Poppy Bagels

This recently opened bagel shop on Telegraph Avenue is getting quite a lot of buzz. Are they worth the hype?

One rainy Sunday in March, I awoke with a sharp hangover and a hankering for bagels. I decided to brave the 9th atmospheric river to strike California this winter and embark on what I know will be an arduous and probably disappointing journey over to the Temescal district in Oakland, to try the newly opened Poppy Bagels on Telegraph Avenue. This section of Telegraph has grown conspicuously bougie these past few years, with Whole Foods and expensive clothing stores crowding out neighborhood staples like Bakesale Betty.

The location makes sense for Poppy, one of those trendy, modern bagel shops you can really only find in California - suspiciously well-designed, very brand forward. The sort of place that connotes “bagel as an experience.” Ugh. You can’t even get breakfast these days without it feeling like a big event.

I braced myself for the worst, a cynical but necessary process of expectation setting for us east coasters, who continue to quest for a decent west coast bagel, no matter how disappointed we’ve been in the past. But deep down, a hungry little boy inside of me grew chubby with hope and I quickened my step through the puddles as we drew near.

We arrived at noon to find the place utterly packed, with very little standing room. The queue, which a friendly man behind me said usually winds along the sidewalk, was today an awkward loop stretching to the back of the establishment, ending in a confused jumble of soggy Oaklanders unaccustomed to such stormy weather. Despite these stressful circumstances, the patrons were in high spirits, eager to order bagels and (unlike myself) not the least bit miffed at having to wait in a line more suitable for buying Taylor Swift tickets than bread.

Far from being an unusual experience, this is depressingly common at Bay Area bagelries. The sheer novelty of fresh bagels has elevated the genre to peak food-trend status - an absolute travesty in my opinion, but a phenomenon that has been rapidly normalized by the locals. 

I’ve noticed that many Californias have no qualms about standing in huge lines for very average food. In fact, many of them appear to enjoy it. It seems to build the excitement.

To the credit of the staff, the line moved fast and in about 5 minutes we had ordered one lox bagel on sesame ($17) and one everything with plain cream cheese ($5) with a black coffee ($3.75) and a Flowerhead oat chai latte ($5.25). Total cost of breakfast for two: $31. 

I was delighted to see the phrase “Ask 2 Toast” on the menu - FINALLY, a bagel shop that actually has faith in its products. As any New Yorker knows, a shop that toasts by default is peddling stale bagels and they know it.

We waited a lengthy 12 minutes for our order, which to an east coaster is walk-out-the-door-in-a-huff unacceptable. But hey, chill out man, this is California. What’s the rush?

I took a look around. Traditional wire baskets were a pleasing sight. But half of the baskets were empty. One pile of sesame, a few salt and pepper, and three poppy seeds huddled together, looking cold and lonely. A creeping anxiety swept over me. Were they out of everythings? Thankfully, the answer was no, and I’d later learn why.

My everything with cream cheese arrived simply wrapped in deli paper, inside a small wax baggie, a detail that made my heart sing. Thank you, Poppy, for not giving me a giant paper (or worse, plastic) bag to crumple up and toss out in 5 minutes. Better yet, the bagel was SLICED! What a concept. Seriously, you’d be shocked and appalled at how common it is to serve uncut, round bagels in this city. I was beginning to suspect this joint was run by a real New Yorker.

I took a bite and my suspicions were confirmed. The crunch. The crisp. The potato chip-like chomp of this bagel was nothing short of amazing. 

The dense chew of the inside didn’t disappoint either. Hold up tho… why is the inside warm? Why is the cream cheese squeezing out the sides? A wave of confusion hit me as I realized… Ugh, they toasted it by mistake. A classic California fuckup. 

I take another bite, and my deflation gives way to relief, because… I’m wrong! These bagels aren’t toasted… they’re FRESH! That explains the empty baskets. Poppy is actually churning out fresh bagels to its customers on a practically baked-to-order basis. Now this is a first for me in California. Go off Poppy!

