This story is part of the Great Bagel Boom, a Bon Appétit series celebrating the vast creative expanses of bagel culture across America—because yes, you can find truly wonderful bagels outside of New York now.
On a recent trip to LA, I drove by one of those block-wrapping lines that’s the telltale sign of a meet-and-greet or maybe a sneaker drop. I circled the block and got a glimpse of my celebrity: Courage Bagels. Crowds of devotees spilled onto the sidewalk, eating their long-awaited meals at tiny outdoor tables under sun umbrellas. Their open-face, pleasantly misshapen Montreal-style bagels balanced hunks of cheddar, rosy slices of salted tomato, cream cheese, and pearls of plump roe, all hidden under wisps of dill.
As you can probably gather, Courage doesn’t follow in the steps of the classic New York bagel. And across the country, similar lines are forming for creative, often-unconventional bagels. At Benchwarmers in Raleigh, North Carolina, bagels come topped with duck rillettes and sour cherry cream cheese or country ham and fancy butter. The New Orleans bagel shop Flour Moon calls its open-face bagels “tartines” and tops them with appropriate panache: roasted carrot spread, duqqa, sunflower seed butter, tahini.
The famous wood-fired, delightfully misshapen bagels at LA’s Courage Bagels.Photograph by Tracy Nguyen for Bon Appétit
As a trickle of buzzy new bagel shops turns into a full-on bagel boom, bakers aren’t looking to mimic New York quite the way they might have 10 years ago. The New York bagel is as revered as ever, but new approaches are taking shape from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. Bakers are blending influences and regional styles, getting creative with toppings, and treating bagels like a special event.
Whether you prefer them puffy and shiny or dense and chewy, there’s never been a better time to eat bagels. These are our very favorite ones—outside of New York—sourced from Bon Appétit staffers and trusted contributors. You’ll find that some of these bagels do take inspiration from stalwarts like New York and Montreal, but mostly, they defy neat categorization. That’s part of what makes them so great. —Elazar Sontag, Bon Appétit restaurant editor
Read more about the rise of national bagel culture here.
The full list
Bagelfeld’s
Tucked in an industrial building near a Crossfit gym on Phoenix’s east side, Bagelfeld’s slings a simple menu of classic bagels so satisfying that even carb-phobic Crossfiters go. New York–born owner Charles Blonkenfeld started making bagels early in the pandemic and sold them at farmers markets before opening his shop in 2022, carefully adjusting the recipe for Phoenix’s high temps.
The bagels Blonkenfeld turns out are New York–inspired but clearly his own thing. They’re thinner and wider than what you might find in most New York bagel shops. The exterior is also more crisp and crackly, giving way to a chewy, not-too-dense interior. When it comes to toppings, there’s a tight menu of cream cheese spreads, such as honey-brown butter and lemon and herb. People tend to pick up their orders and take them to go, but the shop’s gotten so popular that a slew of cafés and restaurants around town are serving their bagels too. It’s no wonder the local athletes come here to fuel up. —Serena Dai, Bon Appétit digital editorial director
Pro tip: Stick to classic toppings, like plain cream cheese, and watch out for specials like a nostalgic Asiago cheese bagel.
Bagelfeld’s bagels are New York-inspired, but thinner and wider than what you’d find at most classic delis.Photograph by Marci Symington
Belle’s Bagels
On the busy street of York in LA’s Highland Park neighborhood, you’ll find an impatient crowd gathered around Belle’s Bagels, clamoring for their hand-rolled, slow-fermented bagels. In true LA fashion, these bagels break most purist rules. There are inventive schmears, like a bright pink beet cream cheese; an assortment of breakfast sandwiches served with “shalom sauce” (a garlic-herb aioli); and the option to order a latke either on the side or on your bagel.
Childhood friends Nick Schreiber and J.D. Rocchio launched their business as a backyard pop-up in 2012, setting out to make their vision of the very best bagel a reality: a bubbly crust, dense crumb, and chewy center. A humble foldout table is placed in front of the store, where droves of customers order, place their name, and wait for their bagel to arrive in a brown paper bag. There are a few tables for patrons outside, but those fill up quickly. Mostly, you’ll see people digging into their bagels on public sidewalk seating and around the corner enjoying their bagels in alleyways. —June Kim, Bon Appétit head of video
Pro tip: Live a little and try one of Belle’s sandwich specials. From pastrami, swiss, and slaw to crispy salmon skin, lox, and pickled fennel, Belle’s has some unique creations that are not to be missed.
