This Local-Approved Bagel Shop Serves A Sandwich That Couldn't Be More Miami
As a food writer, I've been known to go out of my way — and even further out of my allotted schedule — for a good bagel. In March 2024, I waited an hour to try the best bagels in Los Angeles, and I hated to say it was worth it. Later that year, I waited in an even longer line outside of a bagel shop in NYC — so long, in fact, that the business was threatened with eviction because of its lengthy queues. Where I'd never thought I'd spend so much time waiting on a boiled and baked ring of dough, however, is in the city I call home: Miami.
Over the years, Miami has changed a lot, and not always for the better — but its bagel culture has never seen brighter days. While Southeast Florida has always been home to a considerable Jewish population, the post-COVID influx of New Yorkers has brought with it even higher expectations for the city's bagels. Juxtapose that with the flavors and foods cognizant to its host of Latinos and its famous Cuban sandwiches, and you might think there's a wide gap. But right there, in that seemingly blank space, is a ventanita called El Bagel.
I first heard about El Bagel when my sister FaceTimed me to say she'd just seen Braxton Barrios, the former Miami Dolphins wide receiver, outside picking up an order for him and (presumably) his then-girlfriend, Alex Earle. While I knew I was late to discover this place if local celebrities were already being spotted there, that kind of hype never stopped me before. As it turns out, however, El Bagel isn't that kind of place. In fact, it's one of the few places left in the city that feels genuine, and it serves a sammy that couldn't be more Miami if it tried: the King Guava.
El Bagel and Miami's evolving bagel identity
To this day, Miami's bagel scene consists predominantly of commercial delis. Few Miamians have likely given this a second thought — even for El Bagel's founder, Matteson Koch, the reality didn't set in until an extended surfing trip. Somewhere between Buenos Aires and California, he was awoken to a variety of craft bagel shops and was inspired to open his own. What began as a bagel delivery service in 2017 evolved into a pop-up pastelito cart, all operated out of his home kitchen in Little Haiti and commissaries. Eventually, he upgraded to a food truck before opening a location in MiMo in 2020, and another in Coconut Grove in 2023.
On any day of the week — apart from Tuesdays, when they're closed — you'll find people lining up at either El Bagel location. While standing outside of the El Bagel window waiting to hear your name be called, you're very likely to bump into that friend you can't see soon enough, or to strike up a conversation with a stranger. That's what I mean when I say it's one of the few places in Miami that feel genuine. In a city notorious for materialism and status-hungry transplants, everyone and their dogs are outside El Bagel just waiting for a sandwich — and if you're anything like me, it's the King Guava you're waiting for specifically.
Of the endless combinations you can put together from its menu, no El Bagel sandwich gets as close to encapsulating the cultural hub that is Miami as the King Guava. It does this with just five ingredients: the hand-rolled bagel, the guava, the cream cheese, and the potato stix, completed with the addition of a fried egg and the optional latke addition.
El Bagel's King Guava sandwich is the epitome of Miami bagel culture
While it's no secret that the guava and cream cheese combination is inspired by Miami's Latino community, it's also no mystery that the bagel and optional latke are both classic Jewish foods, so sandwiching them together in the King Guava bridges a perceived gap that, in many Miami circles, never existed. The added crunch of the pepitas — another Latin ingredient — along with the runny egg creates a textural contrast that, much like Miami's spirited population of Latin-Jewish people, feels incredibly unique; only in Miami do you get to experience this kind of flavor dichotomy that, in retrospect, isn't a dichotomy at all.
By introducing the King Guava, El Bagel created a sandwich that epitomizes the Miami lifestyle, and, ultimately, its bagel scene. Every weekend, I look forward to my trips to Coconut Grove, where I brave the neighborhood's limited parking to stand outside of the shop's ventanita. As I wait for my order — a King Guava on an everything bagel, with vegan scallion cream cheese and a latke — I make sure to stock up on Zab's. You'll find a canister of the Florida-grown, Datil-pepper-based sauce inside, providing just the right amount of sweet heat to make the sandwich truly Miami.
From the moment you step in line to the moment you grab your bag from the window, anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes could pass. So, to make it really worth it, I recommend strolling into Coco Walk or to one of the nearby parks to eat at a table — just be prepared for someone to stop you and say, "Is that the King Guava? I'm getting that next time," as has happened to me.