By Sandi Masori
LA JOLLA, California — if you happen to drive past the corner of Pearl and Draper you may notice a long line wrapping around a building and going down the street. What is going on here? you may wonder. And then you see the sign, Pop Up Bagels. It’s incredible to think that a tiny bagel place could garner so much excitement, and yet that’s what’s happening. They were very clever with their media strategy, inviting social media influencers and traditional press alike to come in and try the bagels. I wasn’t able to go for the grand opening, but they graciously invited me to come in another day to try it out.
They have been compared to East Coast bagels, and people in the know have said that they are similar. Being a native southern Californian, I don’t know much about East Coast bagels, but I can say these were very good. They are very chewy, which I liked. They have five flavors: plain, everything, sesame, poppy, and salt. As for shmear, they have salted butter, something seasonal (Cacia E Pepe at the time of this writing,) plain cream cheese and scallion cream cheese. They also sell lox, of course.
Standing in line looking into the tiny store, I saw something very strange. A girl was standing at the one table in the place and ripping a piece off of her bagel and dipping it into the shmear. What a strange way to eat a bagel I thought. But once we got inside, I understood, their instructions on how to eat the bagel are to “grip, rip, and dip.” Ok we tried it that way and it was good, but when I got home and sliced it properly, then toasted and spread the scallion cream cheese, it was even better!
The bagels aren’t cheap, a dozen with two shmear will run you $46. While I can’t say that they are as good as back East, I can say it was a damn good bagel, and I will be going back there for more at some point. Pop Up Bagels is open every day from 7am – 4pm.
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Associate Editor Sandi Masori is a food and theater reviewer for San Diego Jewish World.
Sounds wonderful. Please tell me that they make a NY style bialy. There isn’t anythng like that here in SD.
I’m glad you enjoyed yourself Sandi, There is something quietly human about seeing a line wrap around a corner and wondering what has drawn so many people together. At Pearl and Draper in La Jolla, that curiosity turns into a small shared moment of anticipation. A tiny bagel shop, of all things, becoming a gathering point. In a world that often feels fragmented, it is strangely comforting to see people willingly wait for something as simple as bread.