There are two things that every New Yorker has: an opinion, and a favorite bagel place, and there are almost as many of the latter in this city as the former. The humble bagel — originally a 17th-century creation of Polish Jews that came with them to the United States — is a wildly simple creation: a ring of dough with a hole in the middle, boiled and then baked. But just like a snowflake, no two bagels are alike, and the same goes for the shops that specialize in them. Across neighborhoods and boroughs, each store can put its own different spin on the bagel, from size to texture to the saltiness of the dough, to say nothing of the smorgasbord of flavors and even bigger assortment of spreads that you can get.
Separating out all these options and finding the best places can feel like trying to dig a needle out of a pile of poppy and sesame seeds. So to aid the New York commuter, we’ve come up with our list of the best bagel stores in the city, with a quick rundown of what they offer and, for comparison’s sake, what they charge for the basics: a bagel with plain cream cheese. Whether you order your bagel toasted or slathered in cream cheese or Cynthia Nixon-style, these are the places you should go to get the best of the best.
A Sidewalk Coffee Cart
Every experiment needs its control, and in the case of New York City bagels, that’s the omnipresent sidewalk coffee cart (in this case, one located directly in front of the MTA’s Manhattan offices). The bagel is of unknown provenance, there’s no guarantee that you can get it toasted, and your options are slim (usually plain or everything topped with cream cheese or butter). But it’s also cheap and quick, and for a busy commuter, those two qualities will go a long way. Plus, this particular cart served up a more-than-acceptable everything bagel with butter: not too chewy and plenty fresh.
A Bagel with Plain Cream Cheese Costs: $2.00
Absolute Bagels (2788 Broadway)
A venerable Morningside Heights institution, this neighborhood favorite has been in business since 1990 and boasts python-length lines on the weekends, and it’s easy to see why. There are no frills here — just expertly made bagels that are always fresh and the ideal size and consistency for some of the best prices in the city. (Note: Absolute is a cash-only establishment.) From the golden-brown crust to the perfectly salted dough, Absolute Bagels turns out a can’t-miss winner.
A Bagel with Plain Cream Cheese Costs: $3.65
Apollo Bagels (242 E 10th St)
Everything about this East Village shop is bare bones and minimalist, from the spare interior to the black-and-white lightbox menu to the menu itself: three kinds of bagel (plain, everything and sesame) presented six different ways, with nary a novelty cream cheese or breakfast sandwich to be found. That spartan aesthetic and the bagels themselves (chewy, tangy and salty, reminiscent of a sourdough loaf) may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But their open-faced sandwiches — cream cheese and tomato, smoked salmon with cream cheese, capers and red onion, and whitefish with pickled peppers, cucumbers and dill — are spectacular. (Apollo Bagels has a second storefront in the West Village at 73 Greenwich Ave.)
A Bagel with Plain Cream Cheese Costs: $5.00
Bagel Hole (400 7th Ave)
You wouldn’t guess based on the storefront, which more resembles a hole-in-the-wall bodega than a top-rated breakfast spot, that Bagel Hole is one of Park Slope’s better and most popular bagel joints. That lack of flash (literally; the store has a no photos policy, presumably to keep would-be influencers from putting them all over social media) hides a superb bagel, with a light saltiness to the dough and a good, crispy crust that keeps it balanced between doughy and dry. That’s the result of three decades of experience and an admirable dedication to the basics.
A Bagel with Plain Cream Cheese Costs: $2.80
Bagel Point (699 Manhattan Ave)
This unassuming spot in Greenpoint puts out a good-sized bagel with a nice crust and boasts a fun list of flavored cream cheeses, including esoteric options like pine nut mint, birthday cake, and za’atar. An enormous menu, featuring croissant-bagels, bialys, flavored bagels, and flat bagels, offers something for everyone. (Bagel Point has a second storefront at 787 Lexington Ave on the Upper East Side.)
