Bagel was stale, coffee was coffee. I’m getting old and service isn’t what it was anywhere, including here.
I've heard mention that the elusive "good bagel" can be procured in San Francisco but I am almost always disappointed. When the House of Bagels on Geary stopped being fantastic I was forced to embark on a quest for a reliable source of "good bagels". I sampled bagels at numerous locations around the city. Nothing stood out as remarkable. A few years passed and I still hadn't found a "good bagel place" that I could count on. In December of 2022, I needed three-dozen bagels for a party on the 25th. I had left off buying bagels until the last minute. Everything is closed on the 25th and my only hope was a "Chinese bagel place" with the same name as my old, favorite, shop on Geary. It was late in the day and when I arrived, the proprietor was locking up. Maybe he saw the desperation on my face and took pity on me, or maybe he is just a nice guy, but, to my utter astonishment and relief, he unlocked the door and let me in. I think I bought all the day-olds available. I recall noticing a nice mix of flavors already bagged for sale. I checked the refrigerator hoping they might have a couple of schmears to save me the trouble of making them myself and, wow! What a surprise! So many wonderful flavor combinations. The classics and some more creative flavors in different sizes! I grabbed a bunch of the savory shmears and headed for the register. I was so over-joyed at my success and good fortune - and the proprietor was so nice, I almost didn't want to ask - so, I asked, "you don't by any chance have whitefish, do you?" OMG! I almost plotzed when he answered, "what size?". I dropped at least a hundy on my new favorite bagel place that day. That was before I had taken a bite. I didn't care. They were friendly, they had whitefish, they had parking. What's to complain about? The absolute best part of the story? THE BAGELS ARE GOOD! REALLY, REALLY, GOOD! This year, spent twice as much and my mouth is watering just thinking about those bagels . . .