Community News

Hispanic Heritage Month spotlight features local father and son sharing their "Bagel Story"

 

by: Tony Dodero
Published: October 19, 2026

 

 

COSTA MESA...Earlier this summer, restaurateur Carlos Perez Sr. and his "Shirley’s Bagels" team celebrated 40 years of success in serving up New York-style bagels to generations of hungry customers in Costa Mesa.

Originally emigrating from Guatemala and getting his early start in the LA donut industry, Perez and his partners eventually acquired the already popular local business and moved his family to Costa Mesa, where his son Carlos Jr. attended Costa Mesa High School.

After growing up working alongside his dad and learning the ins-and-outs of the bagel business Carlos Jr. decided to break out on his own, applying many of the traditional lessons he learned at Shirley’s to create his own brand of bagels and deli offerings with a modern twist.

His resulting brainchild business became "Boil & Bake,” which opened to great fanfare in Costa Mesa in 2022.

As the city's Hispanic Heritage Month celebration winds down we applaud the four decades of success this hard-working father and son has achieved and we thank them for the entrepreneurial spirit and longstanding commitment each continues to bring to the community.

Click here to check out CMTV’s recent “Costa Mesa EATS” profile of these local culinary heroes as they each share their “Bagel Story."