Of all the discomforts and tradeoffs we tolerate living in New York City, there are some steadfast silver linings that remind us that living here is, in fact, worth preposterous expenses and frequent rat-sightings. I don’t know if others would agree that a really good bagel would compensate for your one-bedroom rent being triple what your friend in Chicago pays for an entire house, but it might be a worthy argument. However, I can not count how many times a very good bagel has saved my morning, even my entire day. I want to share the feeling of how good a good bagel can be, so a bagel-only newsletter felt only right.
I have eaten so many bagels and I needed to streamline this to narrow down to the best-of-the-best, the top-notch, the far-and-away favorites of the New York Bagel. Please tell me about yours, too <3
Utopia Bagels
Last summer, I drove an hour each way to try what I had heard was the best bagel around. It turns out, it’s true. Utopia Bagels recently achieved a bit of internet celebrity through the usual Instagram/ Tik Tok/ Food-fluencer channels, which led to the opening of a Manhattan location on West 34th—strange location but whatever!
The original Utopia, on Utopia Parkway, had a line that snaked through the store and well out the door, with a stressful ordering system that made it really unclear what was available and who to ask for what. After an hour long car ride I had no choice but to be excited, with the natural pressure of ordering a bagel at a really busy deli first thing in the morning. I panic-ordered a dozen bagels because I didn’t know what to do and wanted to try everything. They were all fresh out of the oven, generous in size and perfectly doughy with a bit of crunch on the outside. I also got birthday cake cream cheese which tasted like frosting meant for a red velvet cake, but full of sprinkles and disguised as a bagel topping. AND! I had my very first rainbow bagel which I ate with the birthday cake cream cheese… as one does. The best part of the whole experience was easily my egg sandwich: a simple egg and cheese with American on my preferred bagel, the egg everything. I wish I could eat this sandwich once a week—from the Whitestone location specifically—I have never had such a perfectly executed bagel sandwich. I dream of Utopia Bagels, honestly, and I am too scared of going to the new location for fear it will tarnish my past experience. In any case, it is an adventure I will have to revisit this summer… we all need a quick day trip deep into Queens every once in a while.
Leo/Apollo Bagels
Grand and Havemeyer/ East 10th and 1st
Again… yeah. Leo, my beloved Williamsburg home-away-from-home has been dishing out coveted sourdough bagels on the weekends for years. Formerly available only on the weekends with limited quantities and early sell-outs, Leo has graced the rest of New York with their perfectly soft and crispy bagels by way of the Apollo Bagels outpost in the East Village. I am not brave enough for that line, and also don’t need to go to the East Village when I can just… go to Williamsburg.
The offerings remain pretty much the same and, at Leo, are only available in the slice shop. They have a cinnamon-date/cinnamon-raisin bagel, a sesame bagel, an everything bagel, a plain bagel, and sometimes a pumpernickel everything. You can get the bagels with a huge tub of salted butter, a side of cream cheese, a smoked salmon/cucumber/caper/etc. situation, an egg sandwich, or, if you know what you’re doing, plain cream cheese with an enormous slice of tomato topped with salt/pep and olive oil. My go-to every time is the tomato bagel on a sesame, though I’ll take what I can get. The cinnamon bagels with a side of butter are legendary and worth buying and saving for later. Additionally, if you sit down at the restaurant for their semi-new brunch service, you can get a bagel and lox platter for two, pictured below, with your choice of bagel.
This is not your standard New York bagel but it doesn’t matter because it is special and delicious and also perfect.
Olde Brooklyn Bagel Shop
Olde Brooklyn was a Hallie Weiss discovery that had me fixated on this spot and their Za’atar bagels before I even lived in New York. A very home-y bagel joint in Prospect Heights, Olde Brooklyn should be on everyone’s list of bagel destinations, especially if you have found yourself in central Brooklyn. I have been very fortunate to live less than a 15 minute walk from here the entire time I’ve lived in New York and I hope that never changes. The long line on Sunday mornings can be daunting, but I have never regretted my decision to wait. The bagels are soft and pillowy, a nice, humble size, and taste really good. Sure, a bagel with salmon might run you $20 but a good ol’ egg sandwich or bagel with cream cheese won’t be as jarring of an expense. Get some bad orange juice while you wait in line, order your $3 coffee, and stand with all the other hungover patrons waiting impatiently for some nutrients.
Also, I have the best bagel order and I think it is worth taking into consideration—it is also an order that requires a companion who will let me decide what we are eating: one toasted sesame bagel with scallion cream cheese and sliced cucumbers, and an egg and cheese (with American and a lot of hot sauce) on a poppy bagel. You are most welcome.
Honorable Mentions
Tompkins Square Bagels: This is a city-wide favorite for a reason—its popularity most evident by its three brick-and-mortars less than a mile from each other. They must be paying so much rent. Get an egg everything bagel. Look at this lox sandwich!!!!
Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company: These bagels are sweet and enormous and taste a little like dessert in the best way.
Bagel Pub: Another neighbor of mine and another place to get an egg everything <3 They also have a lox and scallion cream cheese which not enough people do.
Peter Pan Donut & Pastry Shop: The best donuts in New York that also make a baller bagel and cream cheese, egg sandwich, or, if you’re me, a toasted sesame flagel (flat bagel) with butter…
Not exactly bagel-specific but here are the current want-to-go spots :)
Happy Monday and pre-long weekend!
lucky charms cream cheese has me crying lmao
👏🏽 This post is single-handedly making me regret moving west