Destination: New YorkWhen to Visit: Year-roundGreat for: Food + Drinks
Written By The Exploreist
By Todd Maurer | Updated: June 22, 2024
New Yorkers are incredibly lucky. It’s not just because we live in a “glorious” movie set but also because we enjoy the benefits of a modern, diverse city. After living here for over a decade, we’ve never craved any food we couldn’t find — Italian, Japanese, French, German, or even Szechuan. However, we aren’t sharing any of that but bagels — what the Big Apple has been making since the 1950s. From small shops that have stood the test of time to those creating the next big craze, here are some of the best bagels in NYC.
1: Empire Bagels
Location: 3101 Westchester Ave, Bronx, NY 10461
If you are an early bird, this one is for you. If you aren’t, it’s okay — move on, and there are many other great spots to try. Wait, what does this have to do with bagels? This small shop in the East Bronx opens from 5:00 AM until noon every day. So, if you show up at 11:00 AM, you might not get your favorite bagel varieties or anything at all. They only serve bagels, freshly made and hot, cream cheese, coffee, juice, and a few pastries. Their bagels are similar to the massive, buoyant ones in Jersey and puffier than the average New York City bagel, with a shiny caramelized exterior and an extra fluffy inside. If you want some Instagrammable photos, their Rainbow Bagel is super pretty and delicious, too.
2: Kosher Bagel Hole
Location: 1423 Avenue J, Brooklyn, NY 11230
This teeny-tiny Park Slope bagel shop has been making the same 11 flavors of bagels since it first opened in 1985. Our favorite is the everything bagel with cream cheese, and the bagel itself is pretty perfect, too — think of a golden-brown shell, chewy white center, and crunchy edges that give a satisfying cracking sound with every bite. Just like the shop, the bagels are small, so you’ll have more room for a salt bagel with lox spread and a pumpernickel with butter in one sitting. It’s more of a grab-and-go place with no seating and only accepts cash. The price is fantastic — a bagel and coffee cost about $5 or less! When the weather is nice, take your warm, freshly made bagels and enjoy them at Prospect Park.
3: Best Bagel & Coffee
Location: 225 W 35th St A, New York, NY 10001
The name says it all. Fresh hand-rolled bagels (there are 19 varieties) with plenty of cream cheeses to choose from, plus sandwiches, egg platters, fresh salads, and homemade soups — Best Bagel & Coffee is the place to be for amazing bagels and breakfasts. Their bagels are well-seasoned, with a fluffy, soft center and crunchy edges that give a satisfying cracking sound with every bite. Expect a line, which may look long and daunting, but we have never waited more than 5 minutes for our order. Seating is limited, but if you take it to-go, this is a moot point.
4: Russ & Daughters
Location: They now have 4 locations in NYC.
Your bagel experience at this unassuming shop in the Lower East Side won’t be complete without smoked fish, so order some as a topping for your dough and thank us later. The folks behind the kitchen are sandwich-making experts. The Nova is cut so fine it’s almost transparent and layered on top of a solid bagel smeared with homemade cream cheese, thinly sliced tomatoes and onions, and finished off with a couple of capers. Take a number, find a spot (if there is any) and wait your turn. This place is also loved by celebrities in the neighborhood, so keep your eyes peeled — you never know who you might run into.
5: AbsoluteBagels
Location: 2788 Broadway, New York, NY 10025
You won’t miss this small bagel shop in the Upper West Side, just by its long line, which begins to form early in the morning. Fresh from the oven, they are hard to beat, and the egg version dressed in cream cheese is a must. You can also customize yours by choosing from a variety of toppings. The bagels are generously sized but rather light and chewy, with enough moisture locked in to be serviceable on day two, especially after toasting. Our favorite flavors are egg, which is mildly sweet, and pumpernickel raisin. Absolute Bagels also makes fantastic Thai iced tea — the place was founded by Sam Thongkrieng, who moved from Bangkok to NYC in the 1980s and worked at Ess-A-Bagel for years.
6: Utopia Bagels
Location: 1909 Utopia Pkwy, Whitestone, NY 11357
If this is your first time, it might be a little confusing on how to order, but basically, a counter person will take your order, prepare it, and find you again, after which, you bring it up to the cashier to pay.
