In The News

Seventy-five years in business is no small feat, and our family owns that with pride. Since 1947, we have kept the ovens warm through the 1970s inflation, the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the 2008–09 recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. Not every food vendor made it through those turns.

The pandemic was a different battle. As a federally recognized essential business, we stayed open, but customers couldn’t stay inside the stores for long. They had to grab their orders and go. It was a tough shift, but we didn’t give up. We adjusted quickly to online ordering, delivery and everything. The real challenge was proving we could still be there for our community while maintaining six feet of distance, of course.

Each shakeup changed how we work, what we sell and how people buy. A lot has changed except for one thing — our sense of community. We still greet people by name, box the extra bagels at close and send them to local groups that need them. The same neighborhoods that kept us going get the same care from us each day. That anchor carried us through every test and still guides how we operate.

Jeff Ustin is vice president at bagel seller Western Bagel, which opened Los Angeles’s first bagel bakery in 1947.

Our journey began in 1947, when my father set out to do something bold: open the first bagel company in Southern California. At the time, most people on the West Coast had never even heard of a bagel, let alone tasted one. It took nearly a month to find the right location — a modest bakery in Los Angeles — but that storefront became the starting point of something much bigger than we could have imagined.

There are so many blue foods we constantly obsess over, starting with blueberries and anything blueberry-related, but when the Dodgers are in the World Series you can count on all sorts of amazing eats taking on a distinctly azure hue.

One chewy, championship-ready favorite made its delicious debut in 2024, and it is back for another snacky round: The limited-edition Western Bagel Dodger bagel.

The toothsome goodie is blue, of course, and it is available at all Western Bagel locations during the World Series. If you’re picking up a dozen for the office, the price is $19.50, but keep in mind you’ll want to arrive on the early side, for this is a “while supplies last” offer.

The Los Angeles “Bagel Renaissance” isn’t a new, post pandemic phenomenon, but dates back to 1947 when Jeff Ustin’s grandfather, David, opened Western Bagel – “The Bagel That Won The West®.” His shop on 324 West Pico Ave was the first bagel bakery in Los Angeles and grew to define how Angelenos take their beloved roll with a hole. To this day, Western Bagel is still a family run business as Ustin is now the president of the company with his dad, Steve acting as CEO.

When Yelp’s Los Angeles Elite Squad gathered at Western Bagel’s Encino store on August 6th, 2025, the reviews left little doubt: this longtime local favorite continues to deliver some of the best bagels and sandwiches in the city.

Third-generation Western Bagel has 10 retail stores and a wholesale business based out of Van Nuys, Calif. Its two manufacturing facilities produce about 2,000 to 3,000 dozen bagels per hour. Five family members share ownership and the company employs approximately 400 people, with annual revenue of more than $50 million a year.

But it all started with an offhand remark.

(9) We’ve all been to the iconic cash-only 24-hour Western Bagel Van Nuys retail location on Sepulveda near Rayen at all-hours of the day or night. But last week I got to see the factory behind it.

I’d spoken to the team at Western Bagel when I was writing about the new school bagel craze last December. All of the artisanal bagel-makers I talked to had only positive things to say about “the bagel that won the west.” They’ve been a ubiquitous staple of Los Angeles since 1947. So I was very excited when they offered me and some old friends a tour of their process.

Western Bagel has 10 retail locations. Each one boils and bakes their bagels on-site, but the dough is sent from the factory. The factory itself handles an enormous volume of bagels which they sell in bulk to restaurants, grocery stores, and school districts. It was an impressive operation. They’re making 35,000 bagels per hour on state-of-the-art machines. I made this video of the Western Bagel production line set to my new favorite borscht belt banger “Bagel” by Irving Fields.

For nearly 80 years, Western Bagel has been a staple in Los Angeles, long before the city’s recent bagel boom. While new spots get plenty of attention,  Western Bagel has been baking the family recipe since 1947, before most Angelenos knew what a bagel was and long before they were topped with heirloom tomatoes or passion fruit honey.

Steve Ustin’s father and grandfather were bagel makers in New York and came to California after World War II when they learned there was a lack of the leavened, doughnut-shaped, firm-textured rolls.

“In 1947,  the valley was nothing but orange groves,” Steve tells LA Weekly on a tour of the Van Nuys factory.   “There was nothing here.  They found a location on Pico and Grand in downtown LA, and they opened up Western Bagel. They were the first bagel bakery in Southern California.  In the beginning, they gave away more bagels than they sold, because nobody knew what a bagel was.”

Summer in Southern California unfolds with early beach runs, impromptu hikes, and golden-hour rooftop gatherings. It’s a season built on momentum and comfort, and the food options need to keep pace. One Los Angeles original bagel shop has managed to do so.

For decades, Western Bagel has been a reliable and easy-to-carry option for Southern Californians. More than just a quick bite, it’s become part of the everyday rhythm, fitting effortlessly into plans that are often made on the fly.

Historically, expansion has been linked to growth. Expanding meant increasing employment, adding locations and increasing square feet. Lasting growth has more to do with staying relevant than simply expanding. That means really listening to your customers, making smart, timely adjustments and shaping your operations around meeting their needs.

