Yummy fresh bagels, pretty good selection of bagels, and friendly service. Reminds me of Jersey!

As someone who grew up in NJ, I have to say these bagels come pretty close to NJ bagels. They are perfectly moist and fresh and my favorite order is an everything bagel with chives cream cheese. Also another classic is bacon egg and cheese on a bagel- so great! Love coming to this place when I'm missing where I grew up. read more

Went to this bagel shop hoping to have a delicious bagel with lox and cream cheese. Got there at 10:30 hardly any bagels left. Thought that was an indicator of great bagels and a lot of demand. Wow, was I wrong. Ordered an egg bagel for my nova sandwich. I asked that it be lightly toasted. Not toasted at all and on top of that it was awful. The bagel was dry and tasted like it was made last week. So disappointed. The nova (lox, cream cheese, onion, and capers) was a disaster. It was too salty, too many capers so that was the only thing I could taste. I'll never go back. The staff is not attentive and customer service was horrible. They obviously don't listen to their customers. I always prefer to support independent stores over corporate, but Einstein Bagels is so much better. read more

This place looked really good, but when we ordered we watched them make our bagels and they weren't wearing gloves. Furthermore, the guy reached his hand into the bagels and touched all of them. We are grossed out and are throwing out our bagels. I wish I didn't pay and had something right there. Super unsanitary! Heading to Bruegger's Bagels now where they use gloves and understand being sanitary with food for the public! read more

You can't beat Garden State bagels. My choice is the salt toasted with low fat creamcheese and a Hawaiian hazel nut coffee. Mmmm...mmmm...good. Great choice of bagel flavors and condiments. Sandwiches are good too. Get there early or they may run out of your favorite. Sometimes you have to exercise a little patience with the kids at the counter but not too often. Overall good people. If you need bagels this is your place! read more

Good morning yummy food and navigate the subway now so I can get the money to you and your family are doing well and that you are not feeling well and will read more

Very homie and amazing food. Super good customer service would come back would tell others to come too local and cool

I was very excited to try this bagel shop, came here early in the morning and got a variety of bagels & bialy fresh out of the oven. This was a sore disappointment. The people giving these bagels high marks are likely Californians have never been to the east coast. Sorry, these bagels are terrible. The texture, consistency and density are totally wrong and nothing like an authentic east coast bagel. I've had better grocery store bagels. The flavored cream cheese lacked any flavor at all. Sadly I'm convinced that a true East Coast bagel does not exist outside of NY and NJ, but I'll keep looking! read more

Stood there waiting for a while to place my order, the lady behind asked me if I have been helped so I said no. A few minutes later another lady walks in with her daughter the gal behind the counter takes the order on the other register instead of the one I had been waiting at. I tried telling somebody and nobody paid attention until I finally got the younger kids attention. He took my order and was quick but less then pleasant. Aside from the bad customer service the bagel was anything but great. My sandwich just had egg no sauces, cream cheese nothing. Nothing was offered not even to up sell me. Had I known it didn't come with anything else I would of bought the cream cheese separate. Will not be back and don't recommend. read more

BLT Bagel is the shizznittle Bang Bro!!! Coffee always gets me stoked to be alive in the AM. Had the Cinnamon Roll Bagel and about passed out because it was D-lish! Get there before all the old people do on a saturday morning or else pay the piper brah! read more

I went here last week for the first time, expecting to get a good bagel. First of all, the place is pretty dungy and dirty. I feel like they probably mop once a week with a bucket of old water and no soap. My shoes were sticking to the floor as I walked through. I couldn't help but think, if that's how it looks out here, how clean do they keep the area in the back where they make the bagels? Anyways, I got past that and was waiting at the front for about a minute. The older gentleman working behind the counter didn't even acknowledge me. When he finally did, he acted as if I was inconveniencing him. So I order my bagel, which was about double as expensive as I usually get at Einstein's or Bruegger's, but I figure I'll try something new and maybe it will be better. Boy was I wrong. This bagel definitely tasted like yesterday's batch. It was really rough and I felt like I was gonna rip one of my teeth out my trying to take a bite. So terrible cleanliness, service, and food. I wish I could give this place 0 stars. Do yourself a favor and go to Einstein's or Bruegger's. Actually, I would take Starbucks or even a Vons bagel over the garbage they sell at Garden State Bagels. read more

