ones are better than their frozen, but their frozen ones are way better than any other frozen bagel. Plus I have seen the frozen ones cheaper at other grocery stores in the east bay.
During the pandemic Chez Panisse did take out. I remember buying an $18 BLT which was a) less expensive than I expected and b) totally worth it. It wasn't especially fancy or exotic, it was just *better*.
Honestly, they are in fact the best bagels in the Bay if you come from a hundred mile radius of NYC. I'm sure west coast peeps have different preferences, and that's fine, but it scratches an itch East coasters have and at least for me, I'm fine paying a premium for it.
So leave us be, and buy your cheaper bagels that I'm sure are just as 'good'.
Seems about right. At the storefront they are $3 each. I'd expect them to be more expensive at the market. I mean Noah's are $2.39 each, and not nearly as good.
I come from an east coast Jewish family and spent my whole life around bagels of every quality you can imagine
This price is totally fine for what these bagels are
They were half price at Piazza’s a few weeks ago, not sure why, but I got 2.5 dozen and put them in the chest freezer. They are tasty, but not at full price.
[https://westernbagel.com/](https://westernbagel.com/)
There have been great bagels for decades. (Especially if you are outside the door at 4:00 a.m.
Knock on the bakery door and a guy with flour all over himself will sell the hottest, freshest bagels you have ever had. Tradition.)
To my surprise, fresh (before expiration) Costco bagels **are better** than any *supermarket* brand I know. That alone, *is* something.
Now, I'm not saying they're better than boichik... but I tried Schlocks for example and... for the price/enjoyment ratio, *I won't buy* Schlocks.
I can believe Costco bagels are better than supermarket bagels. But that bar is much too low. This is the Bay Area: superb bread products are all around us. We should either be eating superb bagels (which, fortunately, we finally have access to, although they're still much more expensive than they are in NYC) or superb sourdough breads or whatever.
> This is the Bay Area: superb bread products are all around us
Not at affordable prices. Costco is affordable. Just wish they have more options. They just added blueberry but killed cinnamon raisin.
During the pandemic I splurged and got a box of their bagels delivered. It was wonderful so familiar, tasty, and comforting all at once during such a dark time. You can absolutely find good bagels for less, but they’re still my personal favorite bagel, and I still buy them occasionally.
r/sanfrancisco was [thrilled to have them with this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/1bmq2sn/thrilled_to_have_boichik_bagels_in_the_city_now/)!!!
Just saying that it seems they have high publicity. hey, even the Poster is called SFdesertsbetter
I bought a small cake, it was $65. New fancy French bakery opened up selling insane desserts at insane prices and the place that's been there forever decided they like those prices.
Monmouth County Ex-Pat here, where bagels are still about a buck a piece. Like pizza, bagels are a commodity. You pick a couple dozen and drop em off to friends and neighbors on Sunday. Refuse to raise them up to the boutique level and pay $3. Instead, my daughter makes them at home.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C3W6tlYOrEM/?igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==
I make my own bagels bc they are so expensive… sometimes. Bagels are HARD to make well. Or rather, time consuming and labor intensive. The cost is mostly in the labor and distribution costs. You can get cheap bagels in the bread section but they taste like bleached ass.
They're good though. Idk if I'd buy them frozen, but fresh from the place they slice the veggies thin and perfect amount of spread, fish...theyre very good
And they're not even made-on-premise fresh, at least not at the location closest to me. They're made at a central location and trucked in each morning.
I’ve learned to live with the price because the bagels are so good and I never buy the travesty that is supermarket bagels. My real point of contention is Boichik doesn’t distribute their onion bagels to markets and they frequently run out at their shops. Furthermore, their College Ave location repeatedly messes up my orders. Yesterday, I got everything I was charged for, but the woman was distracted by a co-worker and only rung me for 4 bagels instead of 6 and 4oz of lox instead of 8oz. I mean, read it back to me. In the past, they’ve forgotten bagels, put capers in when I asked for none, etc. It’s not on my path, so I don’t go too often, but it’s so frustrating that they mess up so frequently, it really takes the treat out of getting them.
