Brooklyn Bagel & Bialy

Came here a few times while staying at a condo across the street. Enjoyed the bagels (and the bialy, too, but… I am not sure how the bialy is really different, seemed like a thinner bagel). The lox bagel (tried 8 grain everything and regular everything) was fantastic, one of the breakfast bagels with egg was also really good, and a cranberry bagel with cream cheese and jam was also tasty. Just the right amount of toasting. I would have preferred to smear the cream cheese and jam on myself, or have a choice of jams, but it came already spread onto the bagel. Not the end of the world.
They serve Café Moto coffee, which could be slightly stronger but was fine. Price range is between $ 7 and $ 12, I believe, depending on toppings.

Love everything about this place! The atmosphere is cozy, the staff is always so warming and the food is delicious. My personal favorite is the Number 3 on a plain bagel… SO GOOD. Even though they were swamped this morning, both my coffee and bagel were ready pretty quickly! Such a quaint little place!

Don’t go anywhere else to get a bagel! This place is a local favorite with a great assortment of bagels and genuine service fro the staff. They can make it anyway you want without hesitation. And yes, The Chosen one is my favorite :) my husband prefers a simple blueberry bagel with peanut butter. Both excellent choices.
And, they are always happy to throw together 3 dozen bagels for me and tubs of coffee for my staff meetings, when I’m running late-​Thank you!

The undisputed best was one of the greatest breakfast sandwiches I have ever had. Will be going back again before leaving SD.

«New York Bagels» at New York Prices. Doesn’t really compare, but if you’re Californian it’s great. Prices are Yeesh. I was really hungry and needed a quick option for on the go food. I went with the Chosen One (Lox, Cream Cheese, Capers, Tomato, Onion). It was very delicious. The bagel was very delicious. It was a large portion. BUT that being said, the price was outrageous. It was also nearly $ 3 for a small sized orange juice. I was traveling and expected high prices, but I feel like the price for this bagel and OJ was obscene.

Updating to 4 stars. We have been here too much this week not to to increase the ratings. 10 people ordered «The Chosen One» this morning on the Everything Bagel… Im a believer HAH!
The Chosen One’s ingredients are a perfect blend: cream cheese, smoked salmon, red onion, tomato, capers on an everything bagel. Flavors are balanced and nothing overpowers your taste buds. Every morning I see 10+ people waiting in line to order this. Try it!

Ok, I am giving 5 stars because the bagels and customer service here are great. What a cute neighborhood they are in — and they do have the closest to NYC bagels around. I’ve read the reviews– one gave bad marks because they were over charged, but I felt more emphasis should have been given in that review –about the food!-
Next up, I’ve read the mean Unilocalers chiming their bagels are not to par with the NYbagels. Well, let’s take a read on why this is very difficult to achieve. [I’ll wait until you all have your pen and paper]…waiting…
…ok, waiting Thank you! finally we are ready for Bagel Class so here we goes kids;
1] NY gets their water from the Catskill Mountains– it is a very «soft» water, infact, only Boston has softer water. Soft meaning the NY water has lower concentrates of calcium and magnesium. The mineral content in the water directly effects the gluton structure of the dough
2] The BEST bagels are Proofed for a few days [sat to rest in a cooler] which allows the yeast to slowly ferment… get this: imparting over 50, yes I said FITEE’
flavor compounds to release
3] Thirdly, and SO so importante’ bagels have to be boiled in a kettle for :30 seconds to 3 min., prior to baking. This is the step that locks in the liquid water into the solid starch imparting that all too critical «NY chew»!
Brooklyn Bagel & Bialy do boil their bagels –whereas most places do not. The everything bagel I just ate does have a nice chew as a result. Now, I am not sure about the proofing step, I’ll ask next time. So for all the seekers of great bagels who are reading this I highly recommend this place. I mean «WHO» has the word ‘Bialys’ in their name… they have to be the real-​deal!
So for a San Diego based bagel shop, if you want to achieve a more spot-​on NY bagel, you prob have to set up a water softening machine. For locations where their water is too soft [like Boston] adding calcium sulfate at the right level works to harden the gluten.
This bagel puzzle all comes down to a few procedures and a little chemistry!
*This place gets my vote!*

I’m a fan of The Chosen One from this place: a bialy or bagel of your choice topped with cream cheese, smoked salmon, red onion, and capers. It’s salty and delicious. You get these toppings on both sides open-​faced style so it could be good to share. That plus a large coffee was about $ 11. It’s a little steep in price, but for me I could eat part of it for breakfast and save the second part as a snack later. So two meals in one for some?

