New York Bagel Guide

Bagels provide a looking glass into New York City and the culture of America as a whole.

Jewish immigrants from Poland most likely brought the original bagel concept to New York when they sailed to Ellis Island over a century ago. Over time, the bagel has changed and grown; in some cases it’s really grown.

Now, while traces of the bagel’s history can still be chewed and tasted, New York’s bagel has taken on new life. Much like New York pizza has grown and changed, bagels have evolved too. If you walk into New York’s most famous bagel emporiums, the varieties of available bagels are both astounding and overwhelming.

We adore eating bagels in the big apple and crave the New York food favorite when we’re not there.

A true NYC bagel is rolled and baked properly. Its crisp crust has a slight crunch and the crumb isn’t too airy. It also has a slight yeasty flavor and sweetness. To many eaters’ chagrin, some of the best bagels don’t even have a definable hole but we’re ok with that. Traditional flavors include garlic, onion and poppy with new ingredients joining the fray with mixed reviews.

“…If God had wanted sun-dried tomatoes put into bagels, he would have put more bagel bakers in Italy,” said noted food writer and historian Ed Levine in 2003.

Levine had a point but we don’t fully agree. Like him, we’ve seen the world change and grow, especially through our travels which exposed us to bagels in disparate cities including Edinburgh and Shanghai. However, we feel the interplay of cultures can make food beautiful and tasty.

Growing up eating bagels may have hardwired us to crave an everything bagel with lox and a schmear most of the time. However, we still appreciate eating a rainbow bagel loaded with wasabi tobiko cream cheese every now and again.

We bonded over New York City bagels the night we met and haven’t stopped eating them yet. It’s a shared passion that keeps us busy and fills our bellies every time we return to America’s largest megacity.

After years of bagel research in New York City and beyond, we’re now ready to share our picks for the best bagels in NYC.

Open since 1981 and located off the tourist trail in a Whitestone (Queens) strip mall, the original Utopia is neither the oldest nor newest kid on the New York bagel block (or, in its case, parkway). There’s nothing remarkable about its nondescript space other than its outdoor tented seating. And, yet, Utopia’s lack of curb appeal doesn’t stop crowds from streaming through its doors every day starting at 5am sharp.

The line for Utopia Bagels winds in a long yet rapid queue around the inside of the large store. Some people come for baked goods like babka, cookies and cupcakes. However, most come for the shops’ excellent bagels which range from traditional (plain, everything and sesame) to obscure (rainbow, pina colada and red velvet). Regardless of the flavor, these bagels have a heft just big enough for a hearty one-person breakfast, brunch or lunch without being a total belly buster.

We ordered two bagel sandwiches during our first visit. The plain bagel had a substantial chew and dense crumb that complimented slices of smoked salmon and a generous schmear of cream cheese. The sesame bagel sandwich was filled with whitefish salad that tasted superior to supermarket blends served at many bagel joints. And, while we ordered a rainbow bagel which tasted just like a plain bagel, we passed on both pina colada and red velvet.

Pro Tip
Don’t miss Utopia’s bakery section filled with various babkas, black & white cookies, eclairs, turnovers and knishes. These baked goods are ideal whether you’re hosting a brunch, headed to a brunch or simply have a sweet tooth.

The original Utopia Bagels is located at 1909 Utopia Parkway, Queens, NY 11357, United States. A second midtown Manhattan shop opened in 2024.

New York City lost a bagel icon when Absolute Bagels closed without warning on December 11, 2024. Absolute’s owner, Sam Thongkrieng, had earned a laundry list of health violations before that dark day. Like many, it was our favorite NYC bagel shop before it closed after a three-decade run. We were resigned that it wouldn’t open again. And it hasn’t. Or has it?

After getting word of a new bagel shop in the Absolute space, we hightailed it to the Upper West Side less than 24 hours after landing at JFK. And there it was, albeit with a new name and a spiffed up space. But much was the same – wire bins filled with perfectly sized bagels and Thai iced tea on the menu (a nod to NYC’s Thai bagel rollers). Faces looked familiar and the vibe felt the same. After admiring the colorful cream cheese array, we ordered a bagel for our true test.

