"Courage Bagels makes the best bagels in Los Angeles—but perhaps you already knew that? Since opening in October 2020, this order-at-the-counter bagel shop in Virgil Village has captured the hearts of everyone we knew: New Yorkers, locals, people who avoid carbs like the plague. The small, thin, sweetish, and slightly charred bagels at Courage have been called Montreal-style, but really, they're their own thing. They're topped with a basket's worth of local produce, and are dense and crispy, releasing a sharp crack when you bite into one. Lines will be long. Order the hand-sliced smoked salmon and Run It Through The Garden, a greenhouse-like bagel that's uniquely Californian. " - brant cox, nikko duren, arden shore, sylvio martins