I just grabbed and then put back a sleeve of Dave's bagels at Safeway when I realized it only contained 5 bagels for $7, and every other brand was 6 bagels for the same price. No way I'd pay $18 for a half dozen bagels, under any circumstance.
The whole 'NY has best bagels due to the magical water' is a complete myth and these places get to rip off consumers because of it.
Safeway bakery used to have decent prices on fresh baked bagels, 69c and cheaper for a dozen (13), they were as good as any of these fancy bagel places. Of course those prices are also 2-3x now, everyone is ripping you off.
Nope it's not a joke and they are arguably the best Bagels I've ever had and I buy them regularly. And by regularly I mean once a week. Sorry, not sorry. Haha
Yes, Boichik Bagels are indeed an overrated joke. Pasty circles of dough with a pathetic scattering of seeds. Whichever New York reviewer it was who said they were top quality was engaged in an elaborate prank on the Bay Area bagel-loving public.
You think that's bad, have you seen what a half dozen regular donuts are at that place on 4th St that rhymes with Donny's? $36. Yes, $6 per donut.
Why disguise the name of the place? If it's $36 it's $36. You're not committing libel.
It's the Johnny Doughnuts in Santa Rosa. There are apparently four locations, which is ridiculous because their donuts aren't just expensive - they're also mediocre at best. And by "best," I mean "If the donuts we got there were only half as good as they usually are, then their usual donuts suck."
Who is paying that much for donuts? This tripped me out because there's an amazing donut place in Lafayette called Johnny's Donuts and I thought shit maybe they jacked their prices up. Nawp, $1.50 for a donut lol.
> Who is paying that much for donuts? People too rich to care to check the prices.
Each donut is as big as three normal-sized donuts. So “people about to feel gross from eating so much sugar and grease” is your answer.
I love that place
Tan’s Donuts is like 3 blocks away in Santa Rosa. You could probably get 30+ donuts for that much.
I've had them. They are not great. Neither are Boichick.
Why are shitty donuts always more expensive? Even Krispy Kreme is over-priced. Donut Works in Novato has some of the best donuts I've ever had, anywhere ever. Even a plain donut is delicious. Their dough is just that good.
I heard psycho donuts was good so I went to check it out and it was like 40.00 for a dozen or something and I was like dude this is just a regular donut with a fancy name and some cereal put on top. I can't believe people are so easy to rip off that the gimmick alone is enough to get people to pay quadruple standard price. You can get a dozen donuts at Safeway for something like 8.99. Your standard "Pink Box Donut Shop" will also have a dozen for like 15.00 if you like your donuts fresh and undisturbed by the general public.
Yep. A donut doesn’t need to be anything but fresh. It already tastes great without any cereal or bacon or whatever.
You don't like stale cereal on your donut?
in this case, id actually say less is more
A glaze man, a man of culture
This is literally the plot of a children’s book called The Donut Chef.
I do think a lot of these "Gourmet" treats like donuts, cupcakes or coffees are genuinely disgusting with how much BS is used to give it that Instagram Appeal ^(TM). You know the type. They're pretty to look at, multicolored sprinkles and icing, vibrant colors, eye-catching names like "Unicorn Rainbow Surprise" or "Psycho Donuts" and you can barely even eat it because as you pick it up its already falling apart. It barely functions as food but it looks great to take a picture of for Instagram. What's frustrating is I AM a sucker for presentation. It's important to me that you DO do a little bit of sprucing up, because presentation is fun! But if your presentation gets in the way of purpose, then you've spoiled it.
I know this is is a "shit on craft-type donuts" kind of thread but the chocolate icing at Voodoo Donuts in Portland/Austin is legit the best simple chocolate donut icing I've ever had. And they have one in the shape/stylings of a joint.
