NWR: NY Times Top 17 Bagels in NYC

[Yule Kim]

The 17 Best Bagels in New York City Right Now

The age-old debate continues.

www.nytimes.com

Reposting (unlocked article link above).

Thoughts?

I managed to make it to Utopia's midtown location back in December and enjoyed the everything bagel with lox and cream cheese I got there. Nice, crispy crust and chewy texture in the inside. "Malty" is a good way to describe it. Top notch. I would recommend if anyone is in the area.

Best Bagel is incredibly useful for its location. It was the first thing I had when I got into Penn Station from Newark. Very helpful that it opens so early (I was there around 6:30am), and it is a very solid bagel.

Russ & Daughters isn't really a bagel shop, but it does serve the best whitefish salad sandwich I've ever had (hat tip to Levi for recommending the Super Heebster way back when; it is my go-to sandwich there. I don't actually think I've ever ordered lox at Russ & Daughters)

I'm pretty sure I've been to Liberty and seem to recall going to Tompkins Square, but neither made a strong impression on me (besides the rainbow bagel at Liberty; yikes)

I had a brief chat with Jayson about this a while back, but I would agree with the Times decision to leave Ess-a-Bagel off (at least based on the bagel I had at their midtown location near 51st Street). Considering the long-line, they were clearly having turnover issues. Bagels weren't particularly fresh; nothing like what they used to be when I went to NYU 25 years ago.

Also, agree that the new H&H bagel (at least the location at Penn Station) is a pale shadow of what was baked at the old location in the Upper West Side.

Bagel Bob's on University Place near NYU is very underrated. Not surprised it was left off, but a great bagel when fresh and I have a lot of fond memories when you could buy a dozen for a dollar each (or maybe even less, it has been a while). Bagel Bob sustained me during my freshman year back in 2000 (that and Gray's Papaya and the $3 slice+soda shop; Joe's Pizza was a little too upscale for me back then).

Surprised that Kossar's and Murray's Bagels are off the list. I'm guessing the newer shops have passed them by?

Brooklyn Bagel isn't amazing, but pretty solid for a big chain.

 

[Rahsaan]

Bagel Bob's on University Place near NYU is very underrated.

This is exactly the place that I mentioned in my now-deleted response from the old site. It may not be in the viral lists, but it's in my neighborhood and the bagels are very good and there is never much of a line. It's our standard.

 

[Jeff Grossman]

Murray's has definitely fallen off the radar. Best and Liberty are both near my office and both pretty good these days. Russ & Daughters is definitely a high-quality place but the high-quality prices put me off sometimes. Court Street, which had a glowing write-up in the NYT a couple years ago, is still good, maybe not as good as it was when the bagels were hand-rolled. Feh on H&H. Can't remember the last time I even considered Ess-A-Bagel. But there are a million good little bagel shops in NYC. (Which reminds me to go try the Montreal smoked meat place again because I think they have Montreal bagels.)