If you aren’t within delivery range, you’ll have to travel to where the subways don’t go to check out what this Queens gem has to offer. However, once you sink your teeth into a fresh-baked, perfectly seasoned bagel, every minute of your trip will be well worth it. There are plenty of bagel varieties, from the standard options to more fun and unique ones like rainbow bagel, prosciutto bagel, and French toast bagel. The shop has been around since 1980, and all the bagels you see today are still baked in a carousel oven from 1947. The seasoning doesn’t completely overpower the bagel itself, which is slightly chewy, not too puffy, and has a perfect cream cheese ratio.
7: Bagels & Schmear
Location: 114 E 28th St, New York, NY 10016
This bagel shop is one of the few reasons why we keep cash in our pockets. Bagels are made fresh, warm, and slightly chewy, smeared with the perfect amount of cream cheese and lox that doesn’t spill when you bite into them. Their whitefish is also great. If you want your bagels delivered, call them, and they do it fast. If you go in person, there is always a short line as the space is tiny, reminiscent of the small-dollar pizza spots in the city. Seating is competitive, but you can grab to go and enjoy it at nearby Madison Square Park. Price-wise, one bagel costs less than $4, and there are also deli options if you want something else.
8: Orwasher’s Bakery
Location: They have 3 locations in New York City.
This century-old kosher spot has a reputation for making some of the best bread, classic black and white cookies, and filled-to-order jelly doughnuts in town. For a while, I thought it was a place I would stop by one day, grab a mediocre roll and cookie to go, and then right away forget which block it was on or the name of the bakery, making it impossible to find again, but I was wrong. Everything is baked fresh here, and their bagels, instead of the classic boiling and baking, are made in a high-tech steam oven, giving each one the same glossy finish. It is a tiny shop, so you may need to wait outside, but the line moves quickly.
9: Bo’s Bagels
Location: 235 W 116th St, New York, NY 10026
This Harlem bagel shop was started by Andrew Martinez and Ashley Dikos after years of living in the neighborhood without being able to find a decent bagel. Andrew, a native New Yorker, decided to make bagels in their home kitchen so they didn’t need to travel on weekends just to get some fresh gluten into their systems. Ashley was skeptical in the beginning, but Andrew’s bagels impressed Ashley’s coworkers and his mother. Things snowballed from there, and soon, everyone knew about his bagels. No matter how many they bake, they sell out fast. There are also specialty sandwiches like The Andrew, with egg, sausage, bacon, Vermont maple syrup, and scallion cream cheese.
10: Zabar’s
Location: 2245 Broadway, New York, NY 10024
Zabar’s is best experienced in person — you have to see the crowds, smell the croissants being baked, admire the rich brown hues of cappuccino, appreciate the beauty of hand-sliced nova, and walk upstairs to see the largest selection of imported copper cookware. While this gourmet grocery store sells almost everything, the main attraction is the hot kneaded bread. We stopped by on a Sunday morning last year, hoping to treat ourselves to a nice warm toasted everything bagel with cream cheese and fish — it was delicious! While considered a Jewish delicatessen, Zabar’s actually doesn’t serve kosher food.
11: Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company
Location: They have 5 locations across New York City.
Despite its name, Brooklyn Bagel actually doesn’t have any locations in the borough. Instead, there are five spread across Queens and Manhattan. For over 15 years, since the first shop opened in 2008, the chain has been serving New Yorkers addictive kettle-boiled and hand-rolled bagels — think of golden-brown shells and crunchy edges, with each bite leading you through a delicious journey into the chewy center. The Chelsea outpost is super popular, frequently boasting long lines for their big, airy bagels. They also serve mini bagels, a robust selection of cream cheeses, and rotating specials with a fun, unique twist.
