Kokobelli Bagel Cafe — Restaurant in Mesa

I would like to talk about the manager of Lox, Stock and Bagel, Huan, who is very unfair. I understand that his brother, Vince and his sister, Gabby work there together. However, it does not mean that they always get the priority. Let me give you the example. I was cleaning the restroom and tray last week, and his brother, Vince was playing the cell phone. Suddenly, Huan told me to clean the table and check the coffee. I do not mind to do that, but do you know what makes me feel upset? His brother, Vince, was not doing anything and he did not care. It does not happen once but it always happen again and again. Besides that, about the schedule and over time, I have seen many times that Huan tried to keep his brother and sister to stay, even though they came first. They must stay until close. However, Huan would begin to send homes another workers, which is very unfair. He kept his brother all the time. I have never seen his brother went home early. It is not acceptable. It seems that what time his brother came and went home must be the same as Huan. Even though Vince was scheduled at six and his brother came at 5, Vince would also clock in at 5. They could do what ever they want to do. Then, his brother would not clock out until Huan finished. His brother would wait. WAIT, even though he did not have anything to do. Huan would complain if anybody did that but not about Vince. He never complained. It shows how unprofessional he is. VERY UNPROFESSIONAL. He could not differentiate between his work and personal work. It is very unfair for another worker. If Andi and his father came suddenly, Vince will PRETEND to work. There is a difference in the meaning between "PRETEND" and "REALLY" work. He pretend to work. Most of the time, he will play the cell phone. The same things happened to his sister, GABBY. I could accept that for months but not for years. I could not always tolerate that. In this case, HUAN has been very unprofessional. He only thought about his brother.. He would keep him, let him do what he want to do and did not care anybody else. I write this to let you know, Andi how dissapointed I feel as well as the other workers. I opened in the morning and he would send me home 3 hours later. He never did that to his sister even though it was very slow. Instead, he will let his sister stay and will begin to force another worker who came later to go home early. You may think that I lie, however, you could check the camera security. You will see who "REALLY" work and who "PRETEND" to work. Vince is one of them who pretend to work, work only when you were there or your father. Camera security could not lie, you will see clearly. People can lie but not with the camera security. When Michelle and Michael ruled this place, they were always be there and they are more strict. You were not always be there because you have another business. I think that you should begin to hire another manager who is PROFESSIONAL. It is very hard to have manager and sibling that work at the same time. He could not be fair. If you were the wise owner, I think that you should do something. I really hope. It is useless to talk to him because he will do it again and again. There is a time you should go directly and watch like spy so that you will know that I am not lying. Thank you. Hope that you will do something to make this...

A random google search on the way to a family hike has led to a golden joint. What a bagel joint, if you have not been and you enjoy great tasting bagels, do yourself a favor and go indulge. Just leave some for meeeee. Wow. So, we ordered online, our only comment on that: not all bagel options were listed on the ordering platform which was a bummer bc they have some incredible flavors when you go in store. Seasonal and standard options were fantastic and looked so delicious. We ordered 4 bagels. 2 breakfast sandwiches, 1 with xtra cc (and they delivered that extra!) and 1 with ample Nutella (nailed that as well). What I loved about requesting the EXTRA portion, was they ACTUALLY made it extra. My son has NEVER been happier with the portion of extra cc. Same for the Nutella request. It was so refreshing to go to an establishment that hears you. ALL FOUR SPOT ON. Let’s discuss the bagels - they are noticeably larger than those chain places, they are fluffier and taste so much better. The flavors of each bagel we ordered was absolutely outstanding. They were also nicely toasted. I noticed a bag of “day old” bagels but since it was our first visit I refrained from purchasing them bc historically most places are mediocre so their day olds are awful. WHAT A REGRET! Our next visit I will def grab a bag… or 3. The staff was cranking out orders and accommodating all the people, including those rude grumpy folks who just don’t understand good fresh food requires some time. They were so kind and helpful, patient and compassionate. Again, another benefit over any chain. Honestly, with how tasty and fresh everything was, the wait time was minimal and fair. Prices aren’t hateful, considering how expensive everything has gotten in general and you truly get what you pay. Fresh, delicious yummy bagels PACKED with goodies. Don’t be cheap… unfortunately people Equate local to being easily bullied to be cheaper and more gracious with portions. Let’s be clear, Portions are more gracious than any chain and prices are fair. You can choose - Fast food chemical induced garbage or fresh delicious bagels locally owned - by the way - it was a struggle to finish my breakfast sandwich. We didn’t get any drinks; but the coffee orders were very consistent and smelled delicious. Even though this place is a drive, we plan to make another visit bc I have been talking bout kokobelli nonstop since we have gone. OH BONUS! We told them one bagel has a tree nut allergy and I noticed they took extra steps to prepare this bagel away from the cream cheese station (where there is one with nuts) thanks for doing that. It’s a serious thing and we appreciated...

I’ve been a huge fan of Kokobelli’s bagels for a few years now. I usually buy their Baker’s ½ Dozen with a flavored cream cheese, choosing a variety of bagels including the French toast and Blueberry – my favorites. However, this morning, after coming home and toasting a French toast bagel and topping it with the cream cheese, something was a bit off and didn’t taste like it usually did, as if it were missing an ingredient. I took a few bites of the bottom half trying to figure out what the difference was and if it could have been the cream cheese, but the cream cheese tasted fine. I tried calling the café, but it doesn’t give you the option to leave a message, so I thought it would be best to go back over and let them know before more customers purchased that particular bagel or at least have a staff member taste it to see if they noticed a difference. I’ve never had any issues with the staff, as they’ve always been nice, even when they are busy and overwhelmed with customers, but after speaking with the manager, I just kind of gave up and left. I told her that I thought the French toast bagel had something slightly off like a missing ingredient, since I’ve had this bagel many times and definitely noticed a difference. I also tried the blueberry bagel and it tasted fine. She made the point that yes, they should taste different because the French toast bagel had small bits of something (I can’t remember what she said, but French toast related), but that’s not what I was trying to convey. Then I asked if I could get two bagels to replace these. She said, “but you’ve eaten some of the bagel”. At that point I said never mind and left, dropping the two bagels (or I should say one and a half bagels) in the garbage as I walked out the door.

My point is customer service. If I was the manager and a customer came to me with this concern, I would have immediately offered to replace the two bagels, whether one was partially eaten or not. And then I would have tried the French toast bagel myself or had a staff member taste it to see if it actually did taste slightly off.

Again, I’m not trying to discourage anyone from buying their bagels because I love their bagels and I do understand that sometimes things happen. I just think the manager could have handled it a little differently.

I purchased these bagels on Sunday, June 12, 2022 at 9:20 am with Maddie as the cashier (who was very nice). I returned a little after 10 am and spoke to...