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Tali's Bagels & Schmear

4.2 (303 reviews)
ModerateBagels, Food Stands

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Michi L.

I came here at the recommendation of a friend. I heard their have great bagels and won some awards. I got the B.E.C. but instead of bacon I got it with Portuguese sausage and on a an everything bagel. It was really good. My friend also recommended the Fancy B. I only ate half and that was enough for a meal. I ended up eating the order half the next day and it was still just as good. They were really nice and very patient. They were quick to get us our order too. Definitely coming back to try their smears and more of their bagels.

Everything w/ Meshuga Schmear
Justin H.

TL;DR I wanted to love Tali's, but the texture of the bagels is just not optimal. ----- Who doesn't love a bagel smothered in cream cheese? Certainly not me. And after a recent trip to the mainland where I enjoyed my first bagel in a very, very long time, I found myself craving them back home. Tali's appears to be the only spot in Honolulu that is solely dedicated to bagels. That's all they do. So I expected greatness. But I was a bit concerned going into it based the Yelp and Google reviews. There is a lot of feedback that Tali's bagels are too tough. And that unfortunately turned out to be true. Oof. I picked up the following items during my visit: The OG NYC for my wife, an everything bagel with meshuga schmear for me, The B.E.C. on a bialy also for me (I know, I'm a fatass), and a keiki plain bagel with strawberry schmear for my daughter. Let's cover the pros first: the schmears were fantastic and the bagels had great taste. The cons, though? I have to agree with some other customers that the bagels are far too firm and not chewy enough. The texture is just not great. My wife also complained that there were not enough red onions in her sandwich and they were all concentrated in a single location. That's certainly a nitpick, but a 5-star bagel spot is diligently spreading the ingredients across the entire surface area of the bagel and ensuring each bite is consistent. If I'm really craving a bagel I might return, but in the meantime I will continue the search for the best bagel in town.

Menu
Candace F.

Love this place! Had to do an emergency bagel order for the next day and here is yelp recommending Tali's for mobile order. What a life saver! I went on Tali's website to order but had questions. I emailed a good number of questions to Tali's and they were all answered so well!!! Best customer service ever! My dozen mini bagels, schemers, bialey ready by 7:15am as ordered the next morning! Parking is so easy for pick up at Ward center quick 15 minute spots at the front. There were a number of guests waiting so you know this place is popular. Nice that Tali's is located semi-indoors and there's a waiting area with tables and chairs fronting the open shop. Verdict...omg! Best bagels ever. Chewy but firm no need to toast. We were given plain, poppy seed and everything for the variety pack. Yummy!!! Will come here again!

Chloe L.

Tali's is hands down my favorite bagel spot on island. A good New York style bagel can be hard to find, so it's no surprise they just won medals at a bagel festival in New York City. My friends got the Lox and Pesto bagels and I got the Bubbe. Their dill schmear is also a favorite of mine. Everything is consistently good, parking is easy, and the staff is always friendly. Highly recommend!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Chanel C.

The bagels were absolutely incredible. Had an amazing taste and were fresh. Service was nice but if you do not order ahead, it'll take a long time to get your food because it's a small operation. Ambiance is cute but also in a mall.

Jo-Anne S.

Love me a good bagel, but highly recommend going early for your best selection as such some menu items run out before they close! The bagels and schmears and chips are absolutely delish and reasonably priced. This ward location is moving in preparation for demolition but heard they are moving soon to a nearby area.

Aww Zhuga Zhuga
Sydney C.

