OK, I happen to have a bias built over a 28 year obsession with the bagel. But The Bagel Broker Bakes the Best Bagel in Los Angeles.
The crowd anticipating their freshly baked, warm and chewy circlets of goodness, Bagel Brokers’ bagels. Photo by Ryan Gierach. |
Ask anyone who knows a bagel.
Indeed, here for your information is just one of the dozens of incredible reviews given the Bagel Broker on CitySearch , whose users have rated it far and away the best bagel with a 9.1 rating.
“If you are a transplanted New yorker searching for a good bagel in LA look no further. This place delivers the most crunchy, chewy and delicious bagel on the West Coast.”
When I first landed in Los Angeles in 1981 I went to work selling furniture. For a midwestern farm boy used to German breads, and lots of them, Saturday morning sales meetings meant a breakfast “bagel nosh.”
Most of the sales staff in the chain for which I worked being transplanted New York Jews (the Marks, Goodmans and Steinmans of the world), they not only taught a green kid how to “schlepp the geld” (carry the money), but to appreciate the nuances of a fine bagel.
Regulars digging into a delicious bagel sandwich at the Bagel Broker. Photo by Ryan Gierach. |
As the reviewer above says, a proper bagel is slightly crunchy outside and soft and chewy inside, and if topped, covered unapologetically with the flavor, be it sesame seed, poppy, onion or “everything.”
Fast forward a little to my mid-thirties and a new academic career, and my need for part time flexible work while I attended school. I saw an ad for a counter worker at a place at Beverly abd Fairfax across from CBS studios called the Bagel Broker.
That was when I discovered bagel heaven. Here were over a dozen kinds of bagles precisely as described above – in a word, scrumtious. And I was allowed to hand these little circlets of joy out by the dozen each and every day, watching smiles erupt in the pre-dawn hours as people dug into a squeezably soft, yet ever just so scrunchy morsel of goodness.
So, you see, I have a bias developed after having eaten several scores of dozens of Bagel Broker Bagels over the past dozen years. I also have a fondness for the founders and operators of the Bagel Broker, because they are true mensches in the finest sense of that word.
Not only are the 18 types of bagels baked continuously throughout the day, but each sandwich made at the Bagel Broker is hand prepared to order and served with sides Photo by Ryan Gierach. |
Bill Tarnol, a former dry cleaner, founded the Bagel Broker in 1987 using the finest ingredients he could find and a special proprietory recipe (it’s all in the mix, the timing and the boiling), putting his then-teenaged son, Jason, to work in both the kitchen and behind the counter.
“Bagels were only available from big factories at the time, and by the dozens” Jason said. “Bill thought it would be a good idea to have a place where people could sit down and enjoy a bagel, or a bagel sandwich.” They opened the shop in the neighborhood Bill Tarnol had grown up in, the Fairfax District just a stone’s through from West Hollywood proper.
The shop's walls, in fact, are adorned with Stan Cline prints of the Golden Era of Los Angeles, including local architectural landmarks from Bill's youth such as Fairfax High School Auditorium and the Pan Pacific Auditorium.
Suffice it to say that Bill Tarnol's idea caught on and less than seven or eight years later, Noah’s Bagels out of New York, whether by chance or not, took the same idea with heavy capitalization and bloomed in to a nationwide chain of bagel shops. Other chains followed. The competition only sharpened the Tarnol’s efforts at promotion – they began giving free samples to studios and production companies, which in turn began having bagels, cream cheese, spreads and other foods delivered to the set.
“We’ve been delivering to ‘The Young and The Restless’ and ‘Bold and The Beautiful’ for maybe 15 years, Jason said. “We deliver to Paramount, CBS, Cedars-Sinai and dozens of restaurants and bakeries around town.”
The Bagel Broker sits directly across Beverly Boulevard from the CBS Television City complex. Anyone working on a set or in a production company office who eats a bagel eats a Bagel Broker bagel – after all, it IS the Tiffany Network and knows the best. Photo by Ryan Gierach. |
And not only 18 different flavors of bagels, either. The spreads, such as their classic whitefish, tuna, or, WeHoNews’s favorite, the chicken spread, are made from fresh, quaulity ingredients daily. The ham, turkey, cheeses and salads served for luncheon sandwiches can’t be beaten for their quality and freshness.
But why take our word for it? Here’s another review culled from the many on CitySearch – “My company uses The Bagel Broker for promotional events for potential customers and I have never been dissapointed. The presentation is excellent, delivery is always on time, the fruit is always sweet, and the bagels, pastries and cookies are fresh and tasty. People are always raving about the food at my events and I recommend The Bagel Broker everytime.”
From another aficianado comes this rave – “Hands down, the best bagels in LA. They are chewy on the outside, soft on the inside, fresh as can be. Go for breakfast (hot egg sandwiches, lox, etc.) or for lunch (turkey, tuna, whitefish, etc.) Coffee is pretty good too.
“Large selection of juices. They deliver bagels to a lot of the businesses around the neighborhood, and for a good reason. They really are the best in the area. Now if I could just convince my office to do bagel Fridays...”
Click here for a Bagel Broker menu. First time customers have several coupon offerings available to them at the Bagel Broker profile page on CitySearch.
Remember to tell them you saw them on WeHoNews!And keep in mind that a delivery/catering minimum is only $25 dollars (about four sandwiches or a couple dozens with cream cheeses and/or spreads) and dine on the Best Bagel – Bagel Broker bagels.
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