That bagel was great -thick, chewy, crunchy on the bottom and filled with a tasty lox cream cheese schmear – just like the Absolute bagels we used to love. We returned a few days later and bought a mix of egg, everything, onion and poppy bagels for ‘research purposes’. We don’t know much about the new owner, Kyung Mi Kim, besides his name. And, yet, we already like him for bringing bagel magic back to Broadway.

Pro Tip
Bring cash unless you’re cool with paying a 4% credit card service charge. The menu includes both options.

2788 Bagels is located at 2788 Broadway, New York, NY 10025, United States.

Considering New York’s century long bagel history, Ess-a-Bagel’s has recent roots – dating back to 1976. That’s when doughnut shop owners Florence and Gene Wilpon and Florence’s brother Aaron Wenzelberg used their doughnut baking know-how to rethink bagel excellence. We appreciate the rethink.

Daryl can still recall walking just a few blocks from his brother’s apartment to the original location on 19th Street and 1st Avenue. (They’ve since moved across the street.) The long lines used to snake out of the simple shop on most Sunday mornings. After having one monstrous bagel, it became almost inconceivable to him that there could or even would be anything bigger or better than than the fresh bagels at Ess-A-Bagel.

He was wrong. Ess-A Bagel no longer bakes the largest bagels in NYC. Tompkins Square Bagels most probably owns that title now. But it doesn’t matter. These bagels are dense. They’re chewy. They’re not too sweet. In other words, they’re legendary.

Pro Tip
Don’t be deterred by Ess-A-Bagel’s inevitable wait. These bagels are worth it.

Ess-A-Bagel has multiple NYC locations. After eating bagels at several, our favorite is located at 324 1st Avenue, New York, NY 10009, United States.

Opened by the owners of Leo, a Brooklyn pizzeria, Apollo Bagels proves that there’s a slippery slope between New York pizza and bagels. No, you won’t find pizza bagels at this 21st century bagel shop. However, it’s fair to say that Apollo’s owners know dough.

Apollo has a bagel selection that’s limited to just three flavors – plain, everything and sesame. While the spread selection is also limited, the shop offers a handful of open-faced sandwich options including the smoked salmon bagel sandwich that we ordered.

Served in a disposable container and topped with capers, red onion and dill, that open-faced sandwich was easy to share. The everything bagel was chewy on the inside the way a bagel should be. It was also a bit tangy thanks to the addition of sourdough. Plus, both sides were fully covered with toasted seeds.

Pro Tip
Order a a bagel or two plus a container of scallion cream cheese if you’re in the mood to rip and dip.

Apollo Bagels has muliple NYC locations. We chowed down at the original shop located at 242 E 10th Street, New York, NY 10003, United States

After patiently queuing for bagels, most customers immediatly rip and dip them into schmear with abandon. While Pop-Up didn’t invent the rip-and-dip bagel concept, the chain deserves credit for popularizing it in America’s most bagel centric city. It’s an efficient way to eat bagels since no utensils are required. It’s also a lot of fun.

Pro Tip
Schmear choices include plain, scallion and vegan plus rotating special flavors like garlic rosemary butter and key lime pie cream cheease.

PopUp Bagels has multiple locations in NYC. We purchased our bagel trio at the Greenwich Village shop located at 177 Thompson Street, New York, NY 10012, United States.

Adam Pomerantz, who previously worked in finance, opened Murray’s Bagels in 1996 to fill a need for great bagels on lower 6th Avenue between Chelsea and the West Village. Pomerantz’s bagel shop, which he named after his father Murray, has since become legend, with crowds of fans lining up for bagels all day, every day.

Their Greenwich Village location is convenient. Chances are that you’ll be in Murray’s neighborhood at some point. It sits in a perfect position for a quick ‘grab and go’ before you head north on a subway to Penn Station or exit by car through the Lincoln or Holland tunnels. However, Murray’s bagels justify a special trip even if you’re not nearby.

