These are the city’s finest any way you fill ‘em.
Photograph: Paul Wagtouicz
Written by Amber Sutherland-Namako
Restaurant Critic, Food & Drink Editor
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Much likepizza, New York City bagels are the subject of yearslong debate, competition and consideration. Is it something in our water that makes them so special, and, what exactly are the ideal accoutrement to enjoy them in peak form? We’re gonna go with "maybe" and "whatever you wish, as long as you’re ordering from the very best bagel destinations in NYC." These are our favorite spots in the city now.
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- DUMBO
Ess-a-Bagel has been a Manhattan staple since 1976, and local love for the family-owned business radiates throughout all of the five boroughs. Now, its expertly rolled, boiled and baked beauties are available right here in Brooklyn. Choose your own adventure with a doughy, fluffy everything, pumpernickel or cinnamon raisin bagel, and schmear it with all manner of decadent cream cheese options. Or, leave it to the experts and choose a sandwich from their curated menu of NYC faves.
Where to find the best bagels in NYC
- Delis
- Queens
price 1 of 4
This Fresh Meadows maker has been spinning "all natural, handmade" kettle-boiled then baked bagels since 1961. Varieties like egg-onion, everything and blueberry each have a crisp crust andinterior so chewy and ideal it almost takes off the edge off the wordmoist. Practically a landmark, Bagel Oasis is also open an eye-popping 24-hours a day, every day.
- Bakeries
- Upper West Side
price 1 of 4
Anecdotally larger than a lot of its peers, Absolute actually has seats inside, or you can take it a few blocks away to a park bench. You'll have plenty of time waiting in line to plan your order, but get a head start with visions of cream cheese flavors like blueberry, sun-dried tomato and walnut-raisin, plus smoked fish and deli meats.
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- Shopping
- Specialist food and drink
- Lower East Side
price 1 of 4
Russ & Daughters has beenNew York'spinnacle appetizing store since 1914,furnishing the whole city withlox, herring and bagelsfrom itsiconic little Lower East Side shop. It also has a morning and afternoon cafe nearby on Orchard Street and afantastically gleaming retail factory not too far over the bridge in Brooklyn.
- Bakeries
- Financial District
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A Tribeca staple since 1994, Zucker's got that way by hand-rolling and kettle-boiling its bagels with the best of 'em. It now has five other shops around town, and you can mix and match a bunch of bagel varieties with schmears, salads and smoked fish, or turn them into egg sandwiches.
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- Grocery stores
- Upper West Side
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This Upper West Side institution began as a smoked fish sop with in was founded by Louis Zabar, a Ukrainian immigrant, in1934. Still a family businessin its third generation, its present 20,000 square-feet host a feast of savory and sweet treats, including its signaturemalt barley flourbagels.
- Harlem
Bo’s bagels opened its brick-and-mortar store in Harlem in 2017 after previously testing the waters with friends and family and as a pop-up operating out of a commercial kitchen. Pair its daily bakes with deli meats, cheese and cream cheese flavors like tofu scallion, maple walnut and berry almond.
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- Bakeries
- Upper East Side
price 1 of 4
Still named for the family that ran it from 1916-2008, Orwashers has expanded all the way from the east to the west side in it's century-plus in existence. In addition to bagels, which are among the most sandwich-able of the form, Orwashers overflows with an abundance of baked goods, which incorporate local ingrediends wherever possible.
- Delis
- Lower East Side
price 1 of 4
Bialys mayseem to say it all at this30s-era Lower East Side Jewish bakery, but the bagels are among the city's best, too. They're kettled-boiled, baked on burlap boards and finished on stone. Malt syrup creates a rich sweetness in the end product.
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- Bakeries
- Nolita
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Black Seed bagel shop quickly generated a lot of buzz for its hand-rolled and poached Montreal-style bagels when it opened its first shop in Nolita in 2014. Today it has ten NYC locations where you’ll findits hit titular bagels, plus house-made spreads like scallion cream cheese and smoked mackerel.
- Boerum Hill
Baskets of bagels, hand-written signs and a couple of tables fill this narrow space on its eponymous spot in Carroll Gardens. Choose from fresh baked onion, poppy, sesame and everything options and layer them with thick coats of cream cheese or breakfast and lunch sandwich fillings.
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- Upper East Side
Though the original H&H closed in 2011 after 39 years, others have opened in its stead, including a return to the old Upper West Side neighborhood in 2022. Options across its spots include everything, cinnamon raisin and pumpernickel, all kettle-boiled and baked to create a product “like no other bagel in the world.”
- The Bronx
This Bronx shopoperating out of narrow storefront on Riverdale Avenue has been in business for three decades. It has a dozen different daily baked bagel varieties, a bunch of breakfast and lunch sandwich options and oodles of baked goods like muffins, cinnamon rolls and danishes.
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- Delis
- Little Italy
price 1 of 4
Baz is a kind of cool kid bagel shop, but it still uses the boil and bake method perfected by its established predecessors. Here, they just happen to fashionthe wares into nouveau (or, rathercirca-20-teens) takes like tie-dye in addition to more standard types.
- American
- Soho
price 3 of 4
Presented as regally as can be, stacked on dowels into towers, these beauties are announced—"hot bagels!"—as they're marched through the dining room. The glossy, slightly smaller-than-average,boiled-then-baked, VIBs (very important bagels) come in varieties like everything and salt and pepper.
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- Bakeries
- Greenwich Village
price 1 of 4
This West Village standby has been slinging superlative bagels in several varieties (poppy, cinnamon raisin, sesame) since 1996. The lines can bea little chaotic, but the spot somehow cranks throughcrowds clamoring for its fresh goods before you can even figure out where to stand.
- Bakeries
- East Village
price 1 of 4
Tompkins Square Bagel’s menu includes the expected options like plain, poppy and pumpernickel bagels, plus specialty selections like French toast and chocolate chip. Sandwich ‘em or select from fruit or nut spreads and cream cheese options.
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- Delis
- Park Slope
price 1 of 4
This Park Slope bagel counter specializes in hand-rolled, kettle-cooked bagels in varieties like cinnamon raisin, pumpernickel and garlic. Adorn them in a vibrant array of flavored cream cheeses (mixed berry, guacamole), smoked fish or with the bodega-breakfast-of-champions, bacon, egg and cheese.
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Been there, done that? Think again, my friend.
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