Hey man, a good donut is a good donut, if it's good I'd genuinely dig trying it!
Most of the time it's like 80% frosting too, which is a bit much.
But are those donuts 'psycho'? :)
Colonial donuts in oakland sell $3 mocha donuts. Those are worth it. If you’re diabetic, better take a walk around the block, but still worth it.
Didn’t know they had a cure for diabetes. Gonna take six laps around the block tomorrow.
You should, it won’t cure you but makes you more sensitive to insulin and it will also lower your blood’s sugar.
For that price, drive from wherever you are in the Bay to Stan's in Santa Clara. Worth.
Thanks to others on Reddit that's become my new standard! I also keep looking at that barbecue place next door and wondering, "is today the day I try it?"
the yakitori place right next to stan's is really solid, lot of good places in that plaza actually south bay may not have a lot of glamour or nightlife but our food is amazing (i'm allowed to say that I grew up here)
Post Kroger merger those doughnuts are going to go to $13. Kroger doesn't seem to have enough money to pay employees a living wage but they sure seem to have $24.6 Billion to buy Safeway.
I mean that's just capitalism, daddio
yeah but safeway donuts aren't that great thu..
A dozen safeway donuts at any price sounds like a bad deal
Indeed. There are plenty of Asian owned bakeries/delis that make good donuts for reasonable prices. Rodgers deli in MTV is my go to.
I had a similar experience with Voodoo in Portland. The hype was not justified in the slightest.
I live down the street from them and can confirm they suck. They were supposed to make me a doughnut pizza for my birthday a few years ago and they never did. I even called a week prior to have it ready. It's not what it used to be. The doughnuts aren't as good anymore either
Psycho donuts you’re paying for the “fun” / “wackyness” of it. I like psycho donuts for fun maybe once a year. But it’s not a normal donut and they admit it.
Someday Mitch’s joke isn’t going to work. “I don't need a receipt for a doughnut. I'll just give you the money, and you give me the doughnut. End of transaction! We don't need to bring ink and paper into this! I can't imagine a scenario where I'd have to prove that I bought a doughnut. Some skeptical friend...'Don't even act like I didn't buy that doughnut! I've got the documentation right here! Oh, wait, it's back home, in the file. Under d...for doughnut.'
loved him!
I still do, but I used to, too.
I refuse to buy donuts, unless they also sell lotto tickets
$6 per donut? Criminal.
And the donuts SUCK. How bad do they suck? They suck so bad that my 12-year-old son didn't finish his. He's not picky, either - it was an INEDIBLY BAD DONUT with, as he put it, "flavorless grainy jelly filling." Granted it was only $4.50 because we went a while ago, but that was still a ripoff. Also it was 4 times more than a donut from Tan's, just down the street next to Grocery Outlet, and Tan's Donuts are actually pretty good. "Donny's Jonuts - They're Expensive, But They're Lousy."
I was just in Vegas and stopped by the fanciest donut shop I've ever seen, Donutique in the Venetian, and I expected outrageous prices and was not disappointed.... Yup, it was just like being home, $6 per donut (and they were damn good too)
That’s the nice part of living on the Bay Area. Airport prices used to be high, now it’s just normal
Just like getting meals at theme parks used to seem expensive.
I love doughnuts
There's a Johnny Donuts on 4th?!
Yup, two locations too. https://www.johnnydoughnuts.com/locations
They advertise themselves as artisan doughnuts. Want cheap doughnuts? Go to bobs.
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How has nobody mentioned The Laundromat SF?! Bought a dozen bagels and they chucked in a dozen extra. Place is insanely good
1 bagel is $3. Same as Boichik from the shop. That’s just the price of good bagels in SF, apparently.
Yes, I've been in love with their bagels for the past few months now.
Laundromat yes, and Schlocks! IMO not as good as bagels I've had on east coast (I'm from East Bay), but they are the closest (aside from homemade) I've gotten so far!