Finally got to check out this hyped bagel shop!! I can confidently say their bagel sandwiches are worth the hype! I went on a Saturday morning a little before 10am. It was a little busy with only 2 people working, but they were very kind and quick. It felt like we waited less than 10 minutes! They also have 3 tables with chairs right in front of their shop with AC which was convenient. I ordered the BEC on an everything bagel with Portuguese sausage instead of the bacon and the Aww Zhuga Zhuga on a garlic bagel. The egg in the BEC was phenomenal. It was light and soft which paired perfectly with the slight crunch and chew of the bagel. The everything bagel was delicious and truly had everything I asked for. My only note is that it should have 3 pieces of sausage instead of 2. It would be nice to have some sausage in every bite of the sandwich. I would probably just stick with the bacon next time. The chicken in the Aww Zhuga Zhuga sandwich was amazing! I loved the cilantro-based Middle Eastern sauce they used with chicken. It was savory and if I could buy just the sauce, I would! I also loved that the chicken was shredded making it easier to eat. If you're a fan of garlic, wow the garlic bagel does not miss! In your face garlic flavor and I loved it. One thing I wish it had was a crunchy or acidic element. Maybe some pickled vegetables or something would go great with this. It was a little oily for the morning, but for lunch it would be good! Based on the small notes, this is like a 4.5 stars, but I'll round up because they were so nice and helpful. I will absolutely be coming back here! I still haven't tried just their bagels with the schmears. I look forward to trying that next!

The OG NYC, The BEC
Elizabeth L.

Located next to Fat Cheeks, the aroma from the smashburgers usually lures me away from Tali's, until one fateful morning I committed myself to bagels. Fresh off of trip to NYC, it's hard to critique Tali's - compared to the best bagels in the US? or compared to the bagel-desert of Hawaii? I think they're solid bagels. I tried the BEC and the OG NYC on everything bagels, and they're fine options - but damn are they pricey (the price of an entree at any other Ward restaurant!) The bagels themselves have a good flavor, but we went around 9am, and they were already room temperature and stiff. I think they're a solid option if you're really craving bagels but not my everyday breakfast.

Anissa R.

If I could fly to Tali's once a week just for their bagels, I would! When the husband and I learned about Tali's on our most recent trip to Oahu, we absolutely needed to stop by. We loved this place so much, we came here twice! Their bagels are fresh, the vibe is relaxed, and the service was friendly. I recommend coming early and trying both a standard bagel and shmear, as well as one of their specialty sandwiches. This location does have plenty of free parking in a garage (we were able to park in the 15 min parking to run in for our order). Very easy to access and even easier to consume! Chef's kiss to Tali's!

Plain toasted black and white sesame 12/2025
Steve T.

Was needing something small and light while I was waiting for an event in ward village. Remember seeing Tali's on tv and also have one closer to me in Kailua. They are next to Fat Cheeks on the Ewa end. Didn't have much bagel selection as I came around 12 almost 1. Got a plain black and white sesame lightly toasted as is. Next time I would get the plain original with ube schmear. Bagel was good nice crunch from the toast and a good chew. Flavor was good too for a plain bagel. If you can't tell side by side a store bought bagel next to this one. Only gripe I would say is the schmears are a little steep costing more for it than the bagel itself.

The OG NYC
Angela C.

I arrived right at Tali's bagel shop's Sunday opening time: 7am. A nice guy, Joe, was there to help me pick out my first taste of their Bagels. He recommended the Ube bagel with sesame bagel and the OG NY salmon bagel. That was the perfect combo of sweet and savory. I also saw dog treats and wanted to buy some, but Joe said they are free and take as many as I like. That is so generous. Joe then started to make my bagels. It is so awesome to have this nice neighborhood freshly baked bagel shop that I can go to after my run at the Ala Moana park. Joe was an expert in making me the most delicious bagels. He took his time to toast, make and wrapped the bagels after ordering. The slices of salmon in the bagel is fresh, delicious and high quality. Joe put a good amount of salmon in my bagel too. The Ube cream cheese was delicious, creamy, and has just the right amount of sweetness. It is the most enjoyable Sunday breakfast one can ask for. Hubby really liked these bagels as well. What a great start of the day. Also my puppy loved the treat from Tali's. I will come again to try other bagels! Please try this place before they demolish Ward center for 2 luxury high rises. Highly recommend!

Jared S.

