A Bacon, Egg & Cheese Worth the Weight: A Long Beach Saga
Updated: 7 days ago
A Bacon, Egg & Cheese. Three simple ingredients that symbolize an entire way of life here in Long Beach. It’s considered a necessity for survival in this part of the globe, where late night goers and early risers collide in a feeding frenzy of fried proteins, fat, and carbs stacked into one. But these are trying times, and Long Beach natives are becoming increasingly selective with where they choose to satisfy their hunger.
On an inhospitably sunny Summer morning, just any egg sandwich won’t do. Long Beachians can smell the false crowd sourced superlatives. Your 'Best Egg Sandwich on LI' plaque holds no coffee here. In a city just over 3 miles long, it takes mere minutes for residents to traverse the sandbar in order to locate the appropriate egg sandwich.
Which bagels the question: which bacon, egg and cheese sandwich is the best? By what measure? Well, as my father would say, opinions are like…well. You know the rest, everyone’s got one! So I hit the street belly empty, digital scale in hand (I just so happen to have one), to take a look at the only metrics that don't lie: what hits the scale, and what hits the ledger.
The Official Weigh In and Cost
We visited some (but not all) of Long Beach's most iconic breakfast sandwich shops for the official weigh in. We walked in and ordered the same way every time for the sake of consistency, "Let me get a Bacon Egg and Cheese with Hot Sauce". All orders were also paid for with credit card. And now, in no particular order (it's from East to West), let's see how we faired.
Long Island Bagel Cafe
Weight: 245g / Cost: $8.14
Max Bialystok
Weight: 265.5g / Cost: $8.96
Bagel Chalet
Weight: 310g / Cost: $8.40
Brands Delicatessen
Weight: 292g / Total: $9.36
Lindell Deli
Weight: 274g / Cost: $7.76
*All Lindell egg sandwiches include a small coffee...no other deli does (at this time). So factor that in to your decision making, and the coffee's not half bad!
Long Beach Sandwich Company
Weight: 282g / Cost: $8.17
*Note the order was placed in person, but somehow a delivery fee of 29 cents got tacked on. Slight of hand? Maybe. Whatever the case, we included it with our calculations.
Beach Bagel & Deli
Weight: 228g / Cost: $10.16
*The only deli that marked down my order on paper, and asked how I wanted the eggs....but also the only deli to miss the hot sauce!
The Ledger Doesn't Lie: By the Gram & By the Bank
The Heaviest Sandwich
Winner: Bagel Chalet
The Numbers: 310g ($8.40)
The Verdict: Still the undisputed heavy champ, crossing the 300-gram mark with room to spare.
Most Featherweight Sandwich
Winner: Beach Bagel & Deli
The Numbers: 228g ($10.16)
The Verdict: A shocking plot twist on the sandbar—the lightest sandwich on the scale now belongs to Beach Bagel & Deli.
Most Expensive Sandwich (by cost)
Winner: Beach Bagel & Deli
The Numbers: $10.16 (228g)
The Verdict: Breaking the ten-dollar ceiling, making it the undeniable heavyweight champion of the wallet.
Least Expensive Sandwich (by cost)
Winner: Lindell Deli
The Numbers: $7.76 (274g)
The Verdict: The wallet-friendly champion, keeping your morning fuel securely under eight bucks.
Value Analysis (Grams per Dollar)
When you cross-reference what hits the scale with what hits the ledger, the efficiency ratings shift dramatically. Here they are in order of best value:
Bagel Chalet — 36.90 g/$ ($8.40 for 310g) (Best Value)
Lindell Deli — 35.31 g/$ ($7.76 for 274g)
LB Sandwich Company — 34.52 g/$ ($8.17 for 282g)
Long Island Bagel Cafe — 30.10 g/$ ($8.14 for 245g)
Max Bialystok — 29.63 g/$ ($8.96 for 265.5g)
Beach Bagel & Deli — 22.44 g/$ ($10.16 for 228g) (Least Value / Lowest Efficiency)
Summary: Bagel Chalet maximizes your purchasing power with the best gram-per-dollar ratio, while Beach Bagel & Deli brings it up the rear with the lowest return on investment for your ten-dollar bill.
When the grease settles across the sandbar, these figures lay bare the economic reality of the modern Long Beach egg sandwich. The data reveals a weight spread of 82 grams—spanning from the featherweight 228g payload at Beach Bagel & Deli up to the heavyweight 310g titan at Bagel Chalet. Meanwhile, your morning habit is experiencing a cost spread of $2.40, running the gamut from Lindell Deli’s wallet-friendly $7.76 baseline (Don't forget about their free coffee!) all the way to Beach Bagel & Deli punching past the ten-dollar ceiling at $10.16. Whether you're hunting for maximum physical mass per dollar or simply trying to survive inflation one fried egg at a time, the scale doesn't lie. Choose your Bacon, Egg & Cheese wisely.
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