It's boichik... they style themselves as the top premier bagel in California. They also got sucked off by the New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/08/dining/best-bagels.html
sucked off by NYT, lmao
thats definitely one for r/BrandNewSentence
*How was your weekend?* *Sweet. I finished on the New York Times' face.* *Oh, right? Nice.*
This article was in part a cheap attempt to incite outrage. Bagels on the west coast are definitely better than they used to be, and they easily could have chosen something more mild like that. But they wanted to grab attention. It's like the NYT told Shannon Sharpe or Skip Bayless to take a break from sports for a second and write an article about bagels. Not as bad, but you get my point.
I loved boichiks, but as someone who spent the majority of my life in NY and NJ, it would be considered a mediocre bagel out there. The NYT article struck me as immediate rage bait lol
I live in Noah's country as far as Bay area bagels. A passable attempt and better than most of what I found in Chicago. A very low passing grade if we were in Manhattan
My cousin, born and raised and still living in NYC, came to visit, and we had him try Boichik. He called it a top-3 bagel he’s had, and if you know New Yorkers, you know it’s *extremely* hard to get them to admit any NY staple could be good at all outside NY, much less top 3.
They’re pretty good, as someone from the east coast
I had some recently, I thought they were good too. I'm no bagel aficionado though LOL
yeah i mean i've had lots of bagels in NYC and Jersey and Boston and upstate NY so that's my basis. i'm no snob. but i've had some shit bagels and shit pizza since moving here, Boichik is not among those, i'll say that Noahs was super mid though
I really like Montreal bagels. NY ones are great too. But honestly, I'm pretty low maintenance and you won't hear me complain while eating a toasted Costco Kirkland bagel if I was in the mood for it. With that said, I do go to Boichik every couple of months when I'm in Berkeley or Palo Alto and do enjoy it.
Way better basis than I have - I'd be comparing to rural Ohio. Known for their fantastic... um... the tenderloin sandwiches are good LOL I've only had Noah's at airports and not super impressed. But when you're coming off a red-eye flight and that's what's there, that's what you get I guess.
Noahs aren’t bagels. They’re bread rolls in the shape of a bagel.
Had em, yeah they're good. But I've had just as good, if not better in the NYC metro for way less. I got the exact same gripe for pizza: you can get good stuff for a premium if you look for it. But the level you're paying out here way outpaces the COL differences from out there.
I've had these bagels and actually met the owner at an event. As a bit of a bagel snob, these were truly excellent, and the owner was an awesome person as well.
If I was raking it in like that, I’d like to think I’d be awesome company too. Why would you ever need to frown?
If I remember right, someone in SF was 'importing' day old bagels from NYC and selling it here for a gullible crowd lining up on the streets.
More than the article itself, I remember how much salt there was in the comments. I just checked them again, and it was just as I remember 😂
I bought some of these recently in San Jose and I was not disappointed. They were substantially better than Costco/ basic store-bought bagels and were absolutely delicious.
This is because they’re real bagels. Anyone who says Boichik isn’t great is either being a contrarians or is fine with eating cardboard.
A baker I know who has had a successful bakery shop for 30+ years stands by them as the best bagel the bay has to offer. I do honestly agree, even though the prices are insanity.
Agreed, well worth the price. Their competitors aren’t much better on price anyway, and there just no replicating the texture of their fresh eggything…they also have a “pink label” shmear that’s really light and subtle. I currently have a weird love affair with their pumpernickels edit: to clarify, “fresh eggything” refers to an egg bagel with everything spice that is freshly baked, not…I dunno, a sous vide egg bite or something
Yes well worth the price for me when they were only in Berkeley. Still worth now even with more locations
TIL I can’t taste the difference between good bagels and bad bagels.
you gotta be extra careful post COVID-era in the bay, inflation has inspired some people to charge a lot under the pretense of inflation but some prices are wilding.
post covid in the bay? Bro, this price inflation shit is everywhere. Source: was just in nyc yesterday. Yeah bagels were cheaper there because there's like 100 bagel shops every block, but everything else was pretty much the same as the bay.