The BEST bagels in Encinitas. Always fresh and chewy with plenty of variety to choose from. This place can get a little hectic but they are quick to take your order. Mainly run by high school to college age kids but the owner/manager guy always seems to be there too (he's the guy with the east coast accent so I assume the owner). The shop is a bit small but after some recent upgrades it looks nice inside. I usually get to go, but there are a couple tables in and outside if you wanted to stay. Drip coffee and a few espresso drinks are also available as well and bottled juices etc. read more

Although the bagels are very good, the owner's attitude is hit and miss. Sometimes he can be somewhat nice but there are times he's just plain rude. Now, if he could just quit handling the bagels and money together with his bare hands, I might have better things to say. Can't believe this is acceptable from a health standard. read more

Love Garden State Bagels. Reminds me of summers down the shore. The whitefish salad is legit

Good bagels, TERRIBLE customer service. Also, I get charged a different amount for the same order each time. What's with that? I'm going somewhere else for my bagel fix from now on. read more

This is hands down the best SD bagel. It brings to mind the wonderful bagels we ate as kids in Detroit in the 40 s. I highly recommend Garden State. read more

Absolutely the best bagels in North County. I won't go anywhere else and neither will my wife and she's the self proclaimed bagel snob. (Her words, not mine.) :) read more

How can this place have so few reviews? It's off the hook amazing! It's been at the same location in Encinitas since the 80's and hands down, they have the BEST bagels in San Diego, period. Steve, the owner is personable, friendly and always takes his time to say hi when I stop in. The service is quick, friendly and the prices are reasonable for fresh baked (not from frozen like the other guys) bagels. This is my go to bagel shop, I won't eat a bagel from anywhere else if I don't have too! read more

The best bagels in town. And I'm picky! We've been getting our bagels here since my folks moved to Encinitas and you can literally taste the difference between these and most of the other bagel shops. These are better! Also, the prices are great and the people are friendly. read more

Great bagels! I could almost say they were hallucinogenic in a "I'm seeing Bloomberg over there" kinda way. Wait... no... I think I see Jon Stewart... wait get me out of here... no no no hallucinogens in the cream cheeese... read more

Happened upon this bagel shop when out running errands. They are the closest to NYC bagels I've ever eaten. Beyond yummy! Very reasonable prices, freshly baked and my 5 year old loved it! Highly recommend. read more

Stopped by because I heard great things about the shop. After I finally got the employee to notice me, it was as if I was bothering him. I ordered a few bagels for the Fam and brought them out to the car. Every one of them tasted like they were yesterday's batch and not even a good one at that. I will not be back based on bad service and horrible taste. read more

Once I found this place, I eat here multiple times a week. Great bagels, fast service, friendly atmosphere. The little shop in Encinitas combines the astetics of southern California with the great taste of east coast bagels. read more

I have to lower my rating because they are so consistenly rude here. Its hard to understand but it just keeps happening. Their coffee is also terribible (tastes like water more often than not). Whoever the older guy is who works there needs to learn to treat customers with just a little more respect. It's not bad enough that I will stop coming but it is pretty unpleasant. read more

Yippee, finally found a baker who knows bagels. Great shop. True New York native. I know my bagels. This one is legit.

The Bagels at GSB define what a Bagel should be. I've been a regular at Garden State Bagels since I moved to San Diego over the past summer. The family that runs GSB is legendary in New Jersey for their bagels. I grew up on Bagels from their stores in Newark and Irvington. Stopped into Milburn and for a while was a regular in Elmora. GSB's bagels are strongly recommended. Now if there was any actual seafood in San Diego. read more

These are not real bagels, they are more like rolls with a hole in the center. Bagels are dense and chewy, not light and puffy. It's just really sad to see what people will pass off for a bagel. Hey Garden State, I think that on your way from New Jersey to California, you might have forgotten the recipe. Please go back to the east coast, try some real bagels again and come back and improve your recipe. read more

