This place is so overpriced and their sandwiches are mushy. The bagels are never properly toasted. There are far better places to eat bagel sandwiches in Berkeley.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 3
Kart 420
I wanted an UNTOASTED bagel that was fresh ( a few hours old is fine) This bagel was 6 hours old! A complete rip off .
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Gawesha Weeratunga
faultless
Elizabeth A. Sibilia PhD
I really really want to love this place. As a New Yorker for 20 years I was so excited to try Boichik Bagels back when they first opened their first location on College! They were the closest thing to Murrays in the area. I moved to Albany a few weeks ago and excited to frequent their 6th street location, I have been sadly disappointed, not in the bagel itself but the staff is not at all knowledgeable and the bagel sandwiches have been a miss the last 3x I have gotten them. The first couple times I had them in the store so I could get them adjusted, but yesterday we were driving to Marin after we got them and so it was not possible to get them remade.
The issues: 1) I ordered two of the tuna specials, that came with red onion and cucumber. I then walked over to the wait area. They were not very busy, so I mentioned to the sandwich maker to be sure not to put on tomatoes on our sandwiches (the special was suppose to have cucumbers not tomatoes anyway but I got insecure when I saw him put tomatoes on someone else's order).
When we got to our destination I opened mine and the first issue is that there were tomatoes on both sandwiches, large pieces that were embedded in the tuna and hard to remove, I have developed an allergy to non-organic ones so I do not eat them out anymore.
2) The consistency of the tuna was so wet and runny, which was a stark difference to what we had before, it was essentially inedible as the tuna was second to water and mayo.
3) To top this off one of the bagels was cut so unevenly that the top was not holding any of the sandwich, so again not possible to eat as a sandwich.
When you train someone to make a bagel sandwich, and for those who understand the issues and joys of eating them getting the cut right is critical. For the cost of these bagels it is really absurd that the staff is not better trained in making them.
Again I have eaten bagels for decades, and these are great, but the sandwich aspect is not a done deal. Not sure I will try the sandwiches again as you want to feel like the staff gets your order right and confident in the consistency of the recipes, inconsistency is a huge negative mark for restaurants of all kinds!
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 1
Len Marotta
I purchased a dozen bagels to go. Better than the area's average traditional NY style bagel. Unfortunately, consuming bagels my whole life at what I thought were fair prices, I can't get past the $3.25/bagel cost.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Matthew Ostrowski
Tasty bagels and fun to watch them get made but I’ve had some order mixups with sandwiches and incorrect toppings a couple times.
Rustam Lalkaka
Totally fine. The bagels get better when they’re toasted, which shows they are not GREAT bagels.
Ethan C
The bagels are not as excellent as they used to be. I get it, scaling up is hard. The bagels are still delicious and nearly the top choice in the bay area.
I recently visited this spot, but I left feeling disappointed. The entire experience felt like another business that’s lost its soul to corporate expansion.
The whitefish was incredibly salty, making it hard to enjoy, and the onions were cut way too thickly, overpowering every bite. The coffee was stale—definitely not what I expected given the prices. The ingredients themselves might have been decent, but the preparation was careless, and the food felt haphazardly thrown together.
The staff looked overworked, adding to the dispassionate atmosphere. Honestly, it reminds me of what happened to Blue Bottle after it sold out—once great, now overpriced and underwhelming. I won’t be returning anytime soon.
Em Suzuki
Best bagels!
Max Harris
Great bagels and service, only wish they were open much earlier
Sideofmeio
These are currently my favorite bagels in the east bay. Service is great and fast. My only wish is that you could do your own milk and sugar in your coffee instead of them doing it for you.
Josh “Focus”
New building. Cook to see the operation. They need a better system of showing what bagels are out. Save the checkout person from explaining it to everyone. Maybe an illuminated sign.
Best bagels ever!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
...Best bagels in California
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
This place is so overpriced and their sandwiches are mushy. The bagels are never properly toasted. There are far better places to eat bagel sandwiches in Berkeley.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 3
I wanted an UNTOASTED bagel that was fresh ( a few hours old is fine) This bagel was 6 hours old! A complete rip off .
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
faultless
I really really want to love this place. As a New Yorker for 20 years I was so excited to try Boichik Bagels back when they first opened their first location on College! They were the closest thing to Murrays in the area. I moved to Albany a few weeks ago and excited to frequent their 6th street location, I have been sadly disappointed, not in the bagel itself but the staff is not at all knowledgeable and the bagel sandwiches have been a miss the last 3x I have gotten them. The first couple times I had them in the store so I could get them adjusted, but yesterday we were driving to Marin after we got them and so it was not possible to get them remade.
The issues:
1) I ordered two of the tuna specials, that came with red onion and cucumber. I then walked over to the wait area. They were not very busy, so I mentioned to the sandwich maker to be sure not to put on tomatoes on our sandwiches (the special was suppose to have cucumbers not tomatoes anyway but I got insecure when I saw him put tomatoes on someone else's order).
When we got to our destination I opened mine and the first issue is that there were tomatoes on both sandwiches, large pieces that were embedded in the tuna and hard to remove, I have developed an allergy to non-organic ones so I do not eat them out anymore.
2) The consistency of the tuna was so wet and runny, which was a stark difference to what we had before, it was essentially inedible as the tuna was second to water and mayo.
3) To top this off one of the bagels was cut so unevenly that the top was not holding any of the sandwich, so again not possible to eat as a sandwich.
When you train someone to make a bagel sandwich, and for those who understand the issues and joys of eating them getting the cut right is critical. For the cost of these bagels it is really absurd that the staff is not better trained in making them.
Again I have eaten bagels for decades, and these are great, but the sandwich aspect is not a done deal. Not sure I will try the sandwiches again as you want to feel like the staff gets your order right and confident in the consistency of the recipes, inconsistency is a huge negative mark for restaurants of all kinds!
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 1
I purchased a dozen bagels to go. Better than the area's average traditional NY style bagel. Unfortunately, consuming bagels my whole life at what I thought were fair prices, I can't get past the $3.25/bagel cost.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Tasty bagels and fun to watch them get made but I’ve had some order mixups with sandwiches and incorrect toppings a couple times.
Totally fine. The bagels get better when they’re toasted, which shows they are not GREAT bagels.
The bagels are not as excellent as they used to be. I get it, scaling up is hard. The bagels are still delicious and nearly the top choice in the bay area.
Restaurantji Recommends
I recently visited this spot, but I left feeling disappointed. The entire experience felt like another business that’s lost its soul to corporate expansion.
The whitefish was incredibly salty, making it hard to enjoy, and the onions were cut way too thickly, overpowering every bite. The coffee was stale—definitely not what I expected given the prices. The ingredients themselves might have been decent, but the preparation was careless, and the food felt haphazardly thrown together.
The staff looked overworked, adding to the dispassionate atmosphere. Honestly, it reminds me of what happened to Blue Bottle after it sold out—once great, now overpriced and underwhelming. I won’t be returning anytime soon.
Best bagels!
Great bagels and service, only wish they were open much earlier
These are currently my favorite bagels in the east bay. Service is great and fast. My only wish is that you could do your own milk and sugar in your coffee instead of them doing it for you.
New building. Cook to see the operation. They need a better system of showing what bagels are out. Save the checkout person from explaining it to everyone. Maybe an illuminated sign.
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