Sorry, but if you’ve ever eaten a NYC bagel, this place doesn’t even come close.
The wild turkey sandwich is good for lunch, but if you’re looking for a bagel with cream cheese I’d save your money.

A generous 3-​star rating. Nothing special, but just average. On a positive note, the staff are friendly, the selections are decent and it’s one of the few places (so far) in the East Village to grab a quick breakfast.

In short: overpriced and not really that good; not worth your money!
After coming here sporadically for several years since they surfaced, I’m finally hitting the eject button on this average at best bagel shop. Their prices are WAY too high ($ 8 for a breakfast sandwich) – not just for East Village but for anywhere. Great bagel sandwiches in NYC don’t even cost this much, and those are leaps and bounds better (and are, on average, $ 3 less).
I’ve lived in East Village for over six years. The neighborhood definitely needed a bagel place, but this price gouging really ticks me off and should not be encouraged by continued customer support. I’d rather make an extra trip to the grocery store and make my own breakfast sandwich – which is WAY better than Brooklyn Bagel’s anyway.

This place is dangerous. I live a few stories above it and can smell the deliciousness every morning. I moved from the East Coast so I’ve had a few bagels in my day and this place is right up there with the best of them. Also, who wouldn’t want to wake up to the smell of bacon every day? I recommend the One and Only!

I was in San Diego for Comic Con earlier in July and on my second day there I hit up Brooklyn Bagel & Bialy for an early breakfast before making my way to a panel. I had the bagel and lox and an iced coffee. Others in my party had a regular bacon, egg, cheese on a bagel.
This place was really great! It was down the street from a Starbucks and seemed to be where locals get their coffee and bagels at. The outside seating was a bit problematic and slightly crowded but I figured that might be because of Comic Con weekend. Overall I definitely enjoyed my breakfast and coffee and when I’m in the area, I will make this a must stop in the morning!

As a local resident, I was thrilled about having a bagel shop within a short walk from my place. However, Brooklyn Bagel has been extremely disappointing.
Their Bagel sandwiches are slopped together, with eggs meat and cheese that are so runny that it is impossible to eat without globs of napkins. The bagels themselves are smaller in circumference but very thick; a little too much bread for me in the morning.
This would all be acceptible if it was not for the fact you are paying 7 – 9 $ for a bagel sandwich.
TLDR: Expensive, below average bagel sandwiches.

I’m real picky about my bagels. I used to own a deli in Atlanta where we’d sell out of bagels by 9:30a bc they were so good. So you can imagine my skepticism towards this place. Hands down best bagel west of NYC! Don’t let the star rating deter you bc if you read them, they’re not solely based on their bagels. There’s even construction across the street and for a moment, I thought I was in NYC. It just adds to the ambiance. Overall, well done. Support small business.

Plain and simple — I’ve never found a bagel in this country or any other that trumps what I’ve found in New York City: never. That’s still the case after having recently visited San Diego’s own Brooklyn Bagel & Bialy, but it’s worth pointing out that this is probably the closest I’ve found.
Star 1: How were the service and atmosphere?
Instead of the authentic, cramped, often cash only bagel bars that are as simple as they are charming on the streets of Brooklyn, BB&B aims for a more refined and arguably more upscale operation to cater to the local area. It’s different, but it certainly works. Service is friendly and relatively fast, and you can tell that there’s a good mix of everyday regulars and out-​of-​towners exploring a bit. I ordered, got my number, and was out in maybe 15 minutes. Star Granted.
Star 2: How were the portions relative to the cost?
A wee bit on the high side, but certainly not unreasonable. I ordered two breakfast sandwiches that were huge, but priced accordingly at $ 7.50 and $ 8.25 respectively. Those are Chipotle burrito prices without Chipotle burrito size or complexity of ingredients, but all was made right when my bagel with cream cheese shaped up to be roughly $ 3 or so. It was huge, filled me up, and had me a happy camper, so I really can’t complain. Star Granted.
Stars 3 and 4: How was the food?
As I touched on earlier, these were not as good as what you’ll find in New York City, but they’re close, and they’re exceptionally unique. A Brooklyn bagel is a bit on the small side, mashed together after having been pretty heavily toasted, and is absolutely drenched in one of many types of cream cheese. My everything bagel at BB&B was huge, very airy, and coated in an appropriate amount of standard cream cheese. What’s worth pointing out is that the seasoning on the everything bagel was wonderful to the point where I could have eaten it plain, which is something that’s a rarity with essentially all other West Coast bagels I’ve had.
The breakfast sandwiches were another win, and my two buddies loved their «Number 3» and «Wall Street». These were large portions of quality meats, egg, and loads of cheese, and they were excellent. Dual Stars Granted.
Star 5: Would you eat here every day if you could?
These are the best bagels I’ve had outside of New York, but with me? You need to be the best to get the fifth star. No Star Granted.

