Chapter three: The bagel that won the West  

Year? 1940s (or just about). Location? Los Angeles — where a vast majority of Angelenos are unfamiliar with the bagel and those who have torn their way through one are not a fan of the dense crumb and crispy exterior. So when David Ustin, son of Russian Jewish immigrants, and his wife Ethel, arrive on the scene from the Empire State to the Golden Coast, he has to reinvent the baked good to align with the SoCal mentality. So he turns the rough-around-the-edges New Yorker about to miss their subway into a soft and chewy bread roll who blasts the Beach Boys from their stereo as they cruise down the Pacific Coast Highway in their 1946 Ambassador Suburban with a surfboard strapped to the roof in search of the perfect wave. On its first day of operation in 1947 on West Pico Avenue, Western Bagel sold 4,773 dozen water, egg and salt bagels. While the original location moved to 7814 Sepulveda Blvd, Van Nuys in 1958, from that day on, the Ustin family established themselves as the first bagel bakery in Los Angeles. 

Author’s note: Riley, BruinLife’s Travel Editor, is from New York and was baffled when I told him Californians didn’t like dense Brooklyn-water bagels.

To this day, Western Bagel hasn’t lost an ounce of its impact or loyal fanbase. It’s always brought up within the conversation with the new kids on the sesame-toasted block. In speaking with the current president of Western Bagel and grandson of the company’s founder, Jeff Ustin, a privilege that is the Jewish kid equivalent of meeting the real Santa Claus, on what the L.A. Times has reported as the “Bagel Renaissance,” he told me: 

“The more bagel companies out there, the better. There’s plenty of business for all of us. Having different companies come out and get big on… social media, helps all the bagel brands because it makes the bagel more noticeable and it becomes trendy.” – Ustin

While their menu has expanded to include newer bagel flavors such as the undisputed king of the game, the everything bagel, and UCLA students’ personal favorite, the cheddar jalapeno bagels, Western Bagels remains devoted to the classics in an era where bagels are now rainbow colored and french toasted:

“We believe in having the classics and that’s who we are as a brand since ’47. Coming up with the ‘gimmicky’ bagels, that’s not us. I’m not saying it doesn’t work. It’s probably fantastic for a lot of bagel companies, absolutely. It’s just not our thing. I wouldn’t say it won’t be one day, because things change, but as of today, that’s not our goal.” – Ustin

Ustin’s go-to bagel preparation, that being a water bagel with cream cheese, emphasizes this mentality of “if it ain’t broke”  – though he enjoys a pizza bagel every once in a while.

Fun fact: Western Bagel supplies the bagels for UCLA’s dining halls. Ustin said of all their flavors, the cheddar jalapeno is the most requested.

Interlude: Rachel Bagel

But why am I telling you this? To show you the emotional attachment some Jewish families have around bagels. Ustin eats water bagels because that’s what his grandfather ate when he founded Western Bagel about 80 years ago. My favorite bagel is an everything with lox and cream cheese because I remember how excited I was when my mom would pack me that for lunch as a kid. The bagel acts as a cultural and emotional touchstone for many Jewish families around the world that spans beyond our beloved Los Angeles. So now that you know where the bagel has been, we can talk about where it’s gone in the decades since.