These bagels have substantial size and heft. They have a dense crumb and chewy crust. When you bite into an everything bagel at Murray’s, the concentration of seeds, dried alliums and salt is substantial. And, since Murray’s was a pioneer at applying seed toppings to both sides of the bage., it’s a bagel that you could certainly enjoy eating ‘open faced’ or one half at a time which is what many bagel lovers do here.

Pro Tip
Don’t hesitate to order coffee at Murray’s Bagels. The shop uses Counter Culture beans to craft its coffee drinks.

Murray’s Bagels is located at 500 6th Avenue, New York, NY 10011, United States.

Liberty Bagels is a full-service bagel operation that sells two dozen bagel flavors and even more cream cheese and tofu spreads. Most are traditional but it’s Liberty’s more out there flavors – think rainbow bagels and Dubai chocolate cream cheese – that made the bagel brand famous.

While locals are more likely to order sesame and poppy bagels, tourists queue to eat and photograph Liberty’s vanilla-flavored rainbow bagel as well as the shop’s red, white & blue liberty bagel. Many of those tourists pair their bagel bounty with (gasp) birthday cake cream cheese.

We tried both colorful flavors (sans sweet cream cheese) and found them to be surprisingly solid. However, it was Liberty’s egg everything bagel filled with lox scallion spread that won us over. That hand-rolled, kettle-boiled, gimmick-free bagel looked and tasted just like a New York bagel should look and taste.

Pro Tip
Pop over to Liberty Bagel’s midtown shop if you have extra time before catching a train or want a quick bite before watching a Broadway matinee.

Liberty Bagels has several NYC locations. We ate our bagels at Liberty’s near Penn Station at the shop located at 260 W 35th Street, New York, NY 10001, United States.

Open since 2019 in Greenpoint in one of Brooklyn’s most interesting food neighborhoods, the original Bagel Point is a modern bagel shop with automated ordering machines and an extensive menu filled with surprises. Sure, you could order a salt, sesame or poppy bagel here but maybe you’ll want to order a rainbow, unicorn or spiderman bagel instead. Or maybe you’ll order a cragel. Bagel Point’s bagel-croissant hybrid that comes in multiple flavors like cinnamon and coconut.

You may be skeptical based on these crazy sounding options. If you’re like us, your skepticism will abate as soon as you bite into an organic yet traditional water-boiled bagel. If you’re really like us, you’ll fill that bagel with one of Bagel Point’s two dozen house-made cream cheese spreads.

Pro Tip
Satisfy two cravings at once by ordering a pizza bagel.

Bagel Point has locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan. We visited the original Brooklny shop located at 699 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222, United States.

Tompkins Square Bagels is the brainchild of founder Chris Pugliese. He started working at Brooklyn bagel shops when he was only 15 and later set out to open a neighborhood shop where he could make bagels ‘the right way’ by hand, boiled in a kettle and baked. Today, he uses Cutler ovens, which are no longer in production, to produce Tompkins Square’s bagels. (Apparently, Cutler Ovens are one of the ‘secret weapons’ that New York bagel bakers use to create their unique product. NYC tap water is debatably another not-so-secret weapon.)

Pugliese’s bagels aren’t just big. They’re huge, dense and crusty. They could easily feed two people and did when we ate there. But the operation, which was founded in 2011, has a true East Village vibe that includes a special mosaic constructed by Jim Power, murals painted by Chico Art and changing art exhibitions on the walls.

The menu at Tompkins Square has fun sandwiches like the Grieve with chicken cutlet, roasted peppers, mozzarella & onion and the Brooklyn Gino with pepper crusted sirloin, cheddar, onion & roasted peppers. The shop also has an extensive cream cheese selection that includes birthday cake, fig & honey, peanut butter nutella and scallion cream cheese.

Pro Tip
Don’t just check out the visual art at Tompkins Square Bagels. Also check out the art of bagel making in the open kitchen.