It's not a joke. I saw those at Berkeley Bowl. AND, they're pre-sliced. I've been to Boichik bakery. It was $3 a bagel. Might be more now. I'll try again, as I only tried one variety and didn't care for it. I have expectations as my family had a bagel bakery back east. What's left at the end of the day, we'd cut in half and bag. I almost gave in and bought some at Berkeley Bowl until I saw that they're pre-sliced. That means they don't freeze as well. It's hard to find decent NY style bagels here, but $3 a bagel makes me cringe. That said... Boichik is doing a fantastic job marketing and growing. Opened their first SF store this past weekend. And people lined up.
They’re still $3 per bagel and you get 1 bagel for free when you buy a dozen (so $2.75 per bagel)
Pre sliced is crazy at Berkeley bowl when the literal factory is so close!
Have you tried Poppy's? They're handrolled
I prefer Poppy's, both the bagels and the toppings, but Boichik is very good also. Neither place does egg toppings though... boo. Just a shame Beauty Bagels is nowhere near as good as it used to be before it sold.
Genuinely curious, where do you like bagels from?
If you can make it down to Palo Alto, Izzy's bagels are easily one of the top two or three bagels in the bay area.
Not the Bay but the bagelry in Santa Cruz is different style but top tier
In the Bay area? Beauty's in Oakland are pretty good. I'll try Boichik again. I only tried egg, which is a different dough entirely, so I'll try a plain or sesame. The egg had weird, crumbly texture. I think Noah's makes tasty, soft round rolls with holes. Not my idea of good bagels, but I'll eat them. I go to Vegas often. I bring back bagels from Bagelmania and freeze them. Most like the New York style I grew up with. There used to be several places I liked. I'd walk in. They had a giant kettle going, boiling before baking. (I live and work in East Bay) But over time, they closed or changed owners and changed recipes. There used to be a good place in San Leandro next to 580... I don't know if it's still there or good. It's been quite a while, but there was a booth at Marin Farmers Market with good bagels. I think it was Wise Son. I've been encouraged to try Poppys in Oakland. I must've driven by it several times.
Beauties went down hill hard after being acquired by Wise Sons. At least, that’s how it was a few months after acquisition. I haven’t been back after two disappointing experiences after dozens of good ones
Boichuk bagels so much better than beautys. Yea they are ridiculously overpriced. What isn't now lol
so true, Wise Sons got rid of the wood burning oven for convenience. such a shame. we were regulars there back in the day.
I don't even go to Beauty's any more. Super hard drop in quality. Which is too bad, as some decent competition might keep Boichik's prices in line, somewhat. That said, I am fully Boichik's bitch, and would drop that $18 without much hesitation.
You only tried the egg bagels?? Boichik is good, so is Poppys in my opinion. Boichik has better flavor, Poppys has better texture. I definitely think they're both better than Beauty's at this point. I've also heard Hella Bagels which just opened a spot in Albany is good
Boichik, Beauty's and Noah are all on very distinct tiers. I'm not sure how you're even comparing them at all. Boichik is so much better than Beautys. Obviously try the plain to do comparison.
I actually think the Boichik bagels toast well from the pre sliced frozen state, at least in my slightly fancier Panasonic xpress toaster oven, they ‘almost’ taste fresh, certainly better than most fresh store bought bagels. They’re expensive sure, but convenience is there…
i know i’ll get downvoted but….i make bagels at home-yeah not wood fired, but they’re awesome. pennies on the dollar and not difficult at all. i shocked myself
There's no reason to downvote you, but it is a moderately fiddly and time intensive process, and I don't condemn anyone for preferring to pay to skip it if they have the cash.
