Gold Coast Bagel

Best bagel sandwiches. Lots of meat and the bagels are freshly made, so it’s all good. Bagels and cream cheese — lots of selection. Unusual cream cheese mixtures — lots of choices.

This was my first time to this place and I’m glad I ate here. They were all really nice and even brought my mocha to the table I was sitting at. It was pretty busy but very enjoyable.

Bagels here are great. The only complaint I have is there are no listed prices on the bagels. Every time I come, I get the same thing. All I get are 6 bagels and 2 tubs of cream cheese. The price is NEVER the same. It fluctuates between 12.50 and 14.75. I don’t get it. I think the people here do it so you are required to give them a tip. This is really shady considering the fact that I always leave a tip anyway. I think I’m just going to have to find a new bagel shop.

Fresh and tasty as hell bagels and cream cheese! Can’t get any fresher we go there often!!!

Best coffee shop in La Mesa hands down. The staff is extremely friendly and the food is great. I have tried the sandwiches, bagels, muffins, soups and of course the coffee. If you live in La Mesa you have to try this place for sure. They also make their bagels fresh everyday!

I’m surprised there’s negative reviews! I love this place! Yummy bagels and homemade cream cheese. It’s difficult to find good cream cheese wo preservatives and fillers and theirs is great! The bagels are yummy, tender on the inside w the traditional tougher outside (not just boring bread in the shape of a circle!). They are very generous w the cream cheese, if that’s a bother it’s very easy to just remove some yourself ;) very happy w the service and food quality, yummy coffee too!

This place is hit or miss for my boyfriend and I. But when it’s a hit it’s awesome. A few times they have left something out of our order or cut the bagel very unevenly. But for the most part they have a really awesome staff and really good bagel selections.

Listen, I am a HUGE proponent of small, local businesses — however, as much as I want to support them with my patronage, they still need to provide good service and quality products. It seems the Gold Coast Bagel has become a little lax in both. I have gone there on-​and-​off since it opened and I think after my last two days experience — I’m OFF again — which is a total bummer.
The bagels and coffee are okay — nothing to write home about (their jalapeño cream cheese is BOMB, I must say) but everything else (including management) is a little lack-​luster. What happened to good customer service? I’m a millennial and I know our generation has a bad rap for actually giving an eff and this is exactly the reason why:
Monday morning: I ordered my bagel with avocado and cream cheese — the order was completed quickly and correctly. Avocado is a dollar extra — but I’m not joking when I say there was maybe ¹⁄₈^th of a small avocado on my bagel and the quality of the product was low. This is San Diego — we know our avocados and this was a bad, waxy, oxidized fruit. It should have been discarded instead of given to a customer — again, why does no one care about putting out quality products? Is there no pride to be taken in what we do anymore?
The real issue I had Monday morning was the manager — I believe she is a younger, pregnant lady — who was openly and loudly bad-​mouthing another employee to the girl making my bagel. It was so loud and obvious I can give you a synopsis: The employee had made a mistake with a customers bagel — trying to throw half of it away (I guess the customer was a regular — an older gentleman). I guess she thought that he wanted only half a bagel, when what he usually gets is some of the bread scooped out of half his bagel. She went on to reveal how she thought this employee was lying, trying to throw half a bagel away, blah blah blah. Her negative tone and the fact that she was discussing the performance of one of her employees in front of customers made me uncomfortable and made herself look like a jerk. I wouldn’t want to work for her and I certainly don’t want to buy a bagel from her.
Tuesday morning: Okay — let’s try this again. Same order — same issues w/​minimal avocado and low-​quality product. Same manager. When she handed me my bagel, I asked about the minimal amount that was put on for the $ 1.00 charge. She said she put «a half of an avocado on my bagel.» Um, no, no she didn’t. I watched her make my bagel — watched her put (and I counted) three thin slices of avocado on my bagel. Um, she straight-​up lied to my face even though I was standing right at the counter watching her the whole time. I guess she just doesn’t care about quality, customer service, or having pride in her work. How insulting. THIS is the reason for the 1-​star review.
I was floored and left and will not be back until I hear that they care about their customers again.

Tasty bagels and cream cheese, friendly customer service but not the best bagels I had.

Excellent service and fine products. Love the Bialys and Bagels. Just like back in The Bronx! Coffee first rate too! I’ve treated some friends to their stuff too, only good things to say!

Wow! What a nice find! I walked in, almost 3:00 in the afternoon, and was able to order a delicious sandwich (BLT& avocado) Marisol, a very sweet lady, with a great smile, made it perfect-​with a lot of crispy bacon, and creamy avocado… Marisol made me feel like I was walking into her personal dining room… She told me to help myself to whatever size fountain drink I choose, and when I inquired about the freshly baked muffins, she asked me which one I liked, and just packed me one to try!!!
I’m so impressed… Thank you, Marisol… I will definitely be back, and thank you for making my day:) great customer service!!!

Do not give me an «egg bagel sandwich» in which the egg comes out of the microwave, and still try and call yourself a deli. Thats an insult to every real deli that exist. Their bagels are tasteless and empty, I felt like I was eating a bagel missing flour. I even went back to give them a second chance. It was a worse idea than the first time.

This place is average. Its affordable and service is nice, but not the best.
I come here often and they know my order as a regular but they seem to never get it right, disappointing. I get the bacon, egg, and (cream) cheese and it’s good. My girlfriend gets an everything bagel with (a little) cream cheese and tomatoes. The tomatoes are definitely not any good. Though I asked for light cream cheese there seems to be extra, it was loaded with cream cheese!
All in all, good food, but poor service a well deserved three stars.

