Bagel Bakery

Husband had a hot pastrami on a super seed bagel, light on the meat but otherwise delicious. I had a turkey with mayo on everything bagel. Fresh bagels!
Pleasant staff. Clean enough.

The staff are rude. Basic English greetings and thank yous do not seem to be of interest to them on this trip or the other few times have stopped in. I have a friend who actually refuses to go there anymore because the staff are so abrupt and rude. I think it is worth it to go to the Bagel place on Alisal just a few minutes away. More selection at the other one too. By far the favorite is the Bagel Bakery in Sand City but the one on Constitution in Salinas is also clean, friendly, and have a large selection of bagels.

I love this place! Always get a dozen from them whenever we come in! The fresh fruit is great along with the different kinds of cream cheese.

I was there this morning to get a toasted bagel and cream cheese and some other bagels and orange juice. While my bagel was being made, the employee went to answer the phone with my half made bagel sitting on the counter — knife and cream cheese sitting on the bagel. Another customer comes in and is helped and takes the remaining blueberry bagels I wanted plus she gets multiple bagels while my bagel sits with a knife laying on it and the employee making mine still on the phone.
A word of advice to The Bagel Bakery and any business, a customer in the shop always comes before the one on the phone. I walked out and they can eat that bagel and I will never be back.
All of the other Bagel Bakery’s I have been to are well managed, polite and good food. This one however from previous experience plus this distasteful experience is subpar.

I am not a bagel expert, but this little place surpassed my expectations, which were lowered by the one review they had. Got the CA Dream on a plain bagel, which was easy to bite into and made daily according to the bagel prepper. It tasted very good with fresh avocado and sprouts, and a side of mild salsa. The interior was very plain, but so what. It fit the price of under $ 5 with tax. Some will want to salt or pepper this order, but I liked mine the way it came. Restaurant quiet with slow traffic, so if you want a place with people fighting to get in the door this is not the place for you. I was going to get a Subway sandwich, but was happily surprised by this sleepy joint.
I didn’t try their coffee offerings, so no opinion on that except their drip is labeled Peerless and they do have an full size express machine.

These are not bagels. I was tricked by the name of this place and the shape of their bread. It’s just bagel shaped bread. Their blended boba drinks taste funk. I got the blended thai tea, it tastes like pumpkin spice. The bagel bakery at northridge mall is where it’s at.

Breakfast sandwiches are made in the microwave. Stay away if you want traditionally made food. I asked for an egg and sausage sandwich and was surprised to find out the eggs are made in the microwave. I refused to take the sandwich and was met with a rude confrontation. Never again will I come in.

After a purely accidental discovery I now stop here religiously on my Central-​CA to SF drives. I’ve had about 6 different breakfast bagels and breakfast burritos so far. The bagels are as good as any I’ve had outside NYC (where they are superior), and the sandwiches are always tasty. The breakfast burrito is really solid, with sliced red potatoes instead of rice/​beans.
The staff are always courteous, the service is always fast, and the prices are great. Breakfast burrito+coffee for less than $ 7, usually less than $ 6.

I used to love coming here before the new ownership added Vietnamese food to the menu. If the name of the establishment is Bagel Café, then keep the menu pure bagels. The bagels used to taste soooo good too and the staff was so friendly. I will go to Bagel Bakery instead of Bagel Café.

Now part of the Bagel Bakery (BB) franchise, and I remember the BB from twenty years ago. Today had the turkey panini. The panini was toasted first, the turkey and cheese was placed in the microwave then placed on the toast. Tthen the sandwich was placed in the panini press??? Even the bagels in the case looked small and overcooked. If you want a killer bagel and sandwich, pay the extra and go to the Bagel Corner on Post street. Sorry Bagel Bakery.

This place used to be really good, but its gone down hill. The ordering system is poor, they don’t write anything down so if you need more than one sandwich you have to order one at a time and it takes forEVER. We were there during lunch at it was excruciatingly painful. The food is not as good as it used to be, either. Its a shame, because I want to see local business do great.

I’ve been coming here a lot and I always get the same thing. I get a Sesame Seed bagel with the turkey combo, but instead of lettuce I get sprouts. It’s so good. Of course you have to get it toasted.
I also tried the breakfast bagels, the Baja bagel is really good as well.
The owners are really cool and always seem in a good mood. And if your going to get a Bagel you must get the Mrs. Vickies Jalapeño Chips.

Mediocre. Bagel was a bit tough, rather than that nice combo of fluffy/​chewy/​toasty crispiness. And they charge 10 cents to toast the bagel. The price is inconsequential; that’s simply not how things are done, and it bothers me on principle. Like if you went to a restaurant and they charged you for tap water. Indeed, it does cost them – the water itself, plus the labor, electricity and water of serving, clearing and washing – and yet, they don’t charge you, because that’s just not how things are done.
All the tables were dirty, and they weren’t *that* busy.
But I guess if you’re close by and you just need to feed face, I’ll do just fine. They have a bunch of sandwiches and stuff. But don’t come here if you’re a bagel lover looking for a nostalgic/​sensory fix.
They have fresh orange juice. It’s tasty. Price decent.