A Bagel with Plain Cream Cheese Costs: $5.95
Bagel Pub (350 Seventh Ave)
You’ve probably walked by a Bagel Pub storefront without noticing it: they have five locations spread around Manhattan and Brooklyn. Well sized, fresh and affordable, these bagels are the hallmark of consistency churned out by shops that are well-versed in fast and efficient service, making your local Bagel Pub the ideal breakfast stop for a hungry commuter on the go. (Besides Midtown West, you can find Bagel Pub in the West Village at 418 Sixth Ave, in Prospect Heights at 775 Franklin Ave, in Park Slope at 287 9th St and 57 7th Ave, and in Sunset Park at 313 36th St.)
A Bagel with Plain Cream Cheese Costs: $4.50
Best Bagel & Coffee (225 W 35th St)
Best Bagel makes a big promise with its name, but while this Midtown Manhattan joint may not be the city’s top spot, it’s a strong contender for the crown. Big fluffy bagels abound here, ones that look more like rolls than bagels but have good crust and a soft chewy interior. They’re the perfect cushy mattress for a piping hot bacon egg and cheese sandwich. Don’t let the chaos of the morning crowds turn you off from giving Best Bagel a spin and judging their claim for yourself.
A Bagel with Plain Cream Cheese Costs: $5.00
Bo's Bagels (235 W 116th St)
A relative newcomer to New York’s bagel scene, Bo’s grew from a home kitchen operation selling to friends and family to two storefronts, one in Harlem and one in Washington Heights at 156th Street and Broadway. If you don’t know Bo’s, change that: their bagels are soft and airy inside with a solid crust on the outside, and the seasoning is just right. Their za’atar bagel is a hit, as are the specialty sandwiches like their house chopped cheese on a poppyseed bagel. The prices are hard to beat, too.
A Bagel with Plain Cream Cheese Costs: $4.25
Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company (286 Eighth Ave)
Amusingly enough, Brooklyn Bagel has six storefronts but none in Kings County and three in Astoria alone. (Queens Bagel doesn’t have the same ring to it, apparently.) The bagels here are gargantuan; if you like them on the doughy side, this is where you need to go. As a bonus, Brooklyn Bagel brings out occasional seasonal bagels, like pumpkin and gingerbread, to spice up their usual lineup, and carries gluten-free bagels, too.
(Along with Chelsea, Brooklyn Bagel has storefronts in the East Village at 63 E 8th St, in Astoria at 35-05 Broadway, 36-14 30th Ave and 35-09 Ditmars Blvd, and in Mamaroneck at 690 Mamaroneck Ave.)
A Bagel with Plain Cream Cheese Costs: $4.45
Frankel’s (631 Manhattan Ave)
An old school Greenpoint deli, Frankel’s keeps things simple with a small selection of bagels featuring the basics (plain, everything, cinnamon raisin, etc.) and only a handful of cream cheese options. But they don’t skimp when it comes to sandwiches. Their classic nova — salmon, cream cheese, capers, tomato and red onion — is, well, a classic, and their house sandwich is a rich combo of pastrami salmon, scallion cream cheese and dill cucumber salad.
A Bagel with Plain Cream Cheese Costs: $5.00 (and you get lots of cream cheese)
Liberty Bagels (32 Broadway)
Liberty’s claim to fame is being the home of the rainbow bagel, the multi-colored kaleidoscopic semi-sweet bagel made as much for Instagram as for curious customers. (It's now become a staple at bagel places city-wide.) But Liberty is more than a viral breakfast stop. Their bagels are well-made and nicely flavored, and hefty, too; you won’t leave their Financial District store hungry. And their specialty offerings go beyond rainbow: there’s also jalapeño everything, French toast and — of course — the red, white and blue liberty bagel. (Liberty Bagels has three additional storefronts: in Midtown at 260 W 35th St, on the east side at 16 E 58th St, and in Jackson Heights at 82-10 Roosevelt Ave.)