Tali's.... This is the spot.... If you had told me the BEST bagels I've ever had would come from Honolulu I'd think you were crazy!!! But that's just what you get when you go to Tali's!! There's not ONE person who should be giving this place less than 5 stars. I would take it PERSONALLY. And I'm 100% serious! The Honolulu "Tali's" is actually their second location, with the original being on East Shore. This Tali's is located off Ala Moana in Ward Village. Which is about a 5-10 minute drive outside Waikiki for us tourists. As mentioned earlier, Tali's is in a mall. And parking is free and abundant! Just be sure to park inside the garage. Parking spots are labeled 15 min, 30 min, and then regular. We parked in the 30 min spot but also went in the morning when the mall was pretty empty. Walking inside this section of Ward Village is a little dark. There's little to no lighting and they're doing a lot of construction (I think?). You'll find the Tali's "stand" inside. There are some tables inside but personally I prefer eating out front where it's lighter and brighter (also we're in HAWAII for F's sake!) Gotta enjoy the breeze and paradise-like weather! Tali's has SO many interesting menu items. They offer all the OG bagels like everything, garlic, white sesame, black sesame, onion, salt, etc. And their house-made schmears... omg are these fire. Classic, lemon dill, ube (super creative), lomi lox (what I got), smoked whitefish, and more. Then you get to the creativity with their Bagel Sandwiches!!! The Bubbe, the Zayde, Aww Zhuga Zhuga... look for yourself!!! They also have Israeli coffee, bialys, and bagel chips. My wife and I loved Tali's SO much we came multiple times on our most recent Oahu trip. Their bagels are baked perfectly. There's a "chewiness" to them that you don't typically find with lower quality ones. Tali is from New York and you can tell she brought the "New York style" of bagel-making to Oahu. They are priced extremely reasonably too!!! I make bagels myself time to time and know how much work goes into them. $3/ bagel is very reasonable in 2025 America. AND given it's Hawaii where you expect to pay more anyways... great deal!! And don't get me started on their schmears... they are mouth-wateringly good (lomi lox and the whitefish in particular hit DIFFERENT). I know I'm all over the place with this review, but another thing I absolutely love about Tali's is how unapologetically Ashkenazi Jewish they are. Too often I've found today's bagel shops have become "whitewashed." They show little to no homage or representation to Jewish immigrants who brought these recipes to America straight off Ellis Island one hundred years ago. Tali goes above and beyond to highlight our culture through her food. And you'll find this on their website, social media, or the names of the menu items themselves. In a nutshell, I can't recommend Tali's enough. I wish I had time to go to the East Shore location, but that will have to wait until our next time in Oahu. Tali's is for both locals and tourists; and is the perfect breakfast spot before a day of exploring/ beach-going. You could go every morning of your vacation and get a different bagel combo if you so chose. A+++++

Bagel and cream cheese
Jessica R.

I ordered a bagel and cream cheese $ 7 something. The bagel itself was weird. It tasted good then immediately got hard almost like it was put into a microwave.

The BEC bacon egg and cheese on a plain bagel

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Ask the Community - Tali's Bagels & Schmear

Aloha Yelp community! I just read about this new NY bagel spot at Ward Center and have one question: I am from Montreal originally and firmly believe our bagels are the best on earth. Are Tali's as good?

I am from Brooklyn, NY and sadly, Tali's bagels just do not taste like NY bagels and they are not as large as NY bagels. We also were disappointed in their bialys too - they were like mounds and had onion jam-like stuff on top (which was tasty), but… 

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Our favorite coffee spot in Hawaii! We arrived at 7:30am and the line was already out the door…read more Thankfully the service was speedy. Here are our favorite recommendations: - Pandan Iced Latte: omg! This drink is da bomb. It was so good I came back the next day to order it. lol - Liliko'i Moana Bowl açaí is a must. We ordered a small and it was large enough to share. - Ube bagel with Ube cream cheese. Wow sooo good! Perfect with our coffee. - Hawaiian Honey Latte is perfect. Not too sweet but a perfect strong balance, I learned hawaiian honey is darker and more complex than regular honey so it's less one-note sweet and more layered. So good! It gets pretty crowded early on so I'd recommend arriving when they open or after 9 am. The ambiance is busy but there is plenty of available seating outside and around the edges near the balcony.

