Wise Sons Review: The Best Gluten-Free Bagel in San Francisco

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Written By Amy Suto
A bagel breakfast sandwich like the Bodega at Wise Sons in San Francisco

I keep my business receipts, which means I have documentary evidence of exactly how many times I’ve ordered the same breakfast sandwich at Wise Sons at the JCC on California Street.

Four times. In five weeks. Same order, every time.

The Bodega — egg and cheese on Wise Sons’ gluten-free bagel — is the best gluten-free bagel situation in San Francisco, and I say that as someone who treats gluten-free bagels with the suspicion they usually deserve.

What to Order at Wise Sons

The Bodega on the GF bagel is my lane. A gluten-free bagel that doesn’t crumble, doesn’t apologize, and holds a proper egg-and-cheese together is genuinely rare; this one just does its job.

Kyle works the other side of the aisle: their regular everything bagel, usually as the Crunchy Spice — and I have watched his add-ons escalate week over week from plain, to avocado, to crispy pastrami, to (per the July receipt) pastrami and avocado and swiss. I’m not saying the menu is a slippery slope. I’m saying bring a ledger.

The Verdict on Wise Sons

  • Best for: Gluten-free bagel people who miss real bagels; deli classicists (Kyle’s division)
  • My order: The Bodega, GF bagel — ~$13 and reliably right
  • Where: 3200 California St (Google Maps) · wisesonsdeli.com

Wise Sons earned its slot on my best restaurants in San Francisco list. A full SF bagel showdown post is coming — The Laundromat is under rigorous investigation — and if breakfast should end in matcha, the best matcha in SF is nearby in every direction.

For more of where I actually eat, start with the best restaurants in San Francisco — and subscribe to my newsletter if you want the new reviews (plus my writing life) in your inbox. I spent five years rating restaurants around the world in my travel guides; now the fork points at my own city.