The eight best bagels in NYC, according to the city's Bagel Ambassador (2024)

With their endless variations of savoury and sweet flavours, toppings and fillings, bagels are one of New York City's most iconic foods. Whether it's the simple "everything" bagel with plain cream cheese or the more creative French toast bagel with peanut butter, chances are that if a New Yorker is looking for a quick hot bite, they'll head to their favourite bagel joint.

We talked to Sam Silverman, the city's "Bagel Ambassador," to find the best bagels in town, and got a history lesson, too: though bagels are now considered quintessential New York food, they have a surprisingly dark past. Bagels originated in 17th-Century Poland, where anti-Semitic laws forbade the Jewish community from baking bread.

"The loophole to get around it was that they would boil their dough before they baked it, and so it wasn't technically considered bread," says Silverman. Boiling the dough before baking it is what gives bagels their characteristic crunchy outside and chewy inside, so what started as a loophole to discriminatory legislation would become exactly what makes bagels special. When Eastern European immigrants arrived in New York and Montreal in the 1900s, Jewish families brought this unique recipe with them. Bagels have been a staple in both cities ever since.

Silverman started New York's first BagelFest in 2019 and now leads bagel baking classes and bagel walking tours around the city, among other bagel-related activities, but the iconic carb has been his favourite food since childhood. "My family called me a 'bageltarian' because I had a bagel with virtually every single meal," he says.

Here are New York City's Bagel Ambassador's go-to bagel destinations in the Big Apple.

1. Best for groups: Utopia Bagels

At the top of Silverman's list is Utopia Bagels, which has been making bagels in Whitestone, Queens, for over four decades. "They are one of the most impressive bagel operations that I have ever seen – they hand roll over 100,000 bagels per week," Silverman says. "They have over 50 staff members and an enormous oven that's been in the space since the shop opened that just creates the perfect crisp on a New York bagel."

Over the last decade, Utopia Bagels has acquired the neighbouring businesses to expand the shop into a space large enough to accommodate its growing popularity. Plans are underway to open a second location in Manhattan in the summer of 2024, and Silverman guaranteed that all the hype is worth it.

"My personal favourite bagel in the city is a hot bagel straight out of the Utopia Bagels' oven. It is unrivalled," he says.

Phone: (718) 352 2586

2. Best for on-the-go: Popup Bagels

Popup Bagels is the youngest bagel destination on this list but has quickly risen through the bagel ranks. The business started as a pandemic project in owner Adam Goldberg's backyard in Connecticut. Since then, they've become two-time champions of the Best Bagel Award at the Brooklyn BagelFest and opened a shop in Greenwich Village, with two more on the way in 2024.

"They have a unique model that is different from virtually every other shop in the city," Silverman says. "They do not make bagel sandwiches. Their key is small-batch, fresh-out-the-oven bagels, and then you just rip and dip the bagel with a schmear [of cream cheese]." Popup bagels are also lighter and crispier than the classic New York Bagel, which tends to be denser and larger.

"Although they are a new trendy shop, they're definitely here to stay," says Silverman. In true grab-and-go style, there's no seating in the shop, but the space doesn't need a big footprint to make a big impact. "They just raised 8 million dollars of funding to expand nationally, including from a bunch of celebrity investors," says Silverman.

Address: 177 Thompson St, NYC 10012

Phone: (646) 649 2160

3. Best for bagel sandwiches: Ess-a-bagel

Ess-a-bagel has been around for over 40 years and has become known as the trailblazer of New York bagel shops. According to Silverman, they were the first to make jumbo fluffy bagels, which is the bagel type that the city is known for today and make for the best bagel sandwiches.

"They're an institution," Silverman says. "If someone is coming to the city and they want to get a classic New York bagel, they're probably gonna go to Ess-a-bagel."

Ess-a-bagel has four locations throughout the city: three in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn, which means visitors to the city will almost always find an Ess-a-bagel nearby. The challenge, however, is the monumental line that forms out the door at all hours of the day. Luckily, Silverman has a hack.

"They actually have a second separate line for customers ordering only bagels and cream cheese," he says. "That means no bagel sandwiches, but you get to skip the entire line, and they're always fresh out of the oven. You won't regret it."

Address: 831 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10022; 108 W 32nd St, New York, NY 10001; 324 1st Ave., New York, NY 10009; 55 Water St 1st Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Phone: (212) 980 1010

4. Best for crunchy bagel skin: Absolute Bagels

"Absolute Bagels is an absolute institution on the Upper West Side," says Silverman. "Anybody who grew up there will swear they make the best bagels in the city." Their secret to success is also making hot fresh bagels all day long, and they have perfected the thin crunchy outside.

Absolute Bagels is a hole in the wall with, unfortunately, no hack to the long line that usually snakes down the block, but Silverman is adamant that it is the best shop in the Upper West Side.

"I don't know how they do it," he says. "But they're able to achieve that perfectly crisp bagel skin which makes them one of the best in the city."

