The Best Bagels in New York City

The New York bagel argument never ends because everyone is defending the shop closest to their apartment. Fine. That loyalty is correct. But some bagels are better than others, and the gap between a great one and a bready supermarket ring is enormous.

Here is what we think matters. A good bagel has a crust that fights back a little, a chewy interior with some tension in it, and enough flavor on its own that cream cheese is a pleasure, not a rescue. Size is not a virtue. Freshness is everything. And the best bagel in the city is the one you eat within an hour of it leaving the oven.

This list covers eighteen shops across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens: the appetizing counters that built the tradition, the old-school corner shops that keep it going, and the newer bakeries that pushed it somewhere interesting. Every one of them is open as of this fall. Almost all of them close by mid-afternoon, so plan accordingly.

The appetizing counters

Appetizing is the old New York category of shops that sell fish and dairy: smoked salmon, sable, whitefish, cream cheese, herring. The bagel here is the vehicle. The fish is the point.

Russ & Daughters

Lower East Side · 179 E Houston St · $$$

Open since 1914 and on this block of Houston Street since 1920, Russ & Daughters is the reference point for bagels and lox in America. Take a number, wait your turn, and let the counter staff hand-slice your salmon while you work out how much sable you can justify. The bagels are good. The fish is the reason you came.

Go for: The Classic, cream cheese and your choice of salmon on a bagel or bialy. Know before you go: Open daily 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the number system is the law. Pair the trip with our Lower East Side guide.

Kossar's Bagels & Bialys

Lower East Side · 367 Grand St · $

Kossar's has been baking since 1936 and on Grand Street since 1960, and it bills itself as the oldest bialy bakery in the country. The bagels are hand-rolled and solid. The bialy is the order. Pale, soft, blistered at the edges, with a well of cooked onion in the middle, it is a different animal from a bagel and a better one for some purposes.

Go for: An onion bialy, plain, still warm. Buy a half dozen for the freezer. Know before you go: Open daily from 6 a.m. and closes by 4 or 5 p.m. It shares a neighborhood with Russ & Daughters, so do both in one morning.

Barney Greengrass

Upper West Side · 541 Amsterdam Ave · $$$

The self-styled Sturgeon King has been on Amsterdam since the early twentieth century and still feels like a room that never got the memo about renovation. That is the charm. Barney Greengrass does not bake its own bagels, so come for the fish, the eggs and the scene at weekend brunch.

Go for: Sturgeon on a bagel, or the eggs scrambled with Nova and onions. Know before you go: Closed Mondays. Weekend lines for tables are long; the retail counter moves faster.

Shelsky's of Brooklyn

Cobble Hill · 141 Court St · $$

Shelsky's is appetizing with a bit of a Brooklyn sense of humor: classic whitefish salad, sable and nova on one side of the case, creative smoked fish sandwiches and pastrami on the other. The bagels are chewy and properly sized, and the fish is some of the best in the borough.

Go for: A whitefish salad bagel, or one of the house smoked fish sandwiches. Know before you go: Weekday hours run 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Check weekend hours before heading over.

Frankel's Delicatessen & Appetizing

Greenpoint · 631 Manhattan Ave · $$

Brothers Zach and Alex Frankel opened this deli in 2016 with Upper West Side standards (the Zabar's and Barney Greengrass kind) and a Greenpoint address. The counter is small, the stools are few, and the line moves. Everything is packed to go, which suits the neighborhood's walk-to-McCarren-Park Saturday energy.

Go for: Specialty Combo #1, pastrami-cured salmon with dill cucumber and scallion cream cheese on a bagel. The pastrami egg and cheese is the hangover version. Know before you go: Open daily 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Build a morning around it with our Greenpoint guide.

The Manhattan corner shops

These are the places that make the city run: big cases, fast counters, dozens of cream cheeses, lines that snake out the door and move surprisingly quickly.

Ess-a-Bagel

Stuyvesant Town · 324 1st Ave · $$

Ess-a-Bagel opened on First Avenue in 1976 and made its name on bagels roughly the size of a steering wheel. They are soft, pillowy and huge, which is not our usual preference, but the scale is part of the experience and the cream cheese selection is deep. One sandwich can feed two.