The first bagel bakery in Los Angeles, Western Bagel opened its doors in 1947. 

David Ustin worked in the New York City bagel scene from 9 years old, and moved to California in 1946 with his wife. After realizing that the West Coast had no bagel options, he took it upon himself to enlighten Angelenos.

78 years later, the brand is still going strong. David’s son, Steve, is now sitting president and CEO.

The world was a completely different place when my family opened our neighborhood bagel shop in 1947. The internet didn’t exist, the city was still growing into the metropolis it is today, and the idea of a global pandemic shutting down the economy was a matter of science fiction. But here we are, over 75 years later, still baking bagels every day.

People often ask what the secret is to that kind of longevity. There’s no secret. It’s a commitment to a few core principles that have seen us through recessions, inflation, changing consumer tastes, and seismic shifts in how business is done.

For any founder or business leader feeling the pressure of a volatile market, these are the lessons that have kept us open for almost 80 years.

In this episode of the Disruptive Successor Podcast, host Jonathan Goldhill talks with Jeff Ustin, Vice President of Western Bagel. Jeff shares the fascinating history of his family’s 75-year-old bagel business, from its New York roots to becoming a West Coast staple. The conversation explores the unique challenges and triumphs of generational transitions, maintaining a strong company culture based on loyalty and respect, and the ongoing efforts to modernize and expand the brand in a competitive market. Jeff offers valuable insights into balancing tradition with innovation, adapting to consumer trends, and navigating market shifts like the COVID-19 pandemic, all while staying true to Western Bagel’s core values.

Viral social media trends can often translate to real-time impacts for brands – and the algorithmic pull of TikTok is particularly strong.

“TikTok’s algorithm uses a combination of personalization, virality, and speed, allowing its users to see what’s trending in subjects they like. It sparks impulse purchases due to the quick reviews, engaging content, and sometimes easy product links,” Jeff Ustin, VP of Western Bagel, told FI.

The way people find and connect with food has changed over the years; Gen Z, especially, is driving that shift. They discover new spots online, make decisions fast, and care just as much about the story behind what they’re eating as they do about the food itself. That shift has made family-owned businesses think differently about what it means to stay relevant. Platforms such as TikTok and Instagram serve as powerful marketing tools, particularly when a single video can attract thousands of viewers. But what brings people back, again and again, is something more enduring than virality.

Weekend mornings are the soft spots in a family’s hard-charging week. When alarms finally hush and schedules loosen, dads have an opening to trade hustle for hospitality — often with food as the glue.

Lately, families keep circling back to one deceptively simple idea: a build-your-own bagel spread anchored by Western Bagel. The company has been family-owned since 1947, and today its flash-frozen assortments ship nationwide and sit in refrigerator aisles alongside the grocery staples you already buy. That lineage dovetails nicely with our own belief that the best memories rise in multi-generational kitchens.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Steve Ustin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

One thing that gives us the most pride is the fact that we have been a family-owned business for over 75 years and have successfully competed against some of the largest bakeries in the country. We continue to grow year after year. It is difficult to run a business today, and we have a unique passion for what we do. My parents taught me to be a hard worker and to do whatever it takes to achieve success. I am very fortunate that my son Jeff has the passion and work ethic that I have. He runs the day-to-day operation now and is doing a great job….

Long before bagels became a popular breakfast choice in Los Angeles, one man rolled them by hand in a modest shop in Boyle Heights. David Ustin grew up in bakeries in the Bronx, where his father, Louis, baked bagels to support their family after fleeing the Russian Revolution. At the age of thirteen, he was already working full-time.

You’d think operating 10 Western Bagel shops in Los Angeles would be sufficient for the Ustin family including CEO Steve Ustin, and 47-year-old Jeff Ustin, his son and the president of a third-generation family business. As savvy entrepreneurs, the Ustin’s (pronounced Yustin) know that generating multiple revenue streams enables a retail business to weather a volatile economic environment.

L.A.’s homegrown bagel mini-chain has been making some of the best in the business since 1958. With 11 locations (mostly in the San Fernando Valley, except for an outpost within West L.A.’s Colony ghost kitchen), the family-owned Western Bagel is often cited as an essential piece of L.A. food culture. The bagels are soft and light, and, when served with a heaping helping of cream cheese, are almost in danger of folding over, even when toasted. Extremely L.A. bagel options, including low-carb and sprouted wheat options, complement a decidedly less health-conscious lunch menu, including a full line of Boar’s Head cold cuts and in-store roasted and thick sliced turkey breasts.

It may not seem so to outsiders, but in-the-know Angelenos have for decades harbored a delicious secret: this is a bagel city. Though Los Angeles carries none of the bagel prowess of New York City or the stigma of Montreal, there is no shortage of bagels here on the sunnier side. And to prove the point, all one needs to do is look to Western Bagel.

“Most people choose the bagel they grew up with,” says Richard Friedman, and for most Southern Californians, whether they know it or not, that means the choice is bagels made either by Friedman or his oldest competitor.