Island Vintage Coffee was such a great breakfast spot! I had the Eggs Benedict, and it was…read moreabsolutely delicious! The portions are definitely large enough to split if you're not super hungry. The coffee was delicious too and paired perfectly with breakfast. It was pretty busy when we visited, but the service was still great. Everyone was friendly, attentive, and kept things moving despite the crowd. Great food, great coffee, and great service. Definitely worth a stop for breakfast!

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Fin's Bagels - Fin's Bagel

Fin's Bagels

4.1(199 reviews)
2.6 mi•Kaimuki
•$$
Grab-and-go
Locally owned & operated

What a great find that I randomly came across! Who would expect to find Brooklyn bagels in HI?! And…read morethey pretty close to a NY bagel! What made it even better was the toppings: I had a salmon bagel...and it came with creamy cream cheese, sprouts, tomatoes and capers! The sandwich was thick with goodness! The salmon was not your typical lox but almost like a piece of salmon sushi on top. If you don't like salmon, there are other fish choices too!!! The service was lovely! The staff was very patient in explaining the menu and helping me decide on my ideal meal! Thanks to the great staff and hospitality! As for ambience: it's more of a take away place! You order inside at the counter and they calm out your name. There is a small patio area that you can sit at. Lastly there are some parking right out front! Thanks for the great experience!

Came with friends. Ordered a fins bagel with salmon and a Thai tea…read more The cashier seemed a little disorganized during our visit. I gave her my order and was ready to pay, but without asking, she started adding my friend's order to mine, so I had to clarify that we were paying separately. Then, when my friends ordered and paid, she told them their payment hadn't gone through and asked them to repeat their order. My friend pointed out that she had already been charged, and the cashier then noticed the printed ticket and said, "Oh right, I see it here. Never mind, sorry." Anyways, I got the Thai tea on tap. It was good. Different, unique and very interesting. My friend got the Mac nut latte, it was a little too sweet for my liking. As for the salmon lox bagel, it was pretty good. Though almost too loaded it was hard to fit in my mouth. The atmosphere is nice, I like their wall art. there's hardly any parking on a Sunday afternoon though, if it's busy enough you might need to find street parking or have someone stay in their car

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Fin's Bagels - Service could be improved...

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Aloha Bakehouse & Cafe

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4.3(50 reviews)
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Delicious food and drinks. Excellent customer service . My bagel breakfast sandwich was delicious…read more And my Mango iced tea hit the spot . I found this place up the road from my job in Kaimuki .

Kyoto Style Cold Brew. That's all needs to be said…read more My first introduction to Aloha Bakehouse & Cafe was at the Made in Hawaii Festival where I sampled its amazing tasting coffee. Found out that there are three locations in Kaka'ako, Downtown, and this one in Kaimuki. It's located at the corner of Waialae and 8th Avenue, across from The Curb and Kaimuki Auto Repair. Only metered parking along Waialae or street parking on the perpendicular streets. Inside was spacious and had an industrial feel with its concrete floor, metal chairs, metal racks, and with actual renovations in process in the rear of the space. Menu is floor level (sorry tall people!). There's a variety of coffee, tea, lemonade, blended drinks, smoothies, sandwiches, salads, its special Aloha Bread, and etc. There's a lot to read! There are multiple choices of bread for sandwiches (special bread shown next to the register. Be sure to check!). Needless to say, I took a long time to decide! The Breakfast Sandwich came with egg, bacon, ham, and American cheese. Chose the croissant, which was the smaller size variety. This was good with a generous amount of egg and bacon. It was a hearty sandwich. The Tuna Sandwich on Everything Bagel was good. Nice crisp on the bagel. A decent simple sandwich with fresh ingredients. I would have preferred more mayo and the canned tuna to have flavor. Regular brewed coffee was very good. Brewed very well with solid coffee flavor. Exactly the flavor I remembered when I first tried it. The star was the Kyoto Style Cold Brew. It was smooth, clean, bright, and strong. The flavor maintained throughout--even with the ice cubes melted in. Overall, a decent experience. The sandwiches were good. Coffee was excellent. Friendly service. Can't wait to come back to try more things and get more Kyoto style cold brew!