Tompkins Square Bagels has multiple NYC locations. We ate this bagel at the shop located at 165 Avenue A, New York, NY 10009, United States.

We recommend ordering a sturgeon sandwich on an everything bagel with tomato and scallion cream cheese. Premium priced at $17.95 plus tax at the time of our visit, the sandwich, with its generous amount of sturgeon, is a worthy splurge. Hey, it’s not like you eat sturgeon every day, much less every week, month or even year.

Pro Tip
The staff at Tal Bagels slices sturgeon to order. It’s fun to watch and even more fun to eat.

Tal Bagels has multiple NYC locations. We at this bagel at the Upper East Side shop located at 1228 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10028, United States.

Combining elements of both New York and Montreal, Black Seed’s bagels are both hand rolled and wood fired. Founders Noah Bernamoff and Matt Kliegman, with roots in both cities, have created a unique product and niche. The same can’t be said of Black Seed’s James Beard baking finalist chef Dianna Daoheung – she was born in Florida and has Thai roots.

We like that Black Seed’s poppy seed bagel appropriately had black seeds on both sides. We especially like it when it’s topped it with a schmear of lox & dill spread. Other notable menu items include the Brick Lane sandwich which channels beigel sandwiches in London and Stumptown coffee.

Pro Tip
Buy a bag of value priced day-old bagels if you have access to a freezer and oven.

Black Seed Bagels has multiple NYC locations. We ate our bagel sandwich at the Lower East Side shop located at 176 1st Avenue, New York, NY 10009, United States.

The team at Bagel Pub hand rolls, kettle boils and bakes its bagels daily at the original Park Slope shop and at six more locations. Beyond the local chain’s signature pumperknickel everything and a gluten-free option, the bagel flavors are fairly standard. The same can’t be said about Bagel Pub’s range of cream cheese spreads which feature funky flaovrs like chipotle bacon, oreo and za’atar.

Despite its name, there’s not even one beer or cider on Bagel Pub’s menu. Instead, drink options include numerous juices and smoothies as well as coffee. Considering the number of Bagel Pub locations in both Brooklyn and Manhattan, it’s a fruitful change of course.

Pro Tip
While you can’t order beer at Bagel Pub, you can order pub grub like burgers, chicken wings and fries.

Bagel Pub has multiple locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan. We ate our bagel at the Bagel Pub located at 287 9th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215, United States.

Morris Kossar and Isadore Mirsky didn’t invent bialys when they started baking round rolls on Ridge Street in the Lower East Side in 1936. That credit goes to 19th century Jewish bakers in Bialystock, Poland. However, Kossar and Mirksy certainly get kudos for popularizing bialys on the ‘left’ side of the ocean.

What Is A Bialy?
While bialys are round like bagels, they’re their own tasty thing. Bialys aren’t boiled and they don’t have holes. Instead, they’re baked in an oven are often topped with diced onion or garlic.

Some things have changed in the past 80+ years. The Lower East Side shop is now called Kossar’s Bagels & Bialys (sorry Isadore!) and is located on Grand Street on the same block as The Pickle Guys and the original Doughnut Plant shop. Plus, there are now multiple locations including shops at Hudson Yards and in both the Upper East Side and Upper West Side for those who don’t want to trek downtown.

As its name suggest, you can eat bialys and bagels at Kossar’s. Both are solid but it’s the bialy that delivers the wow factor. We like topping an onion bialy with lox cream cheese spread but there are no bad choices here.

Pro Tip
Be sure to order at least one bialy when you visit Kossar’s Bagels & Bialys. Flavors include garlic, onion and sesame. Better yet, try all three flavors to find your favorite.

Kossar’s Bagels & Bialys has multiple NYC locations. We visited the Lower East Side shop located at 367 Grand Street, New York, NY 10002, United States.

Shelsky’s also has breakfast sandwiches which feature pork products like bacon, ham and sausage. The bagel shop serves its pork roll, egg and cheese on kaiser rolls though you can order it on a bialy instead. That’s how former New York Times food critic Pete Wells ordered his so it’s probably a good way to go.

