The second of three locations of Boichik Bagels made its debut Tuesday morning on Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights.
Boichik Bagels, which has been something of a sensation on the Bay Area bagel scene of the last several years, now has its foothold in San Francisco proper with two locations, the second of which opened Tuesday in the former Glaze Teriyaki Grill space at 1946 Fillmore Street (at Pine). This new location follows the March opening of Boichik's first SF spot in Laurel/Presidio Heights.
Like the other location, the Fillmore Boichik opened with a ceremonial Champagne sabering at 7 am Tuesday.
The new location offers seating in an interior courtyard, and counter service, with the same menu of delicious bagels, schmears, and sandwich options. (I highly recommend trying the Pink Label whipped creamed cheese, which is just cultured cream cheese that has a little more tang and flavor than the standard, as well as the Eggything bagels, which are Egg Everything bagels.)
The exterior of the new store features a fun blue-and-white bagel mural by artist Nigel Sussman.
As you've surely heard by now, Boichik was among several California bagel operations that was featured in a notorious New York Times piece from 2021 that proclaimed "The Best Bagels Are In California (Sorry, New York)."
The bagel style is more firm, somewhat chewy, and slightly sweet, in the style of New York's H&H Bagels back in the day. (The company's original, main production facility closed over a decade ago, and while the brand still exists along with a couple of Manhattan outposts, things aren't really the same.)
Owner and bagel master Emily Winston claims her childhood love of H&H as her main inspiration, and when that original location on 46th Street closed in 2011, Winston told the New York Times, "I was so upset I would never have that bagel again."
A third SF location of Boichik at 22 Battery Street, at the edge of the Financial District and two blocks from the Embarcadero BART Station, is set to open next, presumably this summer. That will bring Winston's local bagel empire to eight locations, including the flagship shop and the factory in Berkeley.
The new Boichik on Fillmore will now be open daily from 7 am to 1:30 pm. And please note, for Pride Month, while Boichik does not make rainbow bagels (which are gross), they do make rainbow and Progress Pride Flag cookies, and they're selling a Pride bagel baseball cap.