Go for: An everything bagel with scallion cream cheese and lox, split with a friend. Know before you go: Open daily 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Midtown East shop has been moving to a bigger space a few blocks from its longtime Third Avenue address this year, so check the official site before trekking there.

Tompkins Square Bagels

East Village · 165 Avenue A · $$

The original Avenue A shop opened in 2011 and has since grown to five Manhattan locations, which tells you how well the formula works. Hand-rolled, kettle-boiled bagels come out of the ovens all morning, and the case of house-made cream cheeses is long enough to cause decision paralysis. The breakfast sandwiches are hefty and reliable.

Go for: A classic bacon, egg and cheese on an everything, or a plain bagel with one of the house specialty cream cheeses. Know before you go: Open daily 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eat it on a bench in the park across the street, then see our East Village guide for the rest of the day.

Leo's Bagels

Financial District · 3 Hanover Sq · $$

Leo's is the best reason to be downtown before 9 a.m. on a weekday. The bagels are gooey and chewy in the way great New York bagels are, the portions are enormous, and the counter handles a morning rush of office workers with real efficiency. Seating is a few stools by the window, so plan to walk.

Go for: An egg and cheese on a plain or everything bagel. It is simple and it is the order. Know before you go: Open 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. Weekend lines stretch down the block. Not to be confused with Leo the Williamsburg pizzeria, which spawned Apollo below.

2788 Bagels

Upper West Side · 2788 Broadway · $

This is the old Absolute Bagels space between 107th and 108th Streets. The original shut down in December 2024 after health violations, and new owners reopened it at the start of 2026 with fresh equipment, a brighter room, much of the same staff and, by most accounts, the same bagels. It became 2788 Bagels in March after the old owners objected to the name. Columbia students and uptown regulars came right back.

Go for: A warm everything or sesame with plain or scallion cream cheese. Keep it simple. Know before you go: Open daily 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. It gets crowded fast on weekend mornings.

BO's Bagels

Harlem · 235 W 116th St · $

BO's opened to fill a real gap, a proper bagel shop in Harlem, and it has become a neighborhood fixture with regulars whose kids grew up on the place. Bagels are baked on site daily, and the location, right by the 116th Street B and C stop, makes it an easy commuter grab. Recent student press has called it the best in the city, which is the kind of claim we respect.

Go for: A bacon, egg and cheese, or an everything with lox and cream cheese. Know before you go: Open daily 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is a second shop in Washington Heights.

The new school

A newer generation of bakers took the bagel somewhere different: sourdough starters, wood-fired ovens, hot bagels served whole for tearing. Purists grumble. The lines suggest the purists are outnumbered.

Apollo Bagels

East Village · 242 E 10th St · $$$

Apollo came out of the team behind Leo, the sourdough pizza spot in Williamsburg, and it shows. These bagels have a deeply burnished, crackly crust and an open, craggy, slightly tangy interior closer to good bread than to a classic bagel. Some people think that disqualifies them. We think they are among the best things to eat in the city before noon.

Go for: A plain, sesame or everything with scallion cream cheese. The bagel is the star, so do not bury it. Know before you go: There are also shops at 73 Greenwich Ave in the West Village and 41 John St downtown. Weekend lines are a scene.

PopUp Bagels

Greenwich Village · 177 Thompson St · $$

PopUp started in Connecticut and landed in New York in 2023 with a strange and effective idea: no slicing, no toasting, no sandwiches. You buy hot bagels by the three-pack with a tub of schmear on the side and follow the house instruction to grip, rip and dip. It is less a meal than a ritual, and it works best shared with two friends on a stoop.

Go for: A mixed three-pack with the plain scallion schmear plus whatever limited-run flavor is on the board. Know before you go: There is no seating at Thompson Street, and there are several other New York locations. Three is the minimum.