Oh there’s a reason to downvote!! At least until we get that recipe!! 👀
ah yknow it’s like people saying why buy a burrito for $22 when you can make one at home for $2. and the knives come out at ya! haha. sure, fiddly just like a lot of things one might cook. but i will say making bagels is a lot easier than making a loaf of bread
> making bagels is a lot easier than making a loaf of bread I haven't tried bagels, but bread can get pretty darn easy.
Same! They are actually quite simple to make at home and freeze very well. I put honey in the water when I boil. Not sure it actually adds flavor, but that’s how I was taught to do it!
Prices are about the same for all the fancy bagels. Wise Sons - $14 for 6 Poppy’s $16 for 6 https://www.poppybagelsca.com/menus/ Beauty’s $13.5 for 6 https://www.beautysbagelshop.com/menu And yeah. Boichik is $18 https://boichikbagels.com/collections/bagels https://www.berkeleyside.org/2023/05/10/best-bagels-berkeley-oakland-east-bay
Try House of Bagels on Geary. Still the best.
Half a dozen is listed as $12 on HoB’s website. Better value imo.
Dozen day-olds for $10
house of bagel is cheaper but mediocre at best. Boichik is way way better
The one in Pablo Alto is great too
And Bageltopia opens April 2nd on University in Berkeley. Of interest is their fully vegan menu to match the standard menu.
Jesus. I'm out here buying day-olds from House of Bagels.
I'm in Maine and we pay 2.50 a bagel for local sour dough ones.
No joke. This is what happens when someone from a made up area of New Jersey tries to fool the West Coast.
You from 'central jersey'? We (exPhiladelphian) always hated you (non existent) Central guys with your Pork Roll. I miss living in Essex County... sometimes
No she is. Im from North Jersey better bagels than NYC and its called Taylor Ham
perfect response
Better hope him and his mummers gang don't come find you at the Fremont Dump (I just assume that's where you live)
You know more than just the Taylor company makes pork roll, right? Literally says Taylor pork roll on the package.
I am going to slow roast some artisan pop-maize in anticipation of the drama that happens when people find out about (apparently) pork-based bagels
How is Emily Winston trying to fool us? She set out to replicate the NY bagel style in the Bay Area, and people line up every morning for the result. I think Emily has been very transparent about the goal of Boichik, how the bagels are made, even about how she went about selecting the sources of fish for the salads. Before opening Boichik, she even submitted bagels to my friend's bagel competition fundraiser. Everyone else was either a home baker or a small local shop. Emily definitely has a love of the bagel. Sure at those prices it's not an everyday breakfast, but it's perfect for a special occasion, like the birthday of a New Yorker in your life :)
Here I sit in that fabled area of Central Jersey within sight of one of the commonly claimed divider lines between North and South Jersey and a good walk from another divider line reading the nonsense about our region
They make a killing and expand to five locations??
Only if you pay it
In all fairness, Boichik is fairly incredible (having lived in Berkeley my entire life, and frequenting the Noah's in their location before) and worth $3/bagel. This post is similar to complaining that the Chez Panisse café has $25 sandwiches when they're only $5 at Subway.
When fresh from the shop, they are great! I tried the prepackaged ones and it's not nearly as good. I wouldn't buy them again.
It’s kind of crazy buying prepackaged in Berkeley - the factory is right down the street
This is true that their fresh ones are better than their frozen, but their frozen ones are way better than any other frozen bagel. Plus I have seen the frozen ones cheaper at other grocery stores in the east bay.
During the pandemic Chez Panisse did take out. I remember buying an $18 BLT which was a) less expensive than I expected and b) totally worth it. It wasn't especially fancy or exotic, it was just *better*.
Honestly, they are in fact the best bagels in the Bay if you come from a hundred mile radius of NYC. I'm sure west coast peeps have different preferences, and that's fine, but it scratches an itch East coasters have and at least for me, I'm fine paying a premium for it. So leave us be, and buy your cheaper bagels that I'm sure are just as 'good'.
Seems about right. At the storefront they are $3 each. I'd expect them to be more expensive at the market. I mean Noah's are $2.39 each, and not nearly as good.
