Busy Bee’s Bagel & Bakery

20 minute parking zone on the side alleyway and a couple in front (tricky to park in though).
I came here on a Thursday mid-​afternoon. I ordered an Everything Bagel with Jalapeño Cream Cheese and a small coffee. I’ve come here multiple times and have always enjoyed their bagels. It seems like a family owned business and I love being able to support local shops. I noticed that they changed their patio furniture, the tables are a bit higher than usual but the chairs are super comfortable.
The bagels taste like bagels, there is nothing too extraordinary about them. What makes this place amazing is the fact that they toast, spread cream cheese, and cut the bagels in half for you. Most places will only spread the cream cheese but don’t have time to slice it half. The coffee was also good, it has a nice roasted flavor to it. I definitely would come back to try their sandwiches!
Great place to casually meet up with friends or grab a quick bite to eat.

I don’t know why I even came back here. Customer service is horrible. Bagels are small and taste stale. And now they hugely skimp on the cream cheese. Convenience lost out. no more busy bagel for me.

One of my favorite go-​to places for a quick bite to eat in the morning. I love their chorizo burrito, and ham&cheese croissant sandwiches! They make fresh orange juice but it’s a bit pricey.

Warning — once you have one of these, you’ll never buy grocery store bagels again. Really, really the best in town. Subtracted a star because the consistency just isn’t there. I buy them by the dozen (s) and take them home for the family, but unfortunately some weeks they are fresher than others. Worth the risk though — still 100X better than anywhere else. Customer service is terrible, but I can put up with a lack of friendliness for a GREAT bagel.

Average. Plenty of bagels spots that are greater than an or equal to this place. I suspect their business thrives on their location than their offerings. Better review pending better experience

I don’t even know if this is the only bagel place in town, but it’s the only bagel place in town for me! Not only do they have a great selection of bagels, they press fresh orange juice to order, and I can count on the quality of my bagel sandwich being consistently delicious every time. And they are pretty quick about it!

Great Start to our Weekend in SD. Bagel Sandwiches are the best. Got the Sausage, Egg and Cheese on a Chocolate Chip Bagel and a fresh squeezed OJ. The beach is walking distance so we were able to enjoy our breakfast with the waves at our feet.

this is closest you will ever get to a NY bagel in SD,… and they make zero claims of it in their store.
it’s been our go to spot for a bagel since my first review. the crust on some bagels are the good bagel well done kind… like my sesame on Sunday, to the dense moist innards where many bagel places in CA turn them into a round bread with a hole, to the taste of their everything, sesame, poppy and plain. if we lived nearby I’d walk to them every morning.

Perfect place for a great bagel! The service is fast and my bagel was perfectly toasted. Great prices too!

Delicious! They are right on my way to work in La Jolla and there’s always a line out the door. Great price for delicious eats. :)

Real New York Style bagels in San Diego! They actually boil them and don’t make them weirdly large like some chains and supermarkets who will remain nameless. They do the standard flavors like poppy seed, everything, and sesame seed, but also nod to the icky California habit of sweet flavors for those who don’t know better (oy, vey!). The orange juice is perfect, squeezed for you while you wait. Friends don’t let friends buy the bagels at those fluffy no-​boil chains! The bagel sandwiches ate perfect, and the croissants are the best I’ve had in San Diego. Know your order or step out of the line. I only wish they were still open when school got out.

No greeting. Little Asian chick at the register was extremely rude. She kept pressuring us to make an order when we told her multiple time we were not ready. No eye contact. Act annoyed when I asked her a question. A plain bagel with cream cheese and a small cup of coffee came out to be $ 5. Bagel was stale… Coffee was watered down. Will not be returning.

