A Bay Area bagel shop just picked up a big win at the inaugural BagelFest West in Los Angeles.
Berkeley-founded Boichik Bagels won the 2026 “Best Bagel — Yeasted” category at BagelFest West, according to the event’s published winners list.
The festival, held April 12 in Los Angeles, brought together bagel shops from across the western U.S. to compete in categories including Best Bagel, Best Sandwich, Schmear of the Year, and Best of the West.
A big win for one of the Bay Area’s best-known bagel brands
The award is a notable one because Boichik was competing against shops from across California and beyond. In the “Best Bagel — Yeasted” category, BagelFest listed Boichik as the winner, ahead of runner-up Inglorious Bagels of Carlsbad.
That gives the Bay Area bagel scene a nice bragging right — even if the festival’s overall top prize, “Best of the West,” went to Southern California’s Rise Bagels, and the general “Best Bagel” title went to Seattle’s Hey Bagel.
For Bay Area fans, Boichik is about as local as it gets. The company lists shops in Berkeley, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Larkspur, Los Gatos, and Concord, along with a Berkeley bagel factory.
Here at the Bay Area Telegraph, Boichik is our preferred Bay Area bagel spot. In fact, we were the first people to call Boichik’s success, scooping even the New York Times.
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Why this matters
BagelFest West was billed as the West Coast debut of a festival that has become a notable event in the bagel world, with both attendees and expert judges helping determine winners. Organizers said the sold-out Los Angeles event drew more than 1,000 people.
Where East Bay readers can get them
For readers in the 925, Boichik’s Concord shop at Oak Grove is the closest local outpost, though the brand’s roots remain in Berkeley, where it also operates its bagel factory.
And with all the current buzz around bagels in the region — including PopUp Bagels’ planned move into Lafayette — this award lands at a moment when the Bay Area bagel conversation is only getting louder.
The bottom line
The Bay Area did not take home BagelFest West’s overall crown — but it did win one of the marquee bagel categories.
And for Boichik fans, that is probably all the validation they need.