Pro Tip
Order a Member of the Tribe sandwich with Eastern Gaspe Nova and a schmear if you prefer a more traditional bagel or bialy experience.

Shelsky’s Bagels has two Brooklyn locations. We ate our bagel at Shelsky’s Brooklyn Bagels which is located at 453 4th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215, United States. The other location, Shelsky’s of Brooklyn, is located at 141 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.

Harlem shines with its rich African American history, striking architecture and eclectic restaurants. Many of those restaurants comforting soul food. Some, like Red Rooster and Sylvia’s, have become world famous. Thanks to Bo’s Bagels on West 116th, the neighborhood has a solid bagel shop too.

Andrew Martinez and Ashley Dikos were bagel pioneers when they opened their Harlem bagel shop in 2017. Today, they sell two sizes of bagels and a range of spreads as well as gluten free biscuits, chili and their own coffee blend.

You may have noticed that neither owner is named Bo – apparently the owners got the name inspiration from Martinez’s kids as well as from their dog Bowser.

Pro Tip
Bring cash. Similar to 2788 Bagels, this bagel shop charged a 4% credit card fee at the time of our visit.

BO’s Bagels is located at 235 W 116th Street, New York, NY 10026, United States.

Matt Pomerantz opened the original Zucker’s Bagels in 2006, a decade after his brother Adam opened Murray’s Bagels (see above). And, while Adam named Murray’s after his father, Matt went a different route by naming his bagel operation after his mother. Clearly, flour, yeast, salt and sugar are part of the brothers’ DNA.

Originally just one shop in Tribeca, Zucker’s currently has seven Manhattan shops from Fulton Street in the Financial District downtown all the way up to 73rd Street on the Upper West Side. They all serve classically hand-rolled and kettle-boiled bagels with a generous sprinkling of seeds on both sides.

Pro Tip
Don’t hesitate to add extras to your bagel order. Zucker’s sources its pickles from Guss’ Pickles in the Lower East Side and its lox from Greenpoint’s Acme Smoked Fish.

Zucker’s Bagels has several Manhattan locations. We ate our bagel near Grand Central at the shop located at 370 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10017, United States.

The big, dense bagels at Bagel Corner are especially solid when they’re hot out of the oven. The same goes for the bagels at Riverdale Bagels and the rye bread at Liebman’s. Bagel Corners are a option if your mother (or, in Daryl’s case, mother-in-law) happens to live in Riverdale. If that’s the case, we recommend the everything bagels. Whether or not you add a schmear is up to you.

Pro Tip
It’s relatively easy to find parking in Riverdale should you journey to the Bronx neighborhood by car.

Bagel Corner is located at 581 W 235th Street, Bronx, NY 10463, United States.
Liebman’s Kosher Deli is located at 552 W 235th Street, Bronx, NY 10463, United States.
Riverdale Bagels is located at 5650 Riverdale Avenue, Bronx, NY 10471, United States.

Since she always ordered a salt bagel with low-fat tuna fish salad and a tomato slice back in the day, we ordered the same thing during our most recent visit. While the ginormous bagel sandwich was merely solid, the memories it evoked were priceless. Yes, New York bagels can evoke memories. They’re that special.

Pro Tip
Pick-A-Bagel sells white cookies which are like black & white cookies but without the chocolate fondant and vice versa without the vanilla fondant. Order one and thank us later.

Pick-A-Bagel has multiple locations. We ate this bagel at the Upper East Side shop located at 1475 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10075, United States.

Since some of the best NYC bagels aren’t sold at bagel shops, we recommend continuing your bagel exploration at the following institutions:

19. Russ & Daughters Cafe

Russ & Daughters became a go-to location for sliced lox when it opened in 1914; however it took a hundred years before there was a place to sit and eat that lox with bagels and other noshes. First cousins Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper opened Russ & Daughters Cafe in 2014 and haven’t looked back since. Today, the cafe is considered by many, including us, to be one of the best NYC restaurants.

