The 18 best bagels in NYC

Russ & Daughters has been New York's pinnacle appetizing store since 1914, furnishing the whole city with lox, herring and bagels from its iconic little Lower East Side shop. It also has a morning and afternoon cafe nearby on Orchard Street, a fantastically gleaming retail factory not too far over the bridge in Brooklyn and another shop in the Hudson Yards.

Large, crusty bagels with pillowy insides are hallmarks—along with notoriously long lines—at this beloved shop, which launched in 1976 on 21st Street before expanding to Midtown East. Expect 18 varieties of house-made cream cheese, from sweet (blueberry, banana nut, Oreo) to savory (sundried tomato, cheddar, jalapeño), and an entire lunch docket of bagel sandwiches (turkey club, pizza bagel). 

This Fresh Meadows maker has been spinning "all natural, handmade" kettle-boiled then baked bagels since 1961. Varieties like egg-onion, everything and blueberry each have a crisp crust and interior so chewy and ideal it almost takes off the edge off the word moist. Practically a landmark, Bagel Oasis is also open an eye-popping 24-hours a day, every day. 

Anecdotally larger than a lot of its peers, Absolute actually has seats inside, or you can take it a few blocks away to a park bench. You'll have plenty of time waiting in line to plan your order, but get a head start with visions of cream cheese flavors like blueberry, sun-dried tomato and walnut-raisin, plus smoked fish and deli meats.

A Tribeca staple since 1994, Zucker's got that way by hand-rolling and kettle-boiling its bagels with the best of 'em. It now has a slew of other shops around town, and you can mix and match a bunch of bagel varieties with schmears, salads and smoked fish, or turn them into egg sandwiches. 

This Upper West Side institution began as a smoked fish sop with in was founded by Louis Zabar, a Ukrainian immigrant, in 1934. Still a family business in its third generation, its present 20,000 square-feet host a feast of savory and sweet treats, including its signature malt barley flour bagels.

This New York-style bagel shop was a Bed Stuy favorite before making its way over to the West Village. More than just flavored cream cheeses here, at Greenberg's you'll find spicy queso BEC's, shakshuka eggs and collabs sammies with local talent including New York Nico.

Bo’s bagels opened its brick-and-mortar store in Harlem in 2017 after previously testing the waters with friends and family and as a pop-up operating out of a commercial kitchen. Pair its daily bakes with deli meats, cheese and cream cheese flavors like tofu scallion, maple walnut and berry almond.

Still named for the family that ran it from 1916-2008, Orwashers has expanded all the way from the east to the west side in it's century-plus in existence. In addition to bagels, which are among the most sandwich-able of the form, Orwashers overflows with an abundance of baked goods, which incorporate local ingrediends wherever possible. 

Bialys may seem to say it all at this 30s-era Lower East Side Jewish bakery, but the bagels are among the city's best, too. They're kettled-boiled, baked on burlap boards and finished on stone. Malt syrup creates a rich sweetness in the end product. 

Black Seed bagel shop quickly generated a lot of buzz for its hand-rolled and poached Montreal-style bagels when it opened its first shop in Nolita in 2014. Today it has ten NYC locations where you’ll find its hit titular bagels, plus house-made spreads like scallion cream cheese and smoked mackerel. 

Though the original H&H closed in 2011 after 39 years, others have opened in its stead, including a return to the old Upper West Side neighborhood in 2022. Options across its spots include everything, cinnamon raisin and pumpernickel, all kettle-boiled and baked to create a product “like no other bagel in the world.” 

This West Village standby has been slinging superlative bagels in several varieties (poppy, cinnamon raisin, sesame) since 1996. The lines can be a little chaotic, but the spot somehow cranks through crowds clamoring for its fresh goods before you can even figure out where to stand. 

This Bronx shop operating out of narrow storefront on Riverdale Avenue has been in business for three decades. It has a dozen different daily baked bagel varieties, a bunch of breakfast and lunch sandwich options and oodles of baked goods like muffins, cinnamon rolls and danishes. 

Baz is a kind of cool kid bagel shop, but it still uses the boil and bake method perfected by its established predecessors. Here, they just happen to fashion the wares into nouveau (or, rather circa-20-teens) takes like tie-dye in addition to more standard types. 

Presented as regally as can be, stacked on dowels into towers, these beauties are announced—"hot bagels!"—as they're marched through the dining room. The glossy, slightly smaller-than-average, boiled-then-baked, VIBs (very important bagels) come in varieties like everything and salt and pepper.

Tompkins Square Bagel’s menu includes the expected options like plain, poppy and pumpernickel bagels, plus specialty selections like French toast and chocolate chip. Sandwich ‘em or select from