We blind tasted 20 Bay Area bagels. Here's how they ranked
- 10. Schlok's Bagels & Lox. Score: 5.3
- 9. Noah's NY Bagels. Score: 5.3
- 8. Early to Rise. Score: 5.5
- 7. The Laundromat. Score: 5.8
- 6. Dago Bagel. Score: 6.5
- 5. Saul's Deli. Score: 6.9
- 4. Bones Bagels. Score: 7.6
- 3. Poppy Bagels. Score: 7.7
- 2. Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen. Score: 7.8
- 1. Loveski Deli. Score: 8.1
The Chronicle Food & Wine team blind tasted 20 everything bagels from throughout the Bay Area on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (Richard H. Grant/S.F. Chronicle)
On a recent morning, 20 bagels, six tubs of cream cheese and eight pairs of furrowed brows came together in a conference room for a very serious, blind taste-test.
Members of the Chronicle's Food & Wine team scrutinized flavor and texture, crust and crumb to determine the region's best bagels - a hotly debated topic now that the Bay Area is awash with options. Hand-rolled and boiled; sourdough bagels; unconventional seeding choices: There's never been a better time to eat bagels in the Bay Area.
We picked up 20 everything bagels at shops throughout the region, from longtime stalwarts to trendy newcomers. (One organizer even tried to trick us by throwing in a grocery store bagel). We included only brick-and-mortar shops with regular hours; no popups or farmers market operations. Considered side-by-side, the 20 bagels illustrated the broad range of the form, from oversized to what one taster called "runty;" from pale beige to deep amber; and generously or sparsely covered in seeds. For consistency, the panel of judges tasted them untoasted with Philadelphia cream cheese. (After the tasting, we also tried specialty schmears from a variety of bagel shops - scroll below the rankings for our favorites.)
Our team logged ratings for flavor and texture, then gave each bagel an overall score from 0 to 10. In the end, seeds were strewn everywhere. And the results? Surprising.
Counting down from No. 10 to No. 1, here were the panel's top bagel picks. To see all 20, view the table below.
Members of the Chronicle Food & Wine team study bagels during the tasting. (Richard H. Grant/S.F. Chronicle)
10. Schlok's Bagels & Lox. Score: 5.3
This pandemic popup turned popular shop with two locations in San Francisco elicited a range of reactions from the judges. Schlok's prides itself on adding toppings to only the bottom of its bagels "to highlight the contrast between the crunchier/caramelized bottoms versus the soft and chewy bagel tops," its website reads. Food reporter Mario Cortez appreciated its "balanced spices" and "good chew."
9. Noah's NY Bagels. Score: 5.3
No one expected Noah's, a massive California chain founded in 1989, to land a spot in the top 10. The bagel's fluffy, "feathery" texture divided the judges. Some were confused, comparing it to milk bread. "Tastes good but not a bagel!" senior wine critic Esther Mobley wrote. But in the end, flavor won out: The judges' averaged scores came out above Schlok's by a fraction of a point
8. Early to Rise. Score: 5.5
This San Francisco brunch popup turned restaurant, which opened its brick-and-mortar location last year, only makes plain and everything bagels. Several panelists lauded its "crackly" and "super snappy" crust. It was also notably compact; the smallest bagel of the group.
7. The Laundromat. Score: 5.8
The Laundromat's was the first bagel in the lineup we tasted; judges quickly called out that it was studded with "beefy, garlic shards," like you had "kissed Dracula," Cortez wrote. The garlic even overpowered cream cheese, wine reporter Jess Lander remarked. The Outer Richmond shop is known for serving fresh bagels by day, and pizza and wine at night.
Everything bagels from 20 Bay Area shops. (Richard H. Grant/S.F. Chronicle)
6. Dago Bagel. Score: 6.5
Dago, the bagel spinoff from famed San Francisco pizza chef Tony Gemignani, was a dark horse. The bagel was crusty, chewy and "well-formed," restaurant critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan wrote. "Textbook excellence," added Cortez.
5. Saul's Deli. Score: 6.9
This Berkeley institution started baking its own bagels several years ago. The investment has paid off. "That's a bagel!" Bitker wrote. Others loved the snappy, bubbly crust, though some panelists found it dry.
4. Bones Bagels. Score: 7.6
The most nontraditional of the bunch came from San Francisco newcomer Bones, which specializes in sourdough bagels. Slicing the bagel in half revealed a dramatically open crumb, like a loaf of naturally leavened bread. Tangy and delicious, the judges agreed, but is it a bagel? "I'm eating Tartine country bread," Bitker wrote. For Mobley: "Polarizing but I like this." "West Coast!" Cortez declared.
3. Poppy Bagels. Score: 7.7
This popular Oakland shop - the only bagel spot on the Chronicle's list of the Top 100 Bay Area restaurants - was edged out of second place by just 0.2 percentage points. The bagel stood out for its chewy texture and fully "bejeweled" in seeds (including ample amounts of sesame, judges noted). Mobley called Poppy's bagel "toothsome" with a chew that "fights back."
2. Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen. Score: 7.8
Wise Sons, which opened in San Francisco in 2012, has mostly been left out of the most recent conversation surrounding the Bay Area's bagel renaissance. But the bagel impressed judges, many of whom had not tried Wise Sons in years. "Glimmers with sea salt crystals," Bitker wrote. Was that fennel they tasted in the everything seed mix? "Very burnished, great chew," Fegan added.
1. Loveski Deli. Score: 8.1
The eventual winner of the taste test: an everything bagel from Loveski Deli in Napa and Marin. (Richard H. Grant/S.F. Chronicle)
When this chewy North Bay bagel made its way around the room, the excitement was palpable. Judges noted the standout seasoning, with sunflower seeds, flax, caraway and shards of Maldon salt adding lots of flavor. "I wanted another bite," Lander wrote. Famed chef Christopher Kostow, known for Napa Valley fine dining destinations the Restaurant at Meadowood (now closed) and the Charter Oak, opened Loveski in Napa in 2022 and later Marin. The bagels are made from a decades' old Charter Oak sourdough starter and boiled Montreal-style in a small amount of honey rather than malt syrup.
{ "__type": "devHubFreeformEmbed", "__id": "Datawrapper", "__fallbackImage": "https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/XRzn4/mobile.png", "__data": { "datawrapper_id": "XRzn4" } }A note about schmears
After the blind tasting, we opened the schmears floodgates. We tried more than a dozen flavored schmears in three categories: caper, spicy and herbs/miscellaneous.
Flavored schmears were reserved for after the blind tasting. (Richard H. Grant/S.F. Chronicle)
The spicy favorite, by far, was the Calabrian chile from Bageletto in San Francisco, which had "nice chunks of pepper," Fegan wrote.
Two herby schmears emerged as top picks: horseradish lemon dill from Hella Bagels in Albany and Loveski's yellow chive and fermented onion.
The most surprising schmear? A sesame dan dan creation, inspired by the Chinese noodle dish, from Bones. Just one more reminder that the Bay Area bagel scene has developed its own identity, far from New York.
