kaz bagels

thanks to a bagel-loving friend for this rec a couple of years back:

with all due respect, it's hard to trust any east bay or even whole bay area "best of" bagel list that doesn't include these.

kaz bagels are the real, traditional, nostalgic deal, made by hand, cold-proofed, boiled and then baked to a toasty brown.

bagelmaker and upstate new york native mark bowen uses a heritage recipe that he learned from his polish great-grandmother josephine kazyaka (the 'kaz' in 'kaz bagels'). the small-batch method yields wonderful, old-fashioned bagels – malty, dense but light, with a crusty exterior and great flavor and chew. bowen also has a good eye for the ideal seed coat.

cream cheese options are packed with flavor – we like the classic plain or chive, and more adventurous souls might go for tikka masala with onion and garlic confit or other well-seasoned schmears.

when it comes to the bagel itself, whether the choice is plain or everything, salt or sesame, we prefer ours left untoasted, or maybe heated briefly (7 minutes) in a 400-degree oven to warm the exterior and preserve the interior chew, then sliced.

kaz bagels can be found on sunday mornings at 9am until sold out at gioia pizzeria at 1586 hopkins in berkeley; they are also available through ann's catering (founded by ann lauer of rick & ann's).

november 8, 2025