While you could technically eat at Russ & Daughters Cafe without eating a bagel, that would just be wrong. All of the popular cafe’s fish boards come with an optional bagel which pretty much solves the issue before it becomes a problem.

Pro Tip
Order a super heebster bagel toast starter. It’s bascially a toasted bagel slice that’s topped with a generous amount of whitefish and salmon salad and garnished with wasabi-infused roe and horseradish dill. It’s also delicious.

Russ & Daughters Cafe is located at 127 Orchard Street, New York, NY 10002, United States.

Bagels aren’t Barney Greengrass’ bread and butter, so to speak. The Upper West Side ‘sturgeon king’ has been serving Jewish comfort foods like smoked and pickled fish, potato latkes, blintzes and babka since 1908. Bagels are one of those foods.

However, it’s difficult to imagine a meal at Barney Greengrass that doesn’t include bagels. Those bagels are one of the reasons why the iconic deli was recognized by the James Beard Foundation in 2006 and named one of the New York Times‘ 100 best NYC restaurants in 2023.

The late Anthony Bourdain often paired a plain toasted bagel with a nova lox & egg scramble when he dined at Barney Greengrass – which is what he ate (plus a sturgeon platter) when he filmed his first season of his first show, A Cook’s Tour. While we never bumped into Bourdain at his favorite UWS deli, we did spot actress Amy Adams eating breakfast with her family there once. And, yes, bagels were on her table.

Pro Tip
Order a bialy at Barney Greengrass if you’ve don’t have time to try a bialy at Kossar’s (see above).

Barney Greengrass is located at 541 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10024, United States.

While it’s entirely possible to buy all the fixings to make bagel and lox sandwiches at home, the Zabar’s Cafe provides an easier option for travelers and people on the go. Generously topped with smoked salmon, onions, capers, tomato and cream cheese, the cafe’s bagel and lox sandwich hits all the bagel buttons. The monster of a sandwich, big enough to share, pops with flaovr thanks to a preponderance of capers jammed inside the bagel hole.

Pro Tip
You can and should use the restroom at the Zabar’s store since the Zabar’s cafe doesn’t have one.

Zabar’s is located at 2245 Broadway, New York, NY 10024, United States.

It makes sense that Orwashers Bakery bakes and sells bagels. After all, the centenarian Upper East Side bakery specializes in a range of Jewish baked goods that includes rye bread, rugelach and babka. But bagels weren’t always on the Orwashers menu.

Keith Cohen started baking bagels after his 2008 purchase of the iconic Orwashers Bakery business. He and his bakers don’t follow the NYC bagel playbook at the artisan bakery. Instead, while they roll and bake their bagels, they don’t boil them. They also double dip their popular everything bagels in a seed mix before baking them. The resulting round bagels have well-defined holes and not too much density. And the everything bagels have lots of seeds both inside and out. Lots and lots of seeds.

Pro Tip
Pick up a cookie, a filled donut or a babka when you buy bagels at Orwashers. The bakery’s sweet treats are outstanding.

Orwashers Bakery has multiple NYC locations. We visited the bakery located at 308 E 78th Street, New York, NY 10075, United States.

Walking into Murray’s Sturgeon Shop is like stepping back in time. Open since 1946, this Upper West Side ship has plenty of smoked fish but no seating. Staff members cut the fish to order and wrap it in wax paper.

Sure, the shop sells things like deli meat, soups and salads and even bagels in addition to smoked fish. But smoked fish is why you need to pop your head into Murray’s Sturgeon Shop. Who knows? You may even leave with some fish.

Pro Tip
Buy some pickled herring if that’s your jam.

Murray’s Sturgeon Shop is located at 2429 Broadway, New York, NY 10024, United States.

New York is a big city. Keep the following additional bagel shops in mind as you travel around different neighborhoods. Maybe one will be your new favorite:

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Original Publication Date: April 23, 2023
Republication Date: March 22, 2026