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Aloha Bakehouse & Cafe
Aloha Bakehouse & Cafe
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Tali's Bagels and Schmear - OG NYC (lox)

Tali's Bagels and Schmear

4.0(76 reviews)
9.9 mi
•$$

It's everything... I…read moredon't mean just the bagel...where have I been? I do visit Kailua as a getaway for some personal time on my days off and probably didn't think twice since we do have Tali's in town and love to visit the Lokahi Markets here but since fellow Elite Jackie K loves bagels though that this would be the perfect way to start our morning. Which is in Kailua Center along with several other biz so parking is free but shared is a generous amount that's very appreciated in this neighborhood that is one of the biggest challenge to find but at this early in the day it's super easy to find right in front of the front door. Walking in I loved the vibe very open and with the service counter in the back the guys there are just so nice and friendly while being patient as we scan their menu which is slightly different from town but knew that I wanted a sandwich...and it was the Tuna Melt. Topped with cheddar, Swiss (no sprouts) you're also able to top your sandwich with Lettuce, Tomatoes, Cucumber (no onion) is amazing and absolutely loved it and with the staff suggestion of Everything bagel was it and loved it. While they do have coffee that's about it and nothing much else as I really wanted water they were polite enough to offer tap water...not for me. Their seating is fun as some of the tables are privately divided but very adorably decorated. There is truly a reason they won 1st for Bagel is they certainly know what they're doing and is nice to have them in a couple of locations along with various types and mini size as well for the flight or just a simple bite to schmear or not to schmear is the question as here you have that and so much more. Thank you!

Sadly, this place was a huge let down for me and my family. Especially because we drove 40 minutes…read moreto Kailua for a bagel craving. Maybe our experience would've been different if we had ordered a different type of bagel but we went with a staff member's recommendation. She mentioned the garlic bagel was one of the most popular so it seemed like a no brainer to try it. (I got the OG NYC on a garlic bagel and my husband got the BEC on a garlic.) SO incredibly salty and hard to chew. The garlic was so overpowering and it got stronger with each bite. It also left a very strong, burnt taste in my mouth. I usually try to power through to finish my food but unfortunately I had to throw this away. My husband did the same. I don't know if this was an off batch of garlic bagels but considering the price, I was pretty disappointed that food had to go to waste. I have two young kids and I got them the mini ube cream cheese bagel. She liked the ube but my daughter and son who usually love bagels also did not finish theirs. The filling was generous but overwhelming.

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Tali's Bagels and Schmear - Seating and order area

Seating and order area

Tali's Bagels and Schmear - Nice walk for privacy . Like home

Nice walk for privacy . Like home

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Local Joe - Breakfast croissant & lox for us  Local Joe be there for us when we need a break from fluorescent light.

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4.6(628 reviews)
1.4 mi•Downtown
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Did my research to find Kona coffee for my upcoming visit to Vancouver, so I walked from home and…read moretook shelter in Local Joe's to cool off and order some 100% Kona Mauna Kea Estate coffee and have it ground. Liv was so delightful and clearly the right person for the job so I knew I was in the right place. In the meantime I ordered an iced coffee (which was delicious!!!!) and sat down and watched folks come and go. This is clearly a popular local coffee and snack shop so I will keep this place in mind since it's locally owned and operated and their decaf is processed via osmosis, not chemicals. That's a big plus.

A small little coffee shop located in downtown. There are a few tables outside to enjoy your…read morecoffee. I've stopped by twice so far and each time, I've been greeted with friendly service. The tables are usually taken so I just take my drink to go. I ordered a strawberry matcha drink on my first visit and a French Toast latte on my second visit. The second time I went, they didn't know how to make my drink so the girl had to read the ingredients that were listed on their own menu posted on the counter for customers. Maybe hardly anyone orders it or she was new and learning? It did take a while for me to get my coffee. The waiting area is quite small so there wasn't much room for me to go anywhere. Overall, the drinks have been good with a variety of seasonal drinks and specials as well. I'll probably return for my coffee fix as it seems to be one of the few coffee shops in the area open on Sundays. Happy Drinking!

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Tali's Bagels & Schmear - bagels - Updated October 2026

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