Bagels here are typically pretty good however the customer service is so terrible it leaves a bad taste in my mouth nearly every time I go. In this particular occasion I ordered egg, bacon and cheddar cheese on an everything bagel along with onion, peppers, tomato and cream cheese on an onion bagel. The problem isn’t the food, it’s how the order is taken and delivered.
The rude Asian girl begins by asking what you want with a demeaning undertone as if the bagels there are to die for. Then, after rudely pressing you for the order, she takes it with minimal eye contact yelling it across the way (in very broken English) to the Hispanic girl at the food station.
Finally when the bagels are ready the Hispanic girl hands the order over asks if I need anything else and I say no, thank you. Then, as I dig into the order, I realize there is cream cheese in addition to the egg, bacon and cheddar cheese on the everything bagel. For me this is unsavory so I decide to approach the counter and mention to the Asian girl there must’ve been some sort misunderstanding and that I didn’t want cream cheese on the egg-​which. This is when things really take a turn for the worst. Immediately she gets defensive and confrontational blaming me for the error. She then rudely says if I want another bagel sandwich I need to pay for it. Caught off guard, I was very shocked. Reluctant as I was, due to her poor attitude, I decide to pay for it unwillingly. As she takes my $ 20 she then slaps the initial order back at me telling me «keep it» and hands me back my change.
Wow. Just wow, is the only way I can really summarize this experience. My overall reaction to this experience… crappy.

Convenient. Inexpensive. Fresh. Healthy if you choose. Friendly staff. Plenty of seating, fresh breasy ocean air.

Terrible service. Walked in and was not greeted. Asked a couple questions and the little Asian lady practically yelled no at me twice. Umm ok! Bye a-​hole. Will never go in there again! Sheesh!

Favorite breakfast place for Bagels! We get lox and bagels, chorizo and huevos. Kids get plain bagel and cream cheese. All for under $ 20!!!

Good selection and they have my favorites — egg and salt bagels. I skipped another café to come here because of the reviews about quick service. Even with a line I was out in under 5 min. Nice.
Also prices are on par with la jolla.

We live right down the street. Closest thing to an east coast bagel on the west coast. Amazing everything bagels, tuna salad and bialis!
Service is always a struggle for us. Not really friendly. And the last time we were there, my husbands iced tea did not taste right at all. He politely asked for new drink and she told him he had to pay for an additional drink because «many people had ordered iced teas today and no one has complained. So you need to buy a new drink if you don’t like it». Seriously? It costs all of 15 cents for the drink… And they charge $ 2.10… Let it go. Keep a neighbor happy. Bad business practices. Nickel and diming.

Busy Bee is pretty busy on weekends with many locals ordering bagels and coffee with their families. Although it’s nearby, I don’t frequent it too often since it is more expensive than it should be for a small bagel sandwich. For $ 4.99, you can get a bagel sandwich with egg, cheese, and your choice of ham or bacon. The bagel selection is decent, but they only have jalapeño cheese, not just plain cheese. They do have other options like sundried tomato, onion, garlic, everything, sesame, whole wheat, blueberry, plain and others. In addition to breakfast bagel sandwiches, they also offer other bagel sandwiches like tuna salad and other deli sandwiches. They also have other breakfast pastries and croissants.
Service is incredibly quick! I think I waited longer in line to order than it was just to get my food. My sandwich hit the spot before going to workout since it wasn’t too big. Good food, fast service (maybe not the friendliest, but fast), and a decent price if you’re looking for a quick breakfast in La Jolla.

This is a nice local spot. While I was here, I saw a slew of locales going in and out, and meeting up for a cup of coffee and some bagels. I decided to order their everything bagel with tomatoes, onions, and cream cheese. I also tried their house drip coffee. The bagel was $ 1.99. Great value.
The bagel was good with all the goodness of the «everything» toppings. (
) Some of the bits on top were burnt however. Also, even though I did not ask for green peppers, they put them in the bagel. The peppers were fine, and so were the tomatoes and cream cheese. (
) It was a good bagel sandwich.
The coffee was okay. It seemed a little weak but it was still good to drink. The service was okay, but it could of been a little more up beat. The place has about 4 tables inside and more out side. (
)