Inside Brooklyn Bagel Bakery’s Triumphant LA Return

Hometown heroes Brooklyn Bagel Bakery have reopened today along Beverly Boulevard in Historic Filipinotown, and the word is already very much out. Old fans and newcomers streamed through the doors at 6 a.m. and have been crowding the small takeaway space all morning, a good sign for the enduring health of one of LA’s most beloved bagel bakeries.

Brooklyn Bagel Bakery started life in 1953 in the greater MacArthur Park area, then a dense and multicultural neighborhood with a strong Jewish backbone. Over the years most places fell away save for Langer’s and Brooklyn Bagel, but in 2015 the bakery suffered a near-catastrophic structural failure that has taken years of construction and permitting to resolve. Owner Vanik Elchibegian moved wholesale production down to Montebello, and vowed to revive some on-site baking for customers in the community. Now that day has come.

Now fans have officially been allowed back inside, following a few days of small giveaways and test bakes at the facility. There’s a small ordering counter up front and hanging menus showing off the available bagel options and add-ons like lox and cream cheese, plus coffee and a notice for eggy bagel sandwiches to come. There’s no room to sit and eat, just rows of different bagel flavors to see and snag for takeaway dining, plus some old photos on the opposite wall showing off the company through the years as well as the broken beam that caused so much heartache back in 2015. As of today, hours at Brooklyn Bagel Bakery are 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily.

Brooklyn Bagel Bakery. 2217 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA.

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