Boichik Bagels Sixth St — Restaurant in Berkeley

Had to check out the Boichik Bagels hype! I didn't know what to expect so I checked out the menu ahead of time and decided what I wanted before going in. It was fairly easy to pick what I wanted, but if I'm picking up multiple bagels, it might take some time and get a bit more complicated. Step 1, pick your bagel. Step 2, choose untoasted, toasted, or dark toasted (extra toasted). Step 3, pick a spread. Step 4, add salad or fish. Step 5, add veggies.

It was my 1st time here, so we got a bunch of different bagels and spreads.

First order was an everything bagel with a seasonal strawberry creme spread. The seasonal cream cheese sounded tasty and it happened to be strawberry! I got it toasted and I was surprised how much spread was inside the bagel, it was a hefty amount! The everything bagel was extremely seasoned, some might find it too salty. I rarely or almost never get a sweet spread on an everything bagel, but I was glad I did here because the sweet and milky strawberry creme paired well with the salty everything bagel, to my surprise! I ate half right away and it was delicious, but once I got home about 20 minutes later the bagel started getting tougher. I'd recommend eating the bagels right away or toasting them at home if you can't eat them right away, at least that's what I will do.

Second order was a pumperthingel bagel a chive spread, toasted. Wow, this was another great option, lots of flavor in the bagel and it's hard to go wrong with a chive spread. Same with this bagel, it was best fresh and it was still good once we got home, but not as soft inside. They filled the spread massively onto this bagel as well, covering all the holes, see the pics below!

Third order was The Classic, which has chive cream cheese, nova lox, tomato, red onion, and capers! Wow, that was a tasty classic Lox bagel, the name does it justice. Highly recommend if you want something more than just a bagel and spread.

Parking can be tough on the weekends, but drive a block or 2 away and you should find parking. There are a lot of options for each bagel so it might be helpful to have a few menus posted at the line area so people can decide what they want before they get to the cashier to order. I didn't know what the seasonal spread was until I got to the cashier since there was a signage there. The everything bagel was well seasoned, but it may be too salty for some people. It's great that they added so much spread to the bagel, but again it might be too much spread for some people. I think next time, I'll either eat the bagel toasted on-site fresh or take it to-go with spread on the side and toast it when I'm...

I really really want to love this place. As a New Yorker for 20 years I was so excited to try Boichik Bagels back when they first opened their first location on College! They were the closest thing to Murrays in the area. I moved to Albany a few weeks ago and excited to frequent their 6th street location, I have been sadly disappointed, not in the bagel itself but the staff is not at all knowledgeable and the bagel sandwiches have been a miss the last 3x I have gotten them. The first couple times I had them in the store so I could get them adjusted, but yesterday we were driving to Marin after we got them and so it was not possible to get them remade.

The issues:

1. I ordered two of the tuna specials, that came with red onion and cucumber. I then walked over to the wait area. They were not very busy, so I mentioned to the sandwich maker to be sure not to put on tomatoes on our sandwiches (the special was suppose to have cucumbers not tomatoes anyway but I got insecure when I saw him put tomatoes on someone else's order).

When we got to our destination I opened mine and the first issue is that there were tomatoes on both sandwiches, large pieces that were embedded in the tuna and hard to remove, I have developed an allergy to non-organic ones so I do not eat them out anymore.

2. The consistency of the tuna was so wet and runny, which was a stark difference to what we had before, it was essentially inedible as the tuna was second to water and mayo.

3. To top this off one of the bagels was cut so unevenly that the top was not holding any of the sandwich, so again not possible to eat as a sandwich.

When you train someone to make a bagel sandwich, and for those who understand the issues and joys of eating them getting the cut right is critical. For the cost of these bagels it is really absurd that the staff is not better trained in making them.

Again I have eaten bagels for decades, and these are great, but the sandwich aspect is not a done deal. Not sure I will try the sandwiches again as you want to feel like the staff gets your order right and confident in the consistency of the recipes, inconsistency is a huge negative mark for restaurants...

Came here with my boyfriend who grew up in NYC eating bagels there. His everything bagel with plain cream cheese itself was good but the experience surrounding the bagel was not.

The first indication was when he ordered the bagel, and asked for it toasted and to be toasted dark. The employee taking his order grumbled something about only being able to choose “toasted” or “untoasted”. Boyfriend was confused why asking for it toasted dark wasn’t a thing, but he ordered it toasted anyway.

I couldn’t get a bagel for myself because they had run out of the gluten-free (and vegan) bagels I was so excited to try.

When the boyfriend received his bagel, it was cold (as in room temperature) - which didn’t make sense if it was toasted. Then we realized they committed one of the worst crimes you can with a bagel - pre-toasting them and then letting them sit around.

On top of that, the bagel itself was a little overpriced and then a whole $2 for cream cheese? No thanks. The experience probably would have been better to get the bagel there itself, take it home and toast it, and have your own cream cheese.

While it seems the owner and CEO accomplished their goal of having the “best bagels in California” or whatever, that only applies to the bagel itself. Pre-toasting a bagel only to have it get cold from sitting around just epitomizes the factory and soul-less nature of the company. Add to that the unfriendly nature of their employees, we’re not sure we...