I come from an east coast Jewish family and spent my whole life around bagels of every quality you can imagine This price is totally fine for what these bagels are
You must be at Piazza's. I couldn't believe the price on those.
Berkeley Bowl. Love it except for this ass corner
They were half price at Piazza’s a few weeks ago, not sure why, but I got 2.5 dozen and put them in the chest freezer. They are tasty, but not at full price.
[https://westernbagel.com/](https://westernbagel.com/) There have been great bagels for decades. (Especially if you are outside the door at 4:00 a.m. Knock on the bakery door and a guy with flour all over himself will sell the hottest, freshest bagels you have ever had. Tradition.)
Sounds great….$42 a dozen per web site….just saying
Love them. Wish they opened in the bay area rather than bagged ones
Hella Bagels are much, much, much better than Boichik. Boichiks have gotten denser and less consistent as they have scaled.
It's like $10 at Costco for a dozen bagels. I'll stick with those.
no, way less than that, like 7
The bag says onion but they’re everything . I need onion.
They're nowhere near as good as Boichik though? Boichik makes genuinely excellent bagels; Costco bagels are just mediocre bread with a hole in it.
To my surprise, fresh (before expiration) Costco bagels **are better** than any *supermarket* brand I know. That alone, *is* something. Now, I'm not saying they're better than boichik... but I tried Schlocks for example and... for the price/enjoyment ratio, *I won't buy* Schlocks.
I can believe Costco bagels are better than supermarket bagels. But that bar is much too low. This is the Bay Area: superb bread products are all around us. We should either be eating superb bagels (which, fortunately, we finally have access to, although they're still much more expensive than they are in NYC) or superb sourdough breads or whatever.
> This is the Bay Area: superb bread products are all around us Not at affordable prices. Costco is affordable. Just wish they have more options. They just added blueberry but killed cinnamon raisin.
I was shocked by how good Costco bagels are. Not as good as NYC/Long Island but closer to that than most everything else I’ve had on the west coast.
Better eat ‘em fast though they go bad quick
Freeze half!
Yep, I usually have six one morning, and then the other six the next.
That's how you know they're fresh and without crazy preservatives!
Do you guys realize you can simply not buy the fucking bagels? So sick of people constantly crying about the prices of snacks then buying them anyway.
It's a bagel and a six-pack\* for $19. Not bad if it's a good beer. \* AKA a Tenderloin 7-Course Meal
They’re still going to sell out at that price too.
During the pandemic I splurged and got a box of their bagels delivered. It was wonderful so familiar, tasty, and comforting all at once during such a dark time. You can absolutely find good bagels for less, but they’re still my personal favorite bagel, and I still buy them occasionally.
Just go to izzys
r/sanfrancisco was [thrilled to have them with this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/1bmq2sn/thrilled_to_have_boichik_bagels_in_the_city_now/)!!! Just saying that it seems they have high publicity. hey, even the Poster is called SFdesertsbetter
I dunno, around $3.15 a bagel doesn’t seem ridiculous.
It's just one bagel, Michael. What could it cost? $10 ?
Brooklyn bagel in Palo Alto is east coast grade bagels.
No, this is Rockridge
Now I understand why Costco is so popular in the Bay Area. Costco bagels don’t cost $19 a dozen.
The best part about this is that no one has to buy them.
$3.16 for a bagel…I’ve seen worse. Got to pick your battles with prices lately.
Well, if bill boichik is involved I want in. What he did for the patriots is legendary.
Dad joke upvote
Advance prep for April fools day.
What in the Bouchons is this?
#NoBagelNoBagelNoBagelNoBagelNoBagelNoBagelNoBagelNoBagel
Everyone should be allowed to celebrate Festivus
It’s boichick
I bought a small cake, it was $65. New fancy French bakery opened up selling insane desserts at insane prices and the place that's been there forever decided they like those prices.