Black Seed Bagels

Nolita · 170 Elizabeth St · $$

Black Seed built its name on smaller, denser, wood-fired bagels with a Montreal accent, sweeter and crustier than the classic New York style. The Elizabeth Street shop is the flagship, and the menu of composed sandwiches is where it shines, with good fish, thoughtful toppings and bagels sized so you can actually finish one.

Go for: A smoked salmon sandwich on a sesame, or a simple everything with cream cheese to taste the bagel itself. Know before you go: There are also outposts at Chelsea Market, Rockefeller Center, 200 Park Ave and Long Island City. Nolita opens at 7 a.m.

Edith's Sandwich Counter

Williamsburg · 495 Lorimer St · $$$

Edith's started as a bagel pop-up inside a pizzeria and grew into one of the most talked-about Jewish delis in Brooklyn. The menu wanders happily between tradition and invention: smoked brisket pastrami on rye, schnitzel pitas, raspberry-rosewater pastries. The bagel sandwiches are the reason to get there early, because things sell out.

Go for: The bagel BEC with latkes. It is excessive in the right way. Know before you go: The Lorimer counter has run limited days and hours, so check before going. There is also a West Village location at 64 Charles St. See our Williamsburg guide for what to do after.

Sadelle's

SoHo · 463 W Broadway · $$$$

Sadelle's is the bagel as brunch event, from Major Food Group, the team behind Carbone. The towers of smoked fish arrive on tiered stands, the room is loud and good-looking, and the prices reflect that. It is not where you go for a quick everything with cream cheese. It is where you take your visiting parents or celebrate something.

Go for: A fish tower for the table, with bagels on the side. Know before you go: Reserve ahead for weekends. Weekday hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; weekends open at 8 a.m. For more big nights out, see our date night restaurants guide.

Brooklyn and Queens neighborhood heroes

The outer boroughs are where the classic bagel shop survives in its purest form: a case, a counter, a slicer and a line of neighbors who know exactly what they want.

Bagel Hole

Park Slope · 400 7th Ave · $

Bagel Hole makes small, dense, crusty bagels and famously refuses to toast them, on the principle that a fresh bagel does not need it. The policy made headlines in 2020 when a former mayor claimed a toasted order here that the shop does not make. That tells you what kind of place this is: stubborn, tiny and correct.

Go for: A plain or everything with cream cheese, untoasted, obviously. Know before you go: Open daily 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Do not ask for toast.

Court Street Bagels

Cobble Hill · 181 Court St · $

Court Street is the neighborhood engine: a long case, fast-moving lines and chewy bagels with generous spreads. Nothing about it is trendy, which is exactly why locals depend on it. The breakfast sandwiches are made to order and old-school Brooklyn in the best sense.

Go for: An everything bagel with scallion cream cheese, or a bacon, egg and cheese. Know before you go: It has been cash only, so bring bills. Open daily 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Shelsky's is a short walk up Court Street if you want fish afterward.

Utopia Bagels

Whitestone, Queens · 19-09 Utopia Pkwy · $$

Utopia has been rolling bagels since 1980 and bakes in a carousel oven that dates to 1947. The everything bagel is the benchmark: slightly chewy, not puffy, seasoned enough to taste without burying the crust, with a sensible cream cheese ratio that does not squeeze out the sides. It is worth the trip to northeast Queens, and it opens at 5 a.m.

Go for: An everything with plain cream cheese. The flavored novelty bagels exist; ignore them the first time. Know before you go: Open daily 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. Utopia has expanded to Murray Hill and Long Island City, but Whitestone is the original.

How to use this list

Go early. Nearly every shop here closes by mid-afternoon, and the first batches of the morning are the best ones. If you are up late and hungry, this is the wrong list; try our late night food guide instead.

Order plain first. At any new shop, a plain, sesame or everything with a thin layer of cream cheese tells you more than any loaded sandwich. Skip the toaster unless the bagel is from yesterday.

Pick by mood, not by ranking. For fish, go to the appetizing counters. For a crust that crackles, go to Apollo or Black Seed. For the full neighborhood experience, go to Bagel Hole, Court Street or Utopia and order like a regular. And if you want to keep eating well for under $15, our cheap eats guide and bakeries guide pick up where this one leaves off.