Schlok's Bagels & Lox — Restaurant in San Francisco

Partner is from NYC and I've been the recipient of his SF bagel ire for nearly 10 years now. We recently were in NYC last month and stopped at one of our fav spots there (SO to Liberty Bagels!) so the comparison was real fresh in our minds this morning. The bagel itself is tasty, the closest to an NY bagel we've experienced here, although it is small. I can recommend the bagel, but that's it. The egg&cheese? The egg is so bland and tasteless, there is no bacon option, it's extremely greasy but lacks any of the flavor that much grease usually promises. Like I cannot underscore how disappointing this sandwich is. The amount of cheese is about the only thing going for it, but could not save it. My everything bagel seemed to have a 3rd of the seasoning that my partner's had. We also both ordered a side everything bagel. The bagel is small.The strawberry schmear should not be allowed to go by that name. The texture is more like butter, the strawberry flavor is subtle to the point that it might as well just be regular cream cheese. The amount given is thin. In NYC, the strawberry schmear usually has some real strawberry bits folded in, and is fluffy and whipped as a heavenly cloud, and has the ratio of a double stuffed oreo. I also hate to complain about prices, but it's pretty egregious to get the equivalent of microwaved egg for what they charge. Will likely order just the bagels and assemble our own sandwiches and schmear-- if we ever do...

I was going to give 4 stars because it was a long wait on the sidewalk, and during that wait a guy was picking up a bagel, asked to have it sliced, and they told him that would be a 50 cent charge. They finally relented and sliced his bagel, but it seemed like a pretty cheesy move for a company getting good money for their bagels. My breakfast sandwich was extremely good though, as was the coffee. Since google only allows a 5-point rating and I didn't want to dock them 20% I gave them a 5. Lose the slicing fee though Schlok's; it makes you look like cheapskates...

Edit to respond to the owners reply: Yes, the optics aren't amazing. Do the math; the negative hit you take every time you charge someone to slice a bagel far, far outweighs the cost of the time and labor it takes to do the slicing. There were two other people on that sidewalk when this guy (who had ordered and paid online and didn't have 50 cents with him) had that lengthy discussion with the poor embarrassed employee who was holding out for the fee. None of us could believe it. Seriously, invest in a bagel-slicing robot or something (there's gotta be such a thing) because google reviews are gold (your reviews are why I chose your store over the myriad others in SF). Risking a bad review from someone upset about being charged half a buck to slice a bagel is the epitome of "penny wise,...

Born and raised on Ess-a-bagels in NYC from 1976-1997, this is the closest bagel I have found ANYWHERE In the Bay Area to Ess-a... These bagels have the exact same chewy inside and crusty outside textures as Ess-a. Same swollen size. However I am taking away a star because they do not get the same "full" topping coverage as Ess-a. An Ess-a-bagel poppy seed bagel has a coating of poppy seeds on half the bagel so dense you cannot see through to the bagel crust on that side- only poppy seeds. Same goes for all other toppings. Shlock's toppings by comparison are much more sparse. Also Ess-a-bagel's are almost always warm, if not hot, having just been dumped into the basket after cooking at almost ALL times of day. The four everything bagels I got at Shlock's at 8:45am today were cold (but still fresh). Last reason for the reduced star is Shlock's is $2.75/bagel and Ess-a-bagel is still only $1.95/bagel.

5 stars for friendly service- 2 stars for Atmosphere (it's a window on the sidewalk).

All that said- I am super excited to be able to get bagels this good without a plane ticket to NY or getting...