The Real Story of Los Bagels

Way up in Northern California, nestled along the bay of Humboldt among the redwoods lies the town of Arcata, home to Los Bagels Company, Inc. Founded in 1984 by Dennis Rael, Peter Jermyn and Paul Hebb, Los Bagels was created out of a serious lack of something essential to their lives - a damn good bagel. So after months of visiting bagel shops from Santa Cruz to Seattle, and collecting information and ideas about food products from the finest lox to the best coffee, the threesome opened Humboldt County's first (and only) bagel bakery and café. Over a decade and a half later, Los Bagels has expanded to open shops in Eureka's historic Old Town, and at the Humboldt State University Depot.

Los Bagels combines a Jewish ethnic tradition with the customs and tastes of Mexico in an outdoor/indoor café that churns with multicultural excitement. We offer twelve types of bagels and a variety of specialty baked goods and breads including Challah, a braided Jewish egg bread, empanadas and real corn rye bread. Los Bagels maintains a high standard of quality ingredients, freshly baked products and excellent service. Whether "for here or to go," we offer the crowds of locals and tourists alike an extensive range of homemade bagels, baked goods, sandwiches, soups, salads and sweet treats to satisfy most any craving. Come on by!

...and Chango

There was a time when the three partners of Los Bagels were not partners at all, but accidental traveling companions in quite an interesting adventure. The three were youngish men and each had his own reason for traveling in the Yucatan. Peter, Paul and Dennis met on the dock of a small town (pop. 54) located on a small island (2 sq. miles) in the middle of the Rio Loco.

Dennis left the States hounded by unpaid parking tickets, promising him several nights in jail. He planned to go to Mexico and gather parrots to sell at highly inflated prices back home, in order to clear his good name. And so he found himself with three beautiful handcrafted cages and no parrots. After two months of canoeing and camping and searching he was discouraged.

Paul knew the area well and was, in fact, daydreaming of building a home on the riverbank opposite the dock. He often vacationed in Mexico and was very conscientious, observing local customs and remembering the birth date of everyone he met, who might someday be a potential neighbor. Paul had arrived in town earlier on the weekly mail boat, and was on the dock to leave town in the same fashion.

Peter worked at Club Med miles away and had taken a boatload of guests on an unfortunate excursion which involved capsizing in a storm (not unlike Gilligan's Island). Although he was not the captain, he felt very responsible. Peter was swept solo downstream, wearing an orange life vest, which he traded for six shots of tequila once he had struggled out of the water and into the bar of the tiny town. He too was waiting for the mail boat when along came Dennis.

Dennis, tired of his own company, offered Paul and Peter a ride and thus their adventure began.

That first day they lazily drifted through hours of jungle scenery until twilight and then tied up as soon as the sun sank below the trees. During their journey they exchanged small talk about parrot snaring, the pros and cons of digging a basement and ritualistic mixers at Club Med. Over a dinner consisting of fresh fruit, baked beans and two-month-old rock hard bagels, the travelers sat around the fire considering the fate of Peter's boatload of party people. They were so deep in thought that none of them heard the laughter until it sounded just yards away. Then all three of them heard it. Each looked up startled, witless; it was an eerie chilling snicker, almost intimate, on a hot night in the middle of nowhere. Each knew at a glance the other two had heard it. The sound dropped to a whisper then later wailed to a scream!

Paul had heard of the Chanaco before but hadn't believed until that minute. He leaned in to tell the others of the legendary creature that led people into madness. Very few returned after crossing its path, and those who did were now crazed babbling fools. He recommended they stay close to the fire, which was dying down. The noises bounced off trees and rocks, first a giggle then a shriek. It could sound like one and then a hundred. Peter couldn't take it anymore. He picked up the dinner he'd dropped in fright and heaved it into the darkness. Dennis picked up a bagel and socked it into the air. Pretty soon the three were waging a full-scale food fight with their anonymous enemy, the effort seemed to brace their nerves. THEN, oddly, the noises stopped. There was the distinct sound of munching in the night.

Peter picked a thick branch out of the fire and waved it into a torch. Under a shrub, not far away, was an animal the size of a small armadillo. It had scales, almost webbed feet, a large flat tail, a big snout and enormous eyes. It snickered over it's stash of bagels, and when the bagels were gone it advanced, tail wagging like a dog's, begging for more. And so the three conquered the Chaneco, still known among them as "the creature."

The people in the next town believed their harrowing tale (which might be due to the great quantities of tequila they bought and shared) and on the rest of their journey, mysteriously enough, the nickname they were given preceded them: Los Bagels. It was only natural when the partnership came to pass that they make the creature a symbol of their thriving bagel business. So now you know the real story.

           Peter and Dennis on Los Bagel's                   The infamous "Chango"             Dennis and John with a "peel"

             opening day, March 1st, 1984                                                                                                 of bagels.