BagelFest West made its debut in Los Angeles on Sunday, drawing in thousands of attendees eager to indulge in as many bagels as possible. What started as a small gathering of 300 people in Brooklyn, NY has since grown into a large-scale event, bringing together bagel makers, industry professionals and connoisseurs for a day of tastings, panels and competition.
Founded by Sam Silverman, often referred to as the “Bagel Ambassador,” the festival highlights the tradition and the evolution of the bagel.
For many vendors, it was also an opportunity to showcase how their creativity was changing the west coast bagel scene.
Boichik Bagels
Boichik Bagels started as a pop-up by a New Jersey native in need of a good bagel in California.
“I grew up eating great bagels,” said founder and CEO Emily Winston. “When I moved to California, I was very sad about the lack of bagels. I thought maybe I could figure out how to make a good one.”
Five years later, she did, opening her first shop in Berkeley, Calif. At BagelFest, Boichik Bagels highlighted sandwiches with lox and a new “pizza bagel” with a sweet marinara sauce, reminiscent of a bagel bite.
The real standout was the schmear. Winston developed her own version of the nostalgic Temp Tee cream cheese, called “pink label,” now sold in all of their shops. It tasted strikingly similar to the original — a small but meaningful detail that brought a sense of the East Coast to the West.
Bagel Boss
Bagel Boss in Burbank delivered a more literal taste of New York.
“They make the dough in New York, ship it out to us in refrigeration trucks and we bake everything fresh in our store,” owner Alex Breslau said.
That extra step paid off. The bagel was chewy with a crisp exterior – everything you’d expect from a classic New York bagel. They even handed out rainbow cookies at the end of the night, the true New York Italian way.
Daniel’s Bagels
Daniel’s Bagels stood out for its simplicity. The shop was the only vendor offering a sampler platter, featuring staple combinations like a plain bagel with cream cheese and an everything bagel with lox.
Their philosophy was clear: a true bagel doesn’t need much — just good dough and a solid schmear.
Original Sunshine
One of the biggest surprises came from Original Sunshine’s gluten-free bagels.
Co-owner Brad Kent said the company was created to offer “a real tasting baked good to the gluten-free community.”
Unexpectedly, their bagels are made using wheat flour.
“We start with a traditional wheat based flour, and strip the gluten from it,” he said. “It’s all natural, there’s no chemicals or added enzymes, which gives it the rich taste and texture that you’d expect from gluten based products.”
The result is a product that tests well below FDA gluten thresholds and is safe for those with celiac disease.
The bagels held their own among the gluten-filled competition, with a texture that toasted well and closely resembled a traditional bagel. I found myself going back for more.
Calic Bagel
Calic bagel has become a craze among Angelenos, often drawing long lines of people waiting to try their stuffed bagels. Drenched in garlic butter and filled with garlic cream cheese, the bagel offered an experience like no other.
While enjoyable, it didn’t hold its own among the other more traditional vendors. That’s because it’s not a bagel, but rather the ideal garlic bread-and-spread starter at a restaurant.
Belle’s Bagels
Belle’s Bagels, a Highland Park staple, offered inventive twists on traditional flavors.
Options included a gravlax bagel with dill-cured salmon and pickled onions, as well as the “Cherrywood Beet” — smoked golden beets with onion, dill and capers. The sweetness of the beets balanced well with the cream cheese and acidity of the capers.
It’s not a combination you’d expect to work on a bagel — until it does.
Rise Bagels
Rise Bagels comes from Chef John Park, who stumbled upon the idea of making bagels when exploring the art of pizza making. With a background in fine dining, his vision for bagels is entirely inventive and unique.
“We’re not a sourdough or a traditional kind of East Coast bagel,” said Hannah Song, a representative of the shop. “We are a little bit light and crispy, which pairs well with all of the ingredients we like to pile on it.”
That creativity was on full display: a cookie butter schmear topped with strawberry beet ganache and basil tangerine vinaigrette; a Japanese 7-Eleven-inspired egg salad bagel; and a mini furikake bagel filled with slow-cooked birria and served with a side of consommé.
Even with the bold toppings, the bagel itself held up. The dough was light and balanced, allowing the flavors to stand out without becoming overwhelming.
The team behind Rise Bagels isn’t trying to replicate any bagel, but rather sees bagels as “a great canvas to put anything [they] want on them.”
Inglorious Bagels
Inglorious Bagels leaned fully into experimentation, marketing a New York-style bagel with California creativity. Offerings included kimchi and elote cream cheese, along with a patty melt pressed between two bagel halves and a hash brown.
While the ideas were bold, the execution fell short. The bagels themselves lacked flavor, acting more as a base for potential toppings rather than a standout.
Boil and Bake
Boil and Bake was started by Carlos Perez with the intention of creating sourdough bagel sandwiches with local and seasonal produce. His mantra: “Why sell something that you can just buy in a grocery store?”
Everything is made in house, including their beloved butter and sausages. The rest is sourced locally. You could taste the freshness in their products including the tomatoes and the smoked salmon.
While showcasing their bagels was important, Perez also enjoyed spending the day with other bagel lovers.
“Its fun being part of the bagel community. We get to just nerd out about the love of bagels. Not just with guests, but with the other bagel shop owners,” Perez said.
That appreciation, enthusiasm and love for bagels was felt throughout the event.
The Verdict
After four hours of sampling and deliberation, Rise Bagels was named the People’s Choice Best Bagel of the West – a very strong win for a shop that launched only months ago and a strong testament to the innovation of the West Coast bagel scene.
For the founder of BagelFest, Sam Silverman, that spirit of innovation is exactly the point.
“Everyone in New York is stuck doing traditional stuff all day long,” he said. “But here, everyone is pushing bold and creative concepts. And that’s what defines the west coast bagel narrative.”
As a native New Yorker, I’ve always held a bagel to a simple standard: light and fluffy, with a crisp crust and a chewy interior. More often than not, I’ve found West Coast bagels to fall short.
But, I was wrong. BagelFest West didn’t just showcase “good bagels” – it showed how far the bagel can go.
And honestly, who doesn’t want to try something new?