Coming from the east coast, it’s always hard to find a good bagel that makes my New York tastebuds happy.
Gold Coast succeeds. I’ve been here well over 50 times over the past few years and can’t really complain. They are consistent and reliable.
They have many unique flavors of bagels, but the best, by far, is the everything bagel! They aren’t scared to load the bagel up with everything, which adds great flavor. They seem to roll it in their everything mix before cooking in completed, too, since it’s not as messy as most other bagels. The muffins are fantastic too — only problem is that I don’t know which flavor of the free sample I tried! I’d love to see them labeled.
The crème cheese needs it’s own review, too. These people go above and beyond to make an amazing crème cheese. From chipotle, to strawberry, from veggie to lite, they make it all. Great for bringing to the office. Grab three flavors and 3 dozen bagels and you’ll never have a coworker try to backstab you ever again!
If I had to get nitpicky about my review and find something wrong, maybe the location of the cash register? It’s in the corner, so when a line forms, it’s awkward.
Customer service is great, always happy and fast.

I have been coming to this bagel shop for years, and more recently on a weekly basis. I have to tell you that although the bagels are good, the management IS NOT. The current manager, Marisol, is rude, arrogant, and disrespectful to customers/​staff members.
She will constantly over charge on the standard LISTED prices and she often messes up the order and blames the customer. Here are a couple of examples:
Today, I went in to get my usual ice coffee $ 1.95. I pay $ 1.95 every time I go in. It is nothing fancy just a cup of ice, iced coffee, 2% milk and vanilla syrup. Today Marisol rang me up and decided the price was now going to be $ 3.91– nothing changed… nothing new was added to it. I explained that I had been coming for years and the price was the same and, in fact, ordered it yesterday with a bagel/​cream cheese and paid $ 3.81. She replied with «its basically a latte because you have syrup.» I had to argue with her to charge me the correct amount for the COFFEE! Then she got upset when I asked for another employee to ring me up and proceeded to go to the seating area and speak ill of me to two other customers sitting in the lobby!!! Who the F does that?
About 2 weeks ago I went in to have lunch. I ordered a Roast Beef Sandwich on a bagel with a drink and per the sign out front, chips would be free. According to Marisol, that was incorrect. I ended up paying over $ 9.00 for my lunch! I was on my lunch break for work, and did not have time to argue. 4 days later I came in and another girl was work and I ordered the same thing. My total was $ 7.65 because, guess what, the chips were free– hmmm… the sign didn’t change out front.
My son often gets bacon on his bagel and cream cheese and I get tomato on mine. I had to start requesting that cream cheese was put on both sides of the bagel as it is not common sense for Marisol to put it on both sides WHEN you have additional items on the bagel. My son (then 5) would not eat the one side of the bagel without cream cheese, such as waste.
Finally, I just want to point out that I have seen and heard Marisol take items off the floor (i.e. bagels) and then continue to feed them to people– BEWARE. I no longer will eat here if she is working behind the counter.
Advice to management from a Regional Manager myself, find a new manager that actually cares about your business and employees. Find someone that charges the right prices, upholds the customer service standards that you want to see and are more like Carol and the other nice young lady (with the tattoos and colorful hair) that deserve tips! Marisol is going to start pulling your business down and after witnessing her overcharge me and speak ill of me in front of other customers, I am going to ask that my entire family and other members of the community go up the street to Einsteins or Golden Bagel Café —- never once experienced that horrific customer service that Marisol offers.
Finally, I have noticed that Carol is not working as many hours as she used to. I would hope this is not due to her pregnancy as it is a federal law that prohibits discrimination amongst individuals with disabilities and pregnancy falls in that category. I would/​will/​have no problem reporting your facility to the BBB, food handlers association, etc.

As a mailman delivering here quite few times, I’ve always got greeted by the people behind counters. They’ve offered me free water whenever I go there and free sample shakes which are so good.
Good job guys also I’ve tried their club bagel sandwich! So good and fresh!

Wow! I am amazed by the many negative reviews. Here’s my take.
We have been coming here for almost fifteen years, the ownership has changed several times during that time, but the quality of the bagels has been good to very good. To me a bagel shop is a place where you buy bagels, not a place to have breakfast, coffee and generally hang out. When I go there I buy bagels, then I go home and toast them, put cream cheese, eggs, chicken, lox etc. on them. Therefore my review is only about the bagels. I would not dream of having coffee there. Why? It’s bagel shop.
As for the bagels: The dough is done well and they toast up nicely. very tasty. They keep for about two days and then they get hard. After about a week they have the consistency of iron and you could easily break windows with them, so eat them fresh.
Our favorite kinds of Bagels:
Everything (Very seedy)
Onion (Lots of Onion)
Jalapeño Cheese (Hot! You’ll short out your toaster if you put them in because of the cheese. Try a griddle with the lid of pan on top)
Biyali (No hole, flat. Very tasty with seeds and onion. Suggest you put these on the griddle too)
Plain (When the topping is more important)
Garlic (Lots of Garlic)
Bagels are $ 0.95 each. If you buy six bagels, you get the seventh free. Buy a dozen and you get thirteen for $ 9.50! Great Deal!
Service has always been friendly and efficient. Parking is easy. Go early as they run short or out of bagels. i’d rather give them my business than some chain. Support your neighborhood businesses!

Very friendly, listened and was efficient with taking our order and getting us our bagel, Gold Coast style of course! Must try for you La Mesa locals

Quick, excellent service. Had the ham and egg on fresh onion bagel. The ham had good flavor, as did the onion bagel. Good place to stop-​in for something on-​the-​go.

Friendly employees, hot tasty food, reasonable prices. What more can you ask for? I’m not a bagel snob, but I really can’t stand the einstein bagels down the road. Gold Coast is definitely a step up.