Emily Winston, proprietor of Boichik Bagels, in her natural habitat. (Photo/Lydia Daniller) Jewish Life Food Small Bites Boichik Bagels expands south to Palo Alto Facebook Twitter Email SMS WhatsApp Share By Alix Wall | January 19, 2022 Food coverage is supported by a generous donation from Susan and Moses Libitzky. Palo Alto will get its very own Boichik Bagels, the popular bagel shop that first opened in Berkeley in 2019 and led the New York Times to extol the praises of California bagels last year. The new location will be at Town & Country Village, a shopping center at El Camino Real and Embarcadero Road. “We’ve been poking around looking at more real estate and where we’re going to go next, and it was a really good spot,” said Boichik owner Emily Winston. Boichik is also converting a North Berkeley warehouse into a factory that will significantly increase its production capacity, but the Palo Alto store will be open first, hopefully by this summer, she said. Emily Winston of Boichik Bagels outside the warehouse where the Boichik factory will be. The dough will be mixed in their Berkeley store, and then driven to Palo Alto. “We’ll be getting used to some of the factory-type operations, but just sending it to one store,” Winston said. “And we’ll have an oven and kettle down there, so they’ll boil and bake the bagels freshly on site.” The menu will be largely the same, and while Winston can’t say for certain, the hope is to have the new location certified kosher. The Berkeley shop is certified by East Bay Kosher. Palo Alto has one kosher bagel shop already, Izzy’s Brooklyn Bagels, which is certified by the Vaad HaKashrus of Northern California. Winston said that construction costs are high, and she is looking for help from those who might want to lend her money to help fuel Boichik’s expansion. While she’s had many potential investors reach out in the hopes of gaining equity in the company, she isn’t interested in that. “I’m not selling shares, I just want to borrow money,” she said. “I’ll pay nice interest but I’m not looking to sell equity in the company.” Alix Wall Alix Wall is a contributing editor to J. She is also the founder of the Illuminoshi: The Not-So-Secret Society of Bay Area Jewish Food Professionals and is writer/producer of a documentary-in-progress called "The Lonely Child." Follow @WallAlix Also On J. From the Archives Bay Area Jewish delis of yore — gone but not forgotten Small Bites In season of miracles, Berkeley bagel-lovers saw a ‘schmearicle’ Small Bites Boichik Bagels secures warehouse for major expansion Small Bites Boichik Bagels goes brick-and-mortar Subscribe to our Newsletter Enter Email Sign Up