PopUp Bagels

San Diego, CA (The Joy of Food) — I can often be a simple person with simple tastes, and hot bread with a cool dip strikes me as one of the best things in life. 

At PopUp Bagels they keep it simple with a few classic hits, served hot and fresh and nothing like the day-old stuff you can find pretty much everywhere else in town. Those expecting 45 bagel flavors and 25 cream cheese options will be disappointed, much like the Karen’s leaving deranged one-star reviews on Yelp because they don’t stock plastic knives.

The bagels here are delicious with yeasty flavor and a nice, smooth, chewy crust, airy and dense inside, though on my first visit the everything bagel was undercooked and too fluffy on the outside — a bagel crime I don’t see all too often — without enough of that critical contrast between the crust and the dough inside. 

The poppy bagel is significantly better and has the slight exterior crunch and elasticity I’m always looking for, though beware they are not shy here with the toppings so I found seeds virtually everywhere for days, in my car, in my kitchen, on the counters, on the floor. The limited seating is similarly littered with an explosion of seeds and seasoning on every surface.

On the other hand, the salt bagel is on-point, crunchy on the outside with bits of coarse salt but quickly giving way to a resilient softness on the inside without the need to pick seasoning out of your hair for weeks after. 

The plain is as basic as you can get, in a good way, and brings out the flavor of whichever dip you’ve opted for. Here, the trick is to rip and dip instead of cut and spread, though the schmear is slightly too thick for doing so easily, and eating while walking is out of the question. 

Your choices are 3-, 6-, or 12-packs with a schmear, cool and whipped, in standard flavors (plain, scallion, or salted butter) and some rotating, a few of which sound downright unholy — the pickle and pico de gallo ones come to mind. I’m also not the biggest fan of purchasing in forced quantities, though I suppose the minimum threshold to enter makes for a healthy profit margin. And La Jolla is the right part of town for the price point.

The place runs like a well-oiled machine. The counter and back area is a fully staffed production sort of like you’d see at any In-N-Out so even a line that looks terrifying will cost you no more than about 10-15 minutes of your life. At the register, you’ll be served nearly instantly as they chuck your order into a brown paper bag.

All in all, I’d rate these as the best bagels that central San Diego currently has to offer, in a city ravaged by middling chains or by a few mom-and-pop places around town that mean well but don’t serve a satisfying bagel. In a medium where texture is just as important as taste, this place does a decent job.

sdOiP

Written by Joy

Thanks for reading. The Joy of Food blog celebrates eating well, traveling often, and living la dolce vita. San Diego, California is home base, but thoughts are from all over. Reviews and photos help to highlight wonderful (or not) food experiences from around the world.

Leave a comment below or get in touch with me via my About page.