Taro pearl milk tea. Pearls were a bit chewy. and they microwave them… weird.
Bagel sandwiches are good though! I’ve gotten a few of them… turkey club, turkey, tuna… all good sandwiches. :)

The bagels are small and have a bread-​like texture. Not chewy AT ALL. Fixings on the bagels are skimpy a best.
I won’t be back.

The jalapeño bagel without cheese is my favorite. But, for some reason it’s not available at all locations. My favorite vegan friendly sand… Vegetarian no cheese, no mayo– has sprouts, mustard, avo and tomato and the jalopeno adds the perfect kick!
This is one of the few spots you can find for healthy-​ish food in Salinas.

PIT STOP /​P-​STOP /​LOX-​STOP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The New Yorker gets The New Yorker!
On our way to SLO, I decided to pull into this non-​descript shopping mall in Salinas. Since any type of freestanding Bagel place is rare, I decided to check if they had Bagels & Real Nova Scotia Lox. They did and it was of course, called «The New Yorker», complete with Tomato and Onions, but sadly missing on the side capers (but had a pickle slice).
I asked for an Everything Bagel & extra Lox, and I think it came out to about $ 8, which is not bad considering that they must have put at least 4−6oz. of fresh Lox on it.
The Bagel was pretty good by California standards.
It was apparently run not by Russian or Eastern-​European Jews, like in Brooklyn, but by Vietnamese which was strange… unless they were Jewish as well…
If my Czechoslovak mother from Brooklyn, NEW YORK were here, she would have offered her fair and balance opinion, and say,
” THESE ARE NOT BAGELS, GODDAMNIT YOU A-​HOLE! YOU NEED REAL NEW YORK JEWS TO MAKE THEM YOU MORON! YOU DAMNED IMBECILE”!
THAT IS WHY, I THANK THE LORD EVERY DAY, THAT MY IMMEDIATE FAMILY STILL LIVES AROUND 3,000 MILES AWAY
…but even that is a little close…
HAWAII, AT 6,000 MILES, WAS BETTER… AND THEY ARE A BIT TOO FAT TO FLOAT 3,000 MILES!
It was a great break from driving, but they apparently only serve breakfast and lunch… and started to close at 3:30PM, as we were leaving.
In NYC, Bagel shops went from about 5AM till 11 or 12PM, but they mostly only sold bagels and sandwiches were almost unheard of. You could buy the sides (like lox and cream cheese) in the frig. It was DIY at Brooklyn Eastern European Jewish Bagel shops, back in the day.
This Salinas place had over a dozen different types, include Pumpkin of all things!
Again, my Brooklyn Slovak (non-​biased) Mom would say some «choice» words, for example,
«GODDAMN IT! PUMPKIN! WTF IS THAT SHIT! DAMNED STUPID AMERICANS CAN F-​UP BAGELS… THE A-​HOLES»!
It appeared to be fairly clean & the owners were polite to me.
Vietnamese (& Mexicans) have had a French colonial influence in their food and baking that persists to this day.
The sign stated that it was under new ownership.
Ref:
VIETNAMESE CUISINE
The cuisine of this Far Eastern country may be more interesting to gastronomes than that of Thailand and which is generally considered superb. Chinese, French and the geography influenced this country’s culinary delights.
Vietnamese, small-​built and wiry, have trounced invaders from Khubilai Khan to Lyndon Johnson, and everyone in-​between. They excel in trade and entrepreneurship as their recent resurgence proves.
While some of the protein sources of Vietnamese revolt western gourmets, to one who is starved, there is really no difference between beef and dog, or for that matter field mouse, toad, bat or king cobra. African nations eat meat from animals which western gourmets would rarely think, if ever, acceptable.
Dog meat may be grisly and sinewy, but if properly cooked, can be acceptable. Mostly it is grilled, but what may look and taste somewhat unusual is a bowl of steaming liver, lungs and heart.
The main source of starch for Vietnamese is rice, but French introduced the art of baking breads, and producing croissant, that buttery, flaky crescent shaped pasty enjoyed by millions of people daily. In Saigon, you can still get excellent croissant and café au lait.
BTW– This review is new & improved, because the prior one was deemed too «normal» by Bubba… so Bubba, just for you :)

Poor customer service, owner or woman at register very rude practically pulls your money from ones hands. Bagels stated stale on this Sunday morning. Last time was here same thing same woman was very rude and even admitted to being hung over. They skimp on the cream cheese. Too bad the bagel bakeries are not what they used to be.

This is a great little bagel shop. Close to the Salinas softball fields. Most impressive are the owners: Friendly, funny and dedicated to customer service. The bagels are reliable and consistent with most bagel places.
Give em a try! (and be sure to try their flavored cream cheeses! Green onion my fave!)

Have never been inside as my mom hits this place up after her graveyard shift at the post office. There was always a bag of bagels plus a tub of their cream cheese sitting on our table when I’d wake up during my trips back home.
The bagels are solid, I’ve tried several varieties, the sesame seed being my favorite. They’re huge too … I usually end up eating half of one and the other half a little later, around brunch time …
I bring them home (San Francisco) but the bag of bagels never get too far in a house full of hungry college students. =)