Very solid “meh”. Extremely overpriced for what you get and definitely overrated. It feels like a sterilized version of a New York delicatessen made for Los Angeles people to play pretend. Made the mistake of ordering a bagel sandwich instead of just a regular bagel.
My girlfriend and I ate here and our bill was like $70 for two bagels and some potato pancakes, we didn't even get any coffee, and that’s outrageous to me. Latkes were good though, just wouldn't spend THAT much for them. Feels like robbery.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Garrett & Jana Whisten
This place is mid. It looks cool and some stuff is decent. But they don’t make their own bagels (you can see them in the kitchen taking out of a store bought bag) and when you ask for it toasted you end up with a gently warm bagel…. Doubled toasted = a slightly warmer bagel.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Alvin Baligad
There's limited street parking with a lot in the back. Although the payment system wasn't working. Great bagel
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Scott Wong
Sunday long lines. Waited almost an hour. Bagels were ok. Hip environment.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Lauren Vogel
I was really excited to try Belle's, and maybe I should have just picked a different day. The service was confusing, one of the staff members came by to our table and made us feel kind of cruddy for not remembering that we needed to order at the bar and not with a server. The main kicker was that they were out of the #1 cocktail we were interested in only 30 minutes after opening. Don't expect any sort of flexibility or creativity from the bartending staff, apparently most things are pre batched and not to be altered in any way. What was most disappointing was that they had absolutely no interest in trying to find an alternative, and for $18 a beverage, you'd think there would be some attempt at good service, but I suppose it's their way or the highway. I ended up not getting a drink at all because I was so put off. The food was fine, the latkes were way overcooked and almost black. Again, maybe this was just an off day, but I left feeling pretty bad.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 1
Anna Dória
Great, amazing bagels but they seem to apply some sort of scarcity marketing to the diner and never produce enough quantity for the general amount of costumers they already know they have by this point. I got there at 11AM and they were out of bagels more than once (consider posting stories on an Instagram page so ppl will not drive from not-so-near neighborhoods because they love your food just to find out through a paper glued on the cashier that you’re out of bagels). Most of the staff are great, warm and welcoming but the overall mood 20min before closing time is that they don’t want costumers to get in even if it is for takeout (I’ve worked on retail and know the general mood when shift is over is that we’re very tired but idk they should maybe close the doors and stop allowing people in). Also, most of the staff is simply amazing but a particular woman seems somewhat bitter and antipathetic to their own costumers, get us to feel they’re doing us a big time favor by attending their costumers.
Doug
The food itself is great. However, after the remodel and reopening, the service has severely degraded. Half the time I can’t even place an online order.
Also, are they no longer accepting pickup orders via Toast? It seems like you can use UberEats and Postmates but both of those add an extra fee, even when placing a pickup order.
If they could just work out the online ordering and in-store service issues, this would be the best place to grab a bite in Highland Park. As is, it’s quite a letdown.
Food: 5
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Lox Bagel
Tom Renaud
First, the positives: The bartender and the woman at the counter were nice, and the food was quite good.
However, our experience was overshadowed by the behavior of a staff member with dark hair working the floor. She was extremely rude to us over confusion about their seating system, scolding us loudly in front of other customers. We were instructed by the woman at the counter that we could sit at the bar after ordering, but this apparently caused a mix-up that delayed our food order by more than 45 minutes. The woman with dark hair told me twice, quite nastily, that our order had been put in, and when we realized (on our third inquiry!) that the order had actually never been placed, it became pretty obvious that she did it on purpose, out of spite. We are patient, polite customers, and there was no reason for her to react like this other than bad attitude and pettiness.
While mistakes happen, the hostility we experienced was completely unwarranted and left a bad impression. Unfortunately, this interaction has deterred us from returning to Belle’s, despite the good food and service from other staff members. Based on this experience, I cannot recommend the restaurant.
If I were Belle’s, I’d take note of the repeated complaints about the unclear, backward seating system and hostile waitstaff and give serious thought to restructuring their system and retraining staff. It really sucks that this is what passes for a restaurant dining experience in 2024.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 1
Lucky
Tell me why I'm enjoying a delicious bagel and listening to Bruno mars... the food is good vibe could be good.
Zoe G
Good bagel! Kinda steep to charge $2.25 to sub vegan cream cheese. I think a bagel should be a bit softer than this but I enjoyed nonetheless!
Went today after not having been there for months and the cashier was super rude , she was very unhelpful and seemed like she didn’t want to be there. My pick up order was handed to me by a cook and the rude lady got mad at the worker for doing HER job she wasn’t doing, love the cooks hate the cashier .