Even the seasoning deserves praise - well blended, salt forward, and liberally applied. Perfectly toasted sesames make the whole thing shine. But, it was a bit on the small side. 

Next we turned to the lox bagel. It was served open faced with capers, red onions, chives, fresh dill, and a lemon wedge on the side, a tasteful, if non-traditional addition that I welcomed.

The lox itself was delicious and very high quality. Thinly sliced, it was easy to bite. But the portion felt skimpy, especially for the cringeworthy price point of $17. It could have used a bit more cream cheese as well. 

A note on the cream cheese: it’s clearly made in-house, with a texture that feels like a unique middle ground between whipped and classic. And it has a distinctly different taste than what you’re used to. It’s on the drier side, but this is actually a good thing (weird, I know, but trust me). It manages to be rich and creamy without coming off as too dense or wet (the downside of your classic Philadelphia). Notes of garlic and nuts shine through (whether those ingredients are in the recipe, I have no clue). Overall, it is a very good cream cheese.

Also worth saying: the Superlost coffee was great. And the Flowerhead oat chai latte was superbly spiced. In addition to Flowerhead, Poppy seems to have partnered with a couple Oakland food suppliers, which is cute, in an expensive kind of way.  But I’m not here to review lattes. 

Final Thoughts

If I were reviewing nothing but the raw bagel, Poppy would rise to a west coast 9 or possibly even a 10. This is truly one of the best bagels I’ve tasted in California (though I wish they were just a bit bigger). 

But I am not just reviewing bagels. Because shops like Poppy have made it about more than that. It’s the whole experience isn’t it? In this regard, Poppy loses points on the big line, the wait time, and generally being a bit too fussy and into itself. I guess you can’t knock ‘em for being busy. But this cranky reviewer yearns for the humble establishments of his homeland, where no bagel shop is this fashion-forward. 

And another thing: after leaving the shop, I walked past it again about 30 minutes later, and was shocked to see that they were closed. “Sold out,” read a sign on the door. In fancy pants parts of the Bay, this signals an establishment that’s in high demand but refuses to stoop so low as to engage in mass production. A local might think “Good for them!” 

But to an asshole from New Jersey, closing at 1:30pm on Sunday is whack af. The masses need their bagels! Half of us haven't even rolled out of bed by this hour. Bagels are not that hard to bake so being “sold out” on the Lord’s day is unacceptable. 

According to their website, Poppy’s working hours are “Thurs & Fri 6:30-1:30 (or sold out) and Sat & Sun 7:30-1:30 (or sold out).” A business with such brief working hours would never survive in the dense jungles of the tristate bagel scene. Perhaps they’re still getting their footing, as they transition from a farmer’s market business to their first brick and mortar. To Poppy’s credit, they seem to be a small operation on the rise. 

But the cynic in me thinks it all kind of smacks of artificial supply restriction to build hype and a long line, a tactic I first had the displeasure of observing at Smorgasberg in Brooklyn, during the great Ramen Burger Rush of 2016. It’s a deceitful technique that I’ve detested ever since. Plus, those empty baskets were kind of sad and would look sooo much better overflowing with beautiful plump bagels. 

Poppy also loses points on the utterly ridiculous and unacceptable price point of $17 for a bagel with lox. Some things in this life are worth that kind of coin, but a lox bagel is not one of them. $5 for an everything with plain cream cheese is actually pretty decent (they are fresh, after all). But god forbid you throw some red onions, tomato and chives on there, and the price rises to $8.50. 

If you don’t care about money, you will be very satisfied with Poppy Bagels. I for one will definitely be returning. But tree fiddy for red onions? Fuggetaboutit!

Final Review

Despite all my gripes about Poppy being too bougie for their own good, I gotta admit, they make a damn fine bagel.

West Coast: 8.5

East Coast: 5