Food coverage is supported by a generous donation from Susan and Moses Libitzky.

It’s here! The long-awaited Boichik Bagels will finally be in soft opening mode this Friday, bringing its New York-style bagels to Berkeley on “Bagel Black Friday,” according to owner Emily Winston. The store at 3170 College Ave. will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. (or until bagels sell out) throughout the Thanksgiving weekend.

Soft opening means it will be a limited menu at first — bagels and shmears — and build up to the full menu over the next few weeks.

Winston, a New Jersey native who grew up on H&H bagels, envisioned Boichik Bagels when she first heard that her beloved H&H chain was going out of business. Her quest to bring a true New York-style bagel to the Bay has had New York transplants and other bagel lovers salivating since her pop-ups generated sellout crowds outside of her Alameda home in fall 2017.

Rabbi Yonatan Cohen of Congregation Beth Israel announced that Boichik is certified kosher by East Bay Kosher. The certification was created earlier this year by Cohen, Maharat Victoria Sutton of Beth Israel and Rabbi Gershon Albert of Beth Jacob Congregation. The bagels are parve and the shmears are kosher dairy (chalav stam). A hand-washing station is forthcoming.