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 5
Service: 1
Benjamin Wright
Venue is beautiful and service was fine. The bagels are honestly overrated. I ordered the MCB and it had very little cream cheese, the lox didn’t seem fresh and the capers were extremely salty and overpowering. All i could taste was salt. Wouldn’t go back.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
Annie Wasserman
Stealing a phrase from their menu here, but Belle’s bagels is the epitome of “Newish & Jewish” deli classics. Their bagels on their own (judged by eating them without any CC or toppings) are wonderful and I much prefer them over the bagels from Courage, Layla, and Jyan Isaac. They have all the usual suspects (poppy, plain, onion, everything, sesame, salt) and what I’ll call a zeitgeist spin on a typical Asiago bagel: the cacio e pepe. I ordered an assortment of bagels to-go but also had an egg & cheese on the cacio e pepe at the bar counter. It was unbelievably good and such a unique flavor - the crushed peppercorns were the perfect touch. The bagel was perfectly chewy and soft, which paired so well with the velvety eggs and oozing melted cheese. Sitting at the counter felt like I was being served little slice of Jewish deli nostalgia. I also tried one of the black and white cookies to-go and was pleasantly surprised. I hadn’t found a black and white cookie I liked in LA for years until now. If you ever miss New York or the hustle and bustle of a deli with charm and character, make your way to Belle’s.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Egg and Cheese
Mark S
Really cool place and a fun location. However, the food had some very strange ingredient choices. It's almost as if the chef doesn't know when to say "this tastes good - I'll stop here".
For example, the chicken schnitzel sandwich. Starts with a chicken cutlet, pickled red cabbage, and something they call "San Fernando Valley ranch". So far, so tasty! Then they add that one ingredient too many - fresh mint leaves. The sandwich can best be described as "chicken schnitzel, with a side of Wrigley's Spearmint gum".
If it were just the one dish, I would say "eh, not every item is going to be a winner", but the trend of one too many ingredients extends to seemingly everything. Case in point: the gin and tonic, which they have dubbed the "GIN & TONUKKAH". Top shelf gin + Fevertree tonic? Yes please! They add a slice of lemon and a slice of cucumber. Ok, that's fine. But then comes the one ingredient too many - a handful of pink peppercorns. WTF? Drowns out the taste of the gin and tonic. All you can taste is peppercorn.
I also tried the matzo ball soup (the soup is amazing, but the matzo ball was doused in a thick layer of black pepper) and the latkes (the side of apple sauce is redolent with too much cinnamon).
Seriously, this place has a lot of promise, but the chef needs to stop trying to outdo the flavors of the food with just one more thing.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 4
Julia Kanter
The best black & white cookies we’ve ever had. They’re breaking the generational trauma that they need to be bad.
And all bagels from here on out should be served with crispy salmon skin. Yum!
Very solid “meh”. Extremely overpriced for what you get and definitely overrated. It feels like a sterilized version of a New York delicatessen made for Los Angeles people to play pretend. Made the mistake of ordering a bagel sandwich instead of just a regular bagel.
My girlfriend and I ate here and our bill was like $70 for two bagels and some potato pancakes, we didn't even get any coffee, and that’s outrageous to me. Latkes were good though, just wouldn't spend THAT much for them. Feels like robbery.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
This place is mid. It looks cool and some stuff is decent. But they don’t make their own bagels (you can see them in the kitchen taking out of a store bought bag) and when you ask for it toasted you end up with a gently warm bagel…. Doubled toasted = a slightly warmer bagel.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
There's limited street parking with a lot in the back. Although the payment system wasn't working. Great bagel
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sunday long lines. Waited almost an hour. Bagels were ok. Hip environment.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
I was really excited to try Belle's, and maybe I should have just picked a different day. The service was confusing, one of the staff members came by to our table and made us feel kind of cruddy for not remembering that we needed to order at the bar and not with a server. The main kicker was that they were out of the #1 cocktail we were interested in only 30 minutes after opening. Don't expect any sort of flexibility or creativity from the bartending staff, apparently most things are pre batched and not to be altered in any way. What was most disappointing was that they had absolutely no interest in trying to find an alternative, and for $18 a beverage, you'd think there would be some attempt at good service, but I suppose it's their way or the highway. I ended up not getting a drink at all because I was so put off. The food was fine, the latkes were way overcooked and almost black. Again, maybe this was just an off day, but I left feeling pretty bad.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 1
Great, amazing bagels but they seem to apply some sort of scarcity marketing to the diner and never produce enough quantity for the general amount of costumers they already know they have by this point. I got there at 11AM and they were out of bagels more than once (consider posting stories on an Instagram page so ppl will not drive from not-so-near neighborhoods because they love your food just to find out through a paper glued on the cashier that you’re out of bagels). Most of the staff are great, warm and welcoming but the overall mood 20min before closing time is that they don’t want costumers to get in even if it is for takeout (I’ve worked on retail and know the general mood when shift is over is that we’re very tired but idk they should maybe close the doors and stop allowing people in). Also, most of the staff is simply amazing but a particular woman seems somewhat bitter and antipathetic to their own costumers, get us to feel they’re doing us a big time favor by attending their costumers.
