Courage Bagels Review 

If you’re a fan of bagels, then you need to try Courage Bagels in LA. This hidden gem in Los Angeles is gaining a reputation as one of the best bagel places in the country, and for good reason. We stumbled upon this place when we were trying out a restaurant across the street called Sqirrl. We couldn’t help but notice the huge line outside and decided to do a quick Google search. After reading rave reviews, we were eager to give it a try. We ended up visiting on a Thursday and had an amazing experience. In this review of Courage Bagels, we’ll share what we ordered, our thoughts on the bagels, and tips on how to avoid the long lines.

 

The Courage Bagels Story: 

Ari Skye started Courage Bagels out of her home in 2017, selling the Montreal bagels off of her bike. In 2020, she opened a window front store in east LA and these bagels grew to an addiction level with lines wrapped around the street. 

My husband and I were not familiar with Montreal style bagels prior to stumbling upon Courage Bagels. Montreal style bagels are crispier than their New York counterparts. The main difference comes from Montreal bagels being baked in a wood-fired oven. The resulting bagel is slightly smaller than New York Bagels and has a smaller hole as well. 

Location: 

Courage Bagels LA is located at 777 N Virgil Ave in Los Angeles, CA 90029-3646. If you’re planning on visiting this delicious bagel spot, you’ll be happy to know that there is plenty of street parking available. When we visited on a Thursday morning around 8:30 am, we were able to find a metered spot right in front of the restaurant. However, it’s important to note that depending on the time of day, parking can get quite busy. So, it’s always a good idea to plan accordingly and give yourself a little extra time to find a spot. 

 

The Window Front Restaurant Experience: 

The restaurant is a walk-up only with minimal seating on one side of the street. We were fortunate to have arrived at a good time and were able to snag a table for ourselves. The lines did get long after we arrived and it did get extremely busy. 

Before we went to get this Instagram worthy bagels, we did our research on when to arrive at Courage Bagels to avoid lines. We had seen the lines grow immensely when we first stumbled upon this location and people online were stating they had waited 30 min to an hour for bagels. 

Knowing this, we decided to arrive early on a Thursday morning. We got there around 8:35 am and this ended up being perfect timing. There were only 4 people in line before us. It took about 15 minutes from the time we got in line to the time we got our bagels. Now, it’s worth noting that 5 minutes after we got there the line continued to grow and was really long for the entire time we were there. We could’ve been lucky with our timing, though I do suggest going early.

This restaurant is on the pricey side. We ordered two bagels and two drinks which came out to a whopping $47 dollars. I ordered cream cheese and tomato on a plain bagel. They had fresh avocado for additional $6 dollars so I decided to add that. That was also where a lot of the money went as well since my husband added it to his bagel as well. He ordered dealers choice bagel with salmon and half avocado. We also got a mint tea and Pink Lemonade for drinks. 

 

The Final Verdict: What was our Review of Courage Bagels?

So what was our final Courage Bagels review? Courage Bagels are the most gorgeous bagels I have ever seen. We almost did not want to eat them since they were so beautiful. The tomato looked so red and ripe on my bagel.  These are some of the photos I took. Look how pretty!

My bagel was astounding. It truly was the best bagel I’ve ever eaten. The tomato was juicy, avocado perfectly blended. You can truly feel the organic and fresh ingredients. What really tied it all together was this amazing olive oil that was drizzled on top and some sea salt. I would definitely go back just for this bagel. My husband on the other hand enjoyed his bagel, but wasn’t blown away by it. He said he would order mine next time since he liked it more. 

In regards to the drinks, we absolutely loved the mint tea. I highly recommend this. The pink lemonade was too tangy and I would not order this again. My husband added more water to it to make it drinkable. It was a shame because it did come in a fun container. 

Courage Bagels is worth the hype. We had a great experience as we got a parking spot right away and had a minimal line. Since it is very expensive, it’s not a place I would frequent weekly. These bagels are more of a treat. Hope you found this Courage Bagel Review helpful! If you tried it out, tell us about your experience in the comments.