Address: 2788 Broadway, New York, NY 10025

Phone: (212) 932 2052

5. Best for French toast bagels: Tompkins Square Bagels

As the name might suggest, Tompkins Square Bagels started near Tompkins Square Park in the East Village and now has three locations stretching to Union Square. The original shop has been making bagels for over a decade and has become known for having one of the warmest and most inviting atmospheres of any bagel destination in the city. The owner and operator Christopher Pugliese worked in fine dining before moving to bagels, which taught him the importance of a warm ambiance and good service.

"He always says that he's not in the bagel business, he's in the happiness business," Silverman says. "He believes his job is to make every single person that walks through the door as happy as they can be."

That means that in addition to making delicious bagels, there's great attention to detail. The kitchen is open space, so customers can see their bagels made in real-time, and Silverman describes the cream cheese display as "absolutely gorgeous". And while Silverman's go-to is a savoury bagel, he has a weakness for one of their sweet offerings.

"The French toast Bagel at Tompkins Square Bagels is hands down the best French toast bagel in the city, and one of the best sweet bagels out there," he says. "Anytime I send people to Tompkins, I tell them to get two bagels – a savoury, and then the French toast for dessert. You'll thank me later."

Address/Phone: 165 Avenue A, New York, NY 10009 [(646) 351-6520]; 184 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003 [(917) 472-7639]; 23 East 17th St, New York, NY 10003 [23 East 17th St, New York, NY 10003]

6. Best for Instagram-worthy bagels: Liberty Bagels

Liberty Bagels is home to the iconic rainbow bagel: the oft-Instagrammed sweet bagel tinged with unicorn-esque swirls of food colouring. Their bagel roller Osiel Escobar has been making rainbow bagels longer than anyone else in the city, and uses a secret ingredient that Silverman is yet to discover.

Liberty Bagels also go all out for special occasions, says Silverman. "For example, they'll do pink and white bagels for Valentine's Day and red-white-and-blue bagels for Fourth of July."

It goes without saying that their savoury bagels are also delicious; they won the best New York bagel at the second Brooklyn BagelFest. Silverman suggests a similar move to his tip for Tompkins Square Bagels: "You gotta get a savoury and a rainbow bagel for dessert." Sixty percent of the people Silverman takes on his bagel tour prefer the birthday cake cream cheese spread with the rainbow bagel, but Silverman says that it also pairs well with peanut butter and Nutella or a fruit cream cheese.

Address/Phone: 16 E 58th St, New York, NY 10022 [(212) 355 0900]; 708 9th Ave #1, New York, NY 10019 [(212) 246 2004]; 260 W 35th St, New York, NY 10001 [(212) 279 1124]; 32 Broadway, New York, NY 10004 [(212) 381 1290]

7. Best for cream cheese flavours: Bagel Pub

According to Silverman, Bagel Pub has "hands down" the best cream cheese selection in New York City, as well as some creative flavours like guacamole, za'atar, honey bacon sriracha and cucumber dill. "It looks like a gelateria," Silverman says, "but it's actually a bagel shop, and they have fantastic bagels too."

Bagel Pub's signature bagel is the pumpernickel everything bagel. Unlike other hole-in-the-wall shops, Bagel Pub's six locations are also trendy destinations. The chain commissioned local artists to recreate famous paintings with bagels as their muse, like the quirky "Bagelisa" (inspired by the Mona Lisa), so customers can enjoy the setting as much as their go-to bagel sandwich.

Address/Phone: 287 9th Street Brooklyn NY 11215 [(718) 499 4402]; 13 36th street Brooklyn NY 11232 [(929) 276 3266]; 57 7th Avenue Brooklyn NY 11217 [(929) 295 0433]; 350 7th Avenue New York, NY 10001 [(212) 901 4170]; 775 Franklin Avenue Brooklyn NY 11238 [(718) 774 2243]; 418 6th Avenue New York, NY 10011 [Opening Spring]

8. Best for old-school New York bagels: Bagel Hole

Bagel Hole is a Brooklyn institution in the Park Slope neighbourhood that has been around for over three decades. Their specialty is old-school style New York Bagels, which means smaller and crispier, but just as delicious. Their old-school style extends to more than just their bagels, however.

"There is zero ambiance," Silverman admitted of the hole-in-the-wall eatery. "It showcases a caricature of bad New York service, while being completely genuine. For example, you can't take pictures in there. They were also probably the last bagel shop in the city to buy a toaster – fresh bagels should never be toasted, and it used to be that bagel shops didn't have one at all. Bagel Hole held out the longest."

Address: 400 7th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215

Phone: (718) 788 4014

BBC Travel'sThe SpeciaListis a series of guides to popular and emerging destinations around the world, as seen through the eyes of local experts and tastemakers.

--

If you liked this story sign up for The Essential List newsletter – a handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.

Join more than three million BBC Travel fans by liking us onFacebook, or follow us onXandInstagram.

If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Travel, head over to our Facebook page or message us on X.