12: Tompkins Square Bagels
Bagel purists won’t like this little shop in the East Village, with its unique twists on the traditional bagels you grew up eating. Popular items include the cinnamon raisin bagel, the chocolate chip bagel, and the premium blueberry chocolate chip bagel, with a rainbow of cream cheese options to choose from. It has long lines for a reason — a massive variety of menu items that’ll satisfy any appetite. Plus, Tompkins Square is probably the only bagel place your out-of-town friends have heard of, and just like they are taught to never order a New York bagel toasted, always, always carry enough cash for a coffee or a BEC.
13: Frankel’s Delicatessen & Appetizing
Location: 631 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222
This family-owned and operated New York-style deli has been bringing Jewish fare to the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn since 2016. Raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Zach and Alex Frankel, the brothers behind the eponymous delicatessen, wanted to translate their rich memories and experiences as lifelong New Yorkers into a restaurant with timeless appeal — that’s how Frankel’s was born, offering a curated selection of smoked fish, smoked and braised meat, fresh salads, classic sandwiches, and malt-sweet, hand-rolled bagels from Baz.
14: Bagelworks
Location: 1229 1st Avenue, New York, NY 10065
As the name suggests, the bagel here works! These slightly smaller, denser bagels pull long lines each weekend on the Upper East Side. You’ll find all the classics here, including lox, many spreads, and BEC, but the menu also offers Jewish-leaning specialties like knishes and black and white cookies. Those who keep kosher-ish will find plenty of meats to replace bacon or sausage. The bagels are made fresh daily, soft and easy to tear with a great texture. Their system of ordering and paying is a bit chaotic in the mornings, and we recommend taking a look at the menu beforehand because they take orders right as you walk in.
15: Shelsky’s of Brooklyn
Don’t expect to get a spot easily at this Jewish deli on Court Street in Cobble Hill. Real estate is limited, with only a few high-tops near the front windows, but that doesn’t make this neighborhood gem any less appealing. In fact, people love gathering here in the morning for their airy, soft bagels with a caramelized exterior. If you want to keep things simple and fishy, get the classic Member of The Tribe, which comes with nova and plain or scallion cream cheese on a bagel or bialy. The pastrami smoked salmon is also great and worth trying. If you live closer to Park Slope or Gowanus, Shelsky’s has a second location there.
16: Leo’s Bagels
Location: 3 Hanover Square, New York, NY 10004
Bagels seem like a big thing in NYC, and out-of-towners are always warned not to order one toasted. If you are skeptical after eating one on a business trip to the city a year ago, we strongly urge you to try it again at Leo’s in FiDi this time. This teeny-tiny bakery has one of the city’s puffiest bagels, with a pleasantly gooey chew while the bottom remains partially crispy. We love their scallion cream cheese, which has real crunchy scallions, and their very salty belly lox that ties it all together. Also, their bagels are massive, and one is all you need. The addition of cheese and everything else can be pretty filling.
17: Ess-A-Bagel
Location: I lied! They actually have 3 locations now in the city!
This classic bagel shop first opened its location in 1976 along 1st Avenue in Midtown East, which later moved — or was kicked out due to a disagreement on rent. Now, they even have a second location in Midtown, both of which still claim long lines for their chewy-crusted bagels. It does take a while to pick up an order for sandwiches or a bagel with lox, but if you just want to have a bite of their bagels and cream cheese, sneak to the back, where the line is much shorter. While the place is small, the bagels are big, which is about the size of the wheels on a Tonka truck, and filled with a perfect ratio of cream cheese to fluffy dough, with a bubbly crust that’s still chewy and a little crispy.
18: Bagel Pub
Location: They have 3 locations in NYC.
If you walk into this small bagel shop in Crown Heights on a Sunday morning, you might feel a bit overwhelmed. The folks behind the counter are slicing bagels while taking names, people in two separate lines are anxiously waiting for their orders, and an Ariana Grande song from 2010 will probably be blasting from the sound system. Once you sink your teeth into a fresh-baked, airy, and perfectly seasoned bagel, you’ll thank yourself for pushing through. They also have a nice patio out back if you need some time to be alone with your bagel, tables in front, or you can take it to go and eat at the nearby parks. One spread option we always order is za’atar cream cheese.