The food itself is great. However, after the remodel and reopening, the service has severely degraded. Half the time I can’t even place an online order.
Also, are they no longer accepting pickup orders via Toast? It seems like you can use UberEats and Postmates but both of those add an extra fee, even when placing a pickup order.
If they could just work out the online ordering and in-store service issues, this would be the best place to grab a bite in Highland Park. As is, it’s quite a letdown.
Food: 5
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Lox Bagel
First, the positives: The bartender and the woman at the counter were nice, and the food was quite good.
However, our experience was overshadowed by the behavior of a staff member with dark hair working the floor. She was extremely rude to us over confusion about their seating system, scolding us loudly in front of other customers. We were instructed by the woman at the counter that we could sit at the bar after ordering, but this apparently caused a mix-up that delayed our food order by more than 45 minutes. The woman with dark hair told me twice, quite nastily, that our order had been put in, and when we realized (on our third inquiry!) that the order had actually never been placed, it became pretty obvious that she did it on purpose, out of spite. We are patient, polite customers, and there was no reason for her to react like this other than bad attitude and pettiness.
While mistakes happen, the hostility we experienced was completely unwarranted and left a bad impression. Unfortunately, this interaction has deterred us from returning to Belle’s, despite the good food and service from other staff members. Based on this experience, I cannot recommend the restaurant.
If I were Belle’s, I’d take note of the repeated complaints about the unclear, backward seating system and hostile waitstaff and give serious thought to restructuring their system and retraining staff. It really sucks that this is what passes for a restaurant dining experience in 2024.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 1
Tell me why I'm enjoying a delicious bagel and listening to Bruno mars... the food is good vibe could be good.
Good bagel! Kinda steep to charge $2.25 to sub vegan cream cheese. I think a bagel should be a bit softer than this but I enjoyed nonetheless!
Food: 4
Service: 4
Restaurantji Recommends
Went today after not having been there for months and the cashier was super rude , she was very unhelpful and seemed like she didn’t want to be there. My pick up order was handed to me by a cook and the rude lady got mad at the worker for doing HER job she wasn’t doing, love the cooks hate the cashier .
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 5
Service: 1
Venue is beautiful and service was fine. The bagels are honestly overrated. I ordered the MCB and it had very little cream cheese, the lox didn’t seem fresh and the capers were extremely salty and overpowering. All i could taste was salt. Wouldn’t go back.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
Stealing a phrase from their menu here, but Belle’s bagels is the epitome of “Newish & Jewish” deli classics. Their bagels on their own (judged by eating them without any CC or toppings) are wonderful and I much prefer them over the bagels from Courage, Layla, and Jyan Isaac. They have all the usual suspects (poppy, plain, onion, everything, sesame, salt) and what I’ll call a zeitgeist spin on a typical Asiago bagel: the cacio e pepe. I ordered an assortment of bagels to-go but also had an egg & cheese on the cacio e pepe at the bar counter. It was unbelievably good and such a unique flavor - the crushed peppercorns were the perfect touch. The bagel was perfectly chewy and soft, which paired so well with the velvety eggs and oozing melted cheese. Sitting at the counter felt like I was being served little slice of Jewish deli nostalgia. I also tried one of the black and white cookies to-go and was pleasantly surprised. I hadn’t found a black and white cookie I liked in LA for years until now. If you ever miss New York or the hustle and bustle of a deli with charm and character, make your way to Belle’s.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Egg and Cheese
Really cool place and a fun location. However, the food had some very strange ingredient choices. It's almost as if the chef doesn't know when to say "this tastes good - I'll stop here".
For example, the chicken schnitzel sandwich. Starts with a chicken cutlet, pickled red cabbage, and something they call "San Fernando Valley ranch". So far, so tasty! Then they add that one ingredient too many - fresh mint leaves. The sandwich can best be described as "chicken schnitzel, with a side of Wrigley's Spearmint gum".
If it were just the one dish, I would say "eh, not every item is going to be a winner", but the trend of one too many ingredients extends to seemingly everything. Case in point: the gin and tonic, which they have dubbed the "GIN & TONUKKAH". Top shelf gin + Fevertree tonic? Yes please! They add a slice of lemon and a slice of cucumber. Ok, that's fine. But then comes the one ingredient too many - a handful of pink peppercorns. WTF? Drowns out the taste of the gin and tonic. All you can taste is peppercorn.
I also tried the matzo ball soup (the soup is amazing, but the matzo ball was doused in a thick layer of black pepper) and the latkes (the side of apple sauce is redolent with too much cinnamon).
Seriously, this place has a lot of promise, but the chef needs to stop trying to outdo the flavors of the food with just one more thing.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 4
The best black & white cookies we’ve ever had. They’re breaking the generational trauma that they need to be bad.
And all bagels from here on out should be served with crispy salmon skin. Yum!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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