Brooklyn Water Bagel Co: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

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When Brooklyn Water Bagel Company, which is partly owned by Larry King, opened its first west coast franchise in Beverly Hills last month a ton of red flags went up. First and most obvious is the Larry King thing. Seriously… that’s your selling point? (Can that guy’s dentures even cut through a real bagel?) Then there was the whole “Brooklyn water” thing, which anybody who has ever been to a New York style pizza place in L.A. should be familiar with. (Really? You pay to have water flown in from New York City to make that pizza? You’re an idiot.) Oh, but don’t worry. Brooklyn Water Bagel Company doesn’t use actual Brooklyn water. They’ve developed a “proprietary water treatment technology system” to create the ideal water for making bagels. (Idiots as well.)

And yet something about their nonsense worked. Maybe it was my one and only soul crushing experience at Noah’s, or the impending Passover holiday, but something willed me to go and check out the bagel that Larry King claims transported him back to Brooklyn with one bite.

First… THE GOOD.

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The bagel itself. You can see them cooking up the bagels fresh through a window into the back, and it all looks Kosher (not literally, of course).  The bagels don’t need to be toasted, and there’s even a chance of getting a warm one (always a good thing.)   Crisp outside, chewy inside… definitely a good bagel.

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The classics are there. The “salads” seem to be fresh and good.  We were fans of the white fish spread ($9), and you can even get nova eggs and onions with a bagel for $7.  Everything was pretty fast food franchise’ish, but all in all it was a tasty lunch.

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The ice coffee ice cubes. If you are a fan of ice coffee you will love this place.  Their self serve drink area is 20% soda, and the rest coffee.  They have a ton of different flavors, and the self serve ice machine dispenses ice coffee ice cubes!  Stupid gimmick?  For sure.  Made me excited because of its awesomeness?  Definitely.

THE BAD.

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Pizza melts, signature salads and Brooklyn Wraps. Really?  Is this necessary?  You had me at delicious bagels.

They serve something called a “Scooper Melt”. I’m sorry, but if you scoop the inside out of your bagel you suck.  It’s an abomination, and shouldn’t be encouraged… even if you’re filling the scooped area with corned beef, cheesesteak, or a tuna melt.

The sweet potato fries. Kind of terrible.

And… THE UGLY.

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It’s Beverly Hills and you just couldn’t help yourself, could you.

Should have known from the beginning that Brooklyn Water Bagel Company was just another gimmick filled cheesy chain, but the bagels are actually half way decent.  If you’re in the area, and craving a bagel you could do a lot worse (provided you can ignore the bad and the ugly.)

Brooklyn Water Bagel Co., 262 S. Beverly Drive, 310-786-7400

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6 Comments

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    I’m a fan of the bagel selections, particularly for the breakfast sandwiches. They didn’t blow me away but were definitely better than average.

    I do think, though, that the coffee ice cubes could fall under “the bad.” Great in theory; made my coffee gross and bitter in practice.

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    Zach, you’re showing your age – young. When I was a lad (in Brooklyn) there were two types of bagels – egg bagels and water bagels. Egg bagels were really just a soft challah-like roll with a hole in it. But water bagels were something else entirely. They were little pucks with holes and less than three inches in diameter. And they had NO preservatives or dough conditioners. You bought them in the morning for breakfast and by noon they were as hard as rocks and you just threw them away. But they tasted good!!! Unfortunately, I know of nothing like that made today. Current bagels are HUGE and soft and will last a week, BUT they NEVER really taste as good as the water bagels of my youth.

    Harvey

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    love their bagels! and I liked the coffee cubes. Had the iced Surfer blend and i think its one of the best iced coffees i’ve had in awhile!

    on the other hand my issue is with service. I’ve stopped by in the morning few times and there will be a long line and 1 person at the register while a slew of other workers just roam. doesn’t seem like they can get it right.

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    I must agree with you on your scooping out bagels comment. I’m sorry but if you need to scoop out the inside of a bagel because its too much carbs maybe you should try eating something else. For example, try a salad, a sandwich w/ whole wheat toast if you are trying to be healthy. Anything else – just don’t destroy the bagel.

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    Thought the bagels were fresh and the variety was impressive (although I stuck with the basics first time out: salt, egg, plain, sesame). The service was a little erratic but that’s to be expected in BH. My biggest complaint is the parking.

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    Steve Fassberg is a joke..None of his stores are making money..He is using investors money to pay for his failing locations..the only one making money is the Delray branch and even thats a fluke..Everything this guy touches is garbage..On his web site he claims to have opened many successfull places yet NONE are named..He owns or is part owner of most locations. Delray, South Beach, Bank Atlantic,Beverly Hills..All but Delray will be closed within a year unless he keeps getting “investor” money..This guy is a con man..ask to see the finacials see what he says and I mean all of them

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