19: Sadelle’s
Location: 463 W Broadway, New York, NY 10012
Operated by the same people at Major Food Group, who also manage Carbone, Parm, Dirty French, and Santina, Sadelle’s is your spot for some incredible breakfast and tiny, crusty rounds of dough crafted by Melissa Weller, a former Per Se and Roberta’s baker. These bagels deserve as much recognition as the cascading fish towers. You can select your favorite fish topping, or, for $125, opt for the whole lot that comes with every bagel-appropriate fish you can imagine! The space is huge and split into a sit-down restaurant and a take-out bakery where you can get bagels and babka to go — the lines are always long, especially on weekends.
20: Baz Bagel
Location: 181 Grand St, New York, NY 10013
Most great bagels you find in NYC are purchased over the counter, but at Baz, a neighborhood bagel shop and restaurant specializing in hand-rolled bagels, you can order your hot kneaded bread from a laminated menu at a table without having to wait an outrageous amount of time. If you come here just for the bagel rather than a full meal, there’s a counter up front where you can do that — we love their pumpernickel everything bagel. In addition to bagels, there are great varieties of smoked fish, cheese, homemade salads, and diner classics like challah grilled cheese, matzoh ball soup, and potato latkes.
21: Bagel Oasis
This Queens bagel shop has been around since 1961 and will linger in your mind years after you visit. The charm has nothing to do with their cream cheese, fish, or seasoning but rather with the completely different texture and mouthfeel that most of its NYC counterparts don’t have — their bagels are inexplicably light and toast-like, allowing you to eat a few in one sitting without feeling full. What’s the secret? It is the high temperature at which these bagels are baked, creating tiny air bubbles on the outside. If you prefer bagels with a bit less chewiness and more delicacy, these will be your favorites.
22: Black Seed Bagels
Location: They have over 6 locations in New York City.
Opened by Noah Bernamoff of Mile End and Matt Kliegman of The Smile in the summer of 2014, this Nolita bagel shop is known for its hand-rolled and Montreal-style bagels and house-made spreads, including scallion cream cheese and smoked mackerel. The “Montreal style” means that they’re poached in honey water and seeded before being baked at high temperatures, resulting in a crispy texture with a bit of sweetness. While their menu is great as is, frequent collaborations with NYC’s best chefs and restaurants make it an appealing destination for breakfast surprises.
23: Murray’s Bagels
Location: 500 6th Ave, New York, NY 10011
Murray’s was born in 1996 out of a desire for a better neighborhood bagel shop in Greenwich Village. They have a second location in Chelsea. The result is thinner, dense bagels with a bubbly crust and chewy center. In addition to cream cheese, fish, and egg sandwiches, you’ll find various meat-filled varieties like chicken cutlet, pastrami, and salami for a hearty breakfast or when you’re not in the mood for bagels. Owner Adam Pomerantz is also the guy behind Leo’s in the Financial District, and his brother Matt owns Zucker’s in Tribeca — both are also good bagel destinations. The “bagel blood” runs through the entire family.
24: H&H Bagels
Location: 1551 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10028
H&H Bagels has been making bagels in Manhattan since 1972, and it’s the only spot on this list that has been featured in both Seinfeld and Sex & The City. Even if you aren’t interested in bagels, this makes for a great tourist stop. Glamour and history aside, their rotund bagels follow the textbook New York style: each is swirled with a dark, caramelized sheen and loaded with tiny air holes that make them pretty immaculate. The sparsely seasoned exterior is pleasantly chewy, while the dough stays soft and malleable. Plus, there’s an excessive amount of cream cheese slathered in between!
25: Kossar’s Bialys
Location: 367 Grand St, New York, NY 10002
Located at 367 Grand Street and Essex Street on the Lower East Side, Kossar’s Bialys is the oldest bialy bakery in the country. The place gets its name from the ‘Bialystoker Kuchen’ of Białystok, Poland. Russian Jewish bakers arrived in NYC in the late 19th century and made an industry out of their recipe for the mainstay rolls baked in almost every household. The bagels at Kossar’s are made in three stages: kettle-boiled, baked on burlap boards, and finished on stone. The result has a rich sweetness thanks to the pure malt syrup. They also offer bialys, which taste similar to bagels but are shaped and cooked differently.
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