As a native of the area, I had heard stories for decades about how great Garden State Bagels was. Unfortunately, as a youth, I always thought of bagels as dense, unsugary disappointments personified in baked goods form. This was especially the case when comparing it to how great VG's or Golden Donuts were in comparison. Now that I've matured and can appreciate a quality bagel, and especially a quality bagel sandwich (thanks to Arlington, VA's Brooklyn Bagels), I revisited Garden State Bagels as a pre-home inspection breakfast. Located in a non-descript, difficult to park in strip center in New Encinitas, it would be easy to overlook this place. That is, if there wasn't a huge line out the door every weekend morning as there was on this bright Sunday morning. Like most serious bagel joints, Garden State has a huge selection of bagel flavors. I opted for my choice version, the jalapeno cheese bagel paired with egg, cheese and sausage - the gold standard for bagel sandwiches. The bagel itself is dense enough, and just literally littered with jalapenos. I'm not as big a fan of just having a slice of cheese melted on top of the bagel to add the "cheese" portion of the jalapeno cheese bagel. I'd much prefer if the cheese was baked into it the bagel. Other than that, the egg, cheese and sausage were good, although sometimes I miss the extraordinarily melty American cheese I've found in some other bagel sandwiches. Overall, compared to other Encinitas bagel options, Garden State stands out, and it's easy to see why their lcoation has lines most mornings. It's also a link to the past, as this location has literally been here for 20-25 years - a real testament to the quality product they are putting out here. read more

Something has changed here. The past several times we have been, the bagels have not been chewy at all. Very soft and unappealing. :( Taking my 5 star down to a 3. This is the closest I've ever come to a NY bagel shop in California and I'll take it! The onion bagel with chive cream cheese is pretty similar to the one at my favorite bagel shop in NY, Ess-A-Bagel. This is good news because at the very nauseous beginning of my pregnancy the only thing that sounded good was Ess-A-Bagel. I even had my sister in law bring me their bagels back when she travelled to NY recently. Seriously, I really love NY bagels. This store is rather small and can get crowded quickly. The line is often out the door. The people working can sometimes be pushy about taking your order to keep things moving along. It makes my husband a little sweaty, but it reminds me of NY and I kind of love it. read more

I don't go here for the service, so I'm not too concerned about the folks behind the counter (though I must say that I've always found them to be very pleasant). The bagels are pretty darn good. Not the best I've ever had, but about as good as I've had in San Diego. When they're warm and fresh you can eat them straight up, which is a pretty good sign, I think. If you want to take tasty bagels home, you could do a whole lot worse. read more

People that say you can't find a good bagel on the west coast aren't looking hard enough to find places like Garden State bagels. This place is fantastic. read more

By far my favorite bagel place to go! They have so many options with the bagels along with the types of cream cheese you can get. I buy my office bagels from there all the time and people say they're the best bagels! Highly teccomen read more

Great bagels and the people working are always very friendly. I like how they have numerous different kinds of cream cheese and they also have yummy hot sandwiches. Minus one start for not having ice coffee! I loveee ice coffee and it's easy to make so they should definitely invest in it! :) read more

Chocolate chip bagel with blueberry cream cheese. Blow your mind

Taylor ham egg and cheese was so damn good!!! I could use a little less cheese next time but that sandwich was so good it reminded me of home! read more

Recently gave them a second chance, because the bagels are much better than anywhere else nearby, and experienced much better service than previously. A young man with a ponytail was much more attentive. read more

Um, this place deserves five stars. I dunno where folks are coming from. The people who work here are real. I dig this place. Reminds me of being in NYC. The owner is awesome. All the employees I've encountered are great. The bagels are fantastic. If there's room for improvement somewhere, the coffee could be a bit better. The selection is great though, and I really like stepping into this place. Plus, I accidentally lied in my review of Golden Baked.. this is the other place in 92024 to get egg salad... on Garlic, toasted, with tomato... Thanks, guys! read more

Totally, totally awesome. Good, healthy breakfast food that's delicious and quite reasonably priced.

Solid bagel choice.. I had the spinach and Swiss with plain cream cheese. Old gentlemen was super friendly and swift. The younger guy working the register taking orders... not so much. That's where they lost the one star. All around though great delicious bagels! I would definitely stop by again when in the area. read more

Ate her when I was last in San Diego but unfortunately couldn't have some products because it was only served in Styrofoam containers. They have chemicals linked to cancer and don't biodegrade when they end up in the Ocean. If they'd switch to a more sustainable product line, I'd be more likely to return and to suggest this place to my friend who lives close. read more