House of Bagels - Palo Alto - Palo Alto, California

Anil P.

My go-to place for when I need morning carbs to fuel the daily hustle.

Fresh tasty bagels of all kinds - never saw a stale bagel here. Coffee is great and the service is matter-of-fact.

As opposed to cloyingly mechanized fake happy served up by Starbucks, this is a place where you get some honest to goodness fix.

Try their parfaits, fresh OJ, and some light salad for lunch. The patio is nice for warmer days.

Orly L.

Delicious bagels and friendly staff!
We had pumpernickel, blueberry, everything and cheddar. Some with salmon lox and avocado. They were fresh and simply perfect!

Just J.

Fresh bagels! Soft to bite into and pretty good tasting as well. Highly recommended! Pricing is also reasonable. But there’s a catch!

My main issue with this store though is the lack of efficiency when there’s 3-4 people in line. They take the order, pick the bagel, make it, then bill them, while the other people are waiting. So an order can take 5-7 minutes easily, for one person. There are usually 3-4 people working the counter and also making sandwiches, but only have counter space for 2. So why not have a dedicated person at the register? They’ve been in business for how long now and refuse to adapt?

Looking back at reviews, it looks like it had stellar reviews back 5 years ago but past couple of months it’s been going downhill. Maybe the employees or owners should smile a little more.

On the upside, no tipping here.

Sarah W.

Tried this place for the first time yesterday and it will be our new regular bagel spot. I’m a little bit of a bagel snob being from the northeast. The bagels were great and the guy behind the counter gave my toddler a free little bagel when we came in. There is a little courtyard just off the shop where my toddler ran around while myself and a friend had coffee. We will definitely be returning.

Yasmin S.

this is the worst bagel place i've ever been to. I got overcharged 6 dollars for a bagel and they refused to give me my money back for nearly an hour. I asked politely multiple times and just wanted to get out of there and go about the rest of my day but the employees refused, and were arguing with me and even laughed at me and rolled their eyes. I finally had to ask for them to bring their manager to talk to me because the conversation was going no where, and received impoliteness from the manager as well with him arguing with me also. This was a very simple and straight forward ask, when you get overcharged you should receive a refund. They proceeded to tell me I asked for a ham sandwich which is why I got overcharged and that there's two
"portions of ham" and I got the bigger portion which led to the cost being higher. All i asked for was a bagel with cream cheese and ham on it, nothing else. The menu clearly stated ham is a 2.50 extra charge which should make my bagel come out to 6 dollars not 12. I finally received my money back in cash after nearly an hour and the manager still made it seem like this was my fault and said that I should of worded my order differently and that he's making an exception this time. Worst customer service i've experienced in a really long time, never coming back here again, Wasted an hour of my day and was treated with disrespect.

Jason F.

What a great bagel shop! I have heard that there is more than one house of bagels location and I can only comment on this location. The service that I get has always been spot on. I've never had a issue with an order I placed there and I have been going to the Palo Alto location for 5 years. The staff are very kind and helpful, and the bagels are made fresh in the giant oven everyday. I recommend you check this out if you're in the area and seeking a tasty snack or meal.

Robin R.

Bagels are pretty good, but customer service leaves a lot to be desired. Been coming here for years and the man who appears to be the owner has gotten progressively ruder with each visit. He gives the impression that every customer is wasting his time. My friend's order is always the same, a bagel with cream cheese and turkey, and today he suddenly said that wasn't available, that they don't serve turkey sandwiches with cream cheese. We are repeat customers and I'm certain he recognized us, and I honestly got the impression he didn't want to serve us. I'm not sure what upsets him so much, but his behavior has made it impossible for us to continue eating here. Too bad since the bagels are pretty tasty. ☹️

Tom R.

I’m not recommending at all this place, the service is just horrible and the guy is really rude. I just asked him a recommendation about what to put in the bagel he looked behind me and said : “I don’t have time to tell you” there is a line.
This place is just a joke and the bagel are not even good. Just make your own bagel at home it’s gonna be much better and much cheaper !