A Bagel with Plain Cream Cheese Costs: $3.80
Popup Bagels (177 Thompson St)
Birthed in a Connecticut kitchen and a two-time BagelFest winner, Popup Bagels is out to challenge all of the city’s bagel conventions. Sandwiches aren’t on the menu, spreads and flavors are minimal, their Greenwich Village storefront is miniscule, and buying a single bagel isn’t allowed. Instead, you get either three, six or 12 in your order, which comes with a small tub of cream cheese. In return, you get fresh bagels right out of the oven blessed with immaculate crust and a dense, doughy interior that's soft as a pillow. It may go against the grain, but when the end result is this good, who needs norms?
(Popup Bagels has two additional stores in New York on the Upper West Side at 338 Columbus Ave and on the Upper East Side at 1457 3rd Ave, plus five locations in Connecticut and one on Long Island in Amagansett.)
A Bagel with Plain Cream Cheese Costs: $12* (*minimum order of three bagels plus cream cheese)
Subway
Seven-minute walk from Broadway-Lafayette St B/D/F/M station and Bleecker St 6 station
Shelsky's of Brooklyn (141 Court St)
Owner Peter Shelsky’s love of traditional Jewish delis shines through at his shop in Cobble Hill, where the bagels share the spotlight with smoked fish aplenty. Big and chewy, the bagels here are best suited to hold a schmear of cream cheese and some sliced lox, but they’re plenty good on their own. Don’t miss their special Szechuan peppercorn bagels, which will leave your lips tingling and your tastebuds happy. (Shelsky’s has a second storefront in Park Slope at 453 4th Ave.)
A Bagel with Plain Cream Cheese Costs: $6.99
Terrace Bagels (222 Prospect Park West)
Head to Windsor Terrace for the Platonic ideal of a bagel in a no-frills setting. Terrace Bagels' storefront is half bakery, half cafe: you order your bagel and whatever else you want on one side, then walk into the space next door to wait for it, where you’ll also find tables and the ambience of an old neighborhood diner. The bagels are doughy with a good crust, and the selection is diverse without being overwhelming. You simply can’t go wrong here.
A Bagel with Plain Cream Cheese Costs: $4.95
Tompkins Square Bagels (165 Ave A)
A bagel from Tompkins Square Bagels in the East Village is a cloud turned into dough. They’re dense and squishable, resembling an overinflated tire, and one of the biggest you can find in the city. This local chain is probably best known for its sweet bagel and cream cheese flavors — the French toast bagel has nice touches of maple syrup and powdered sugar without being cloying — but the fluffy savory bagels make for perfect breakfast sandwiches. (Tompkins Square Bagels has two additional storefronts in the East Village at 184 2nd Ave and 23 E 17th St.)
A Bagel with Plain Cream Cheese Costs: $4.95
Utopia Bagels (1909 Utopia Parkway)
Utopia, which has been in business in the far reaches of Queens since 1981, is a regular presence on every New York City bagel guide and list (and was recently crowned Best Bagel at BagelFest 2024), and with good reason. These are some of the best if not the best bagels in the five boroughs: soft and fluffy with remarkable resilience in the dough, phenomenal crust and a satisfying crunch, seasoned to perfection. Whether covered in cream cheese or serving as the bookends of a breakfast sandwich or simply eaten chunk by chunk, Utopia’s bagels are a true treat. (Utopia Bagels has a second storefront in Midtown Manhattan at 120 E 34th St.)
A Bagel with Plain Cream Cheese Costs: $5.25
Zabar's (2245 Broadway)
Open since 1934, Zabar’s, located on the Upper West Side, is synonymous with both New York’s Jewish food culture and the bagel itself. Fittingly, the go-to here is the lox sandwich, made with the house smoked salmon and topped with cream cheese, red onion, capers and tomato. It’s the gold standard of Jewish deli food, and the Zabar’s bagel is a solid, steady performer, giving you good crunch and the right amount of chew, with the lightly salted dough supporting but not overshadowing the toppings. It’s a classic for a reason.
A Bagel with Plain Cream Cheese Costs: $3.99