Great place for a simple breakfast.
The vegetarian option is amazing on a whole wheat bagel. It’s full of flavor!

I would have walked right by this place had my friend not pointed out that they were advertising Acai bowls. We were on our way to Lolita’s to pick up a breakfast burrito for the hubs, having just been turned away at Coffee & Art because they were out of Acai (at 8:30 am on a Monday!), when she saw the sign. We made a quick stop, and went in to give it a try.
We each ordered and Acai bowl and a chai latte with soy. The chai lattes came out quickly, which was amazing given how busy they were at that time (seriously, what do all these people do that they can be at a bagel shop at 8:45 on a Monday? I mean, I know what OUR excuse was, but the others? None of my business, I suppose…)
Anyway, lattes in hand, we waited for the bowls to come out. And we waited. And we waited. Finally, they called our number, we took the bowls and what was left of our lattes, and left.
I will say that they stayed frozen for a good amount of time. They lasted through a stop at Lolita’s, and then the seven block walk to home. Pretty impressive. I will also say that I was initially surprised by how inexpensive the bowls were. I’m used to paying closer to $ 9 at Coffee & Art, but was only charged $ 7-​ish here. But once we got back to my place, I saw why.
They weren’t tiny, but they certainly weren’t on par with the bowls you get at Coffee & Art. There was one scoop of the acai mix, a few slices of strawberries, a few more slices of banana, and some granola (which gave me a «Oh, HELL to the NAH!» moment when I realized the granola had raisins mixed in). Nothing too inspiring, though they do use agave nectar as a drizzle, instead of honey.
The flavor was good (except for the hidden raisins), but I was hoping for a bit more. Maybe a few blueberries? Maybe a slightly bigger scoop? Maybe no raisins? Don’t get me wrong — we made short work of those bowls, but I just don’t know that I’d go back for one when Coffee & Art’s bowls are larger for only a couple bucks more.
The chai latte, though — that thing was divine. I’d go back for that in a heartbeat.

I live in east village and have gone by this bagel shop a number of times. It always seems to have people in it so this morning I was hungry and thought about giving it a try!
I ordered a number 3 which is scrambled eggs, cheese, and bacon. I got it on a jalapeño bagel. I asked to substitute egg whites for the yolk and they were very accommodating to that. I also ordered the fresh squeezed orange juice which was really good!!! Once I got my bagel and took it home to eat I was so happy with my choice. The eggs weren’t ones you put in a microwave they were real eggs which was nice because most bagel places out here don’t do that. The bagel was stuffed with the ingredients. Overall it was really yummy and I’d love to go back and try a different order!

So I finally decided to try this place out today. I walked in today around 11:30 & had the number 3 breakfast bagel & I gotta say it was pretty good. The only thing that could make this better is a few avocado slices.
Had I not had 3 cups of coffee prior, I would have also grabbed some coffee from their espresso bar which looked pretty awesome.
The place has a cool vibe, my only complaint (more like advise) is that they should have «meal deals”(like combos) for breakfast & lunch like some other places in the area.
All in all though, it was a nice switch from the breakfast sandwiches I would get from Starbucks on the opposite corner. I’ll definitely come back to try other stuff.