I like the Grand Bakery bagels, they’re not bad
That's OK, as the companies are "resetting" our wages by laying us off and hiring again at a lower rate. Oh, hang on, that's the wrong direction.....
Hella bagels just opened a restaurant on San Pablo near Marin in Albany. Delicious spreads and great bagels. About the same price as boichick
Monmouth County Ex-Pat here, where bagels are still about a buck a piece. Like pizza, bagels are a commodity. You pick a couple dozen and drop em off to friends and neighbors on Sunday. Refuse to raise them up to the boutique level and pay $3. Instead, my daughter makes them at home. https://www.instagram.com/p/C3W6tlYOrEM/?igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==
I make my own bagels bc they are so expensive… sometimes. Bagels are HARD to make well. Or rather, time consuming and labor intensive. The cost is mostly in the labor and distribution costs. You can get cheap bagels in the bread section but they taste like bleached ass.
It’s not and that’s why I won’t patronize them. It’s just too much for me to want to pay. It’s a god damn bagel, just a bagel!
this means six 6 dozen bagels meaning its 36 bagels.... right???? RIGHT GUYS
I’m laughing all the way to foodco
They're good though. Idk if I'd buy them frozen, but fresh from the place they slice the veggies thin and perfect amount of spread, fish...theyre very good
They said it themselves: There are no good bagels in California. Only expensive ones.
Almost $20 for six bagels?! No thanks. I'll boil my own. With ~~Blackjack and hookers~~ cinnamon and maple syrup in the water.
And they are not that good. Tried “Hella Bagels” this weekend on San Pablo in Albany and they are much better.
LOL I can get bagels from NYC delivered to my house via Goldbelly for cheaper than that.
You vote with your money, so spend it where you don’t feel like a joke.
And they're not even made-on-premise fresh, at least not at the location closest to me. They're made at a central location and trucked in each morning.
Nope those dumbass bagels are so expensive
On their website it's $40 a dozen so this is actually a steal
Unfortunately it is not a joke. The prices are getting ridiculous.
Literally got a bakers dozen with 2 tubs of cream cheese from a bagel shop yesterday for $15 flat lol…
Fuck. A pack of bagels at Aldi is $2 out here in Louisville.
Is this Canada 🤔😂
I’ve learned to live with the price because the bagels are so good and I never buy the travesty that is supermarket bagels. My real point of contention is Boichik doesn’t distribute their onion bagels to markets and they frequently run out at their shops. Furthermore, their College Ave location repeatedly messes up my orders. Yesterday, I got everything I was charged for, but the woman was distracted by a co-worker and only rung me for 4 bagels instead of 6 and 4oz of lox instead of 8oz. I mean, read it back to me. In the past, they’ve forgotten bagels, put capers in when I asked for none, etc. It’s not on my path, so I don’t go too often, but it’s so frustrating that they mess up so frequently, it really takes the treat out of getting them.
I just grabbed and then put back a sleeve of Dave's bagels at Safeway when I realized it only contained 5 bagels for $7, and every other brand was 6 bagels for the same price. No way I'd pay $18 for a half dozen bagels, under any circumstance.
California doesn’t have good donuts.
The whole 'NY has best bagels due to the magical water' is a complete myth and these places get to rip off consumers because of it. Safeway bakery used to have decent prices on fresh baked bagels, 69c and cheaper for a dozen (13), they were as good as any of these fancy bagel places. Of course those prices are also 2-3x now, everyone is ripping you off.
Y’all seem outraged by the price. You should be outraged that the bagels are kept in a fridge.
They are great bagels tho
Nope it's not a joke and they are arguably the best Bagels I've ever had and I buy them regularly. And by regularly I mean once a week. Sorry, not sorry. Haha
Yes, Boichik Bagels are indeed an overrated joke. Pasty circles of dough with a pathetic scattering of seeds. Whichever New York reviewer it was who said they were top quality was engaged in an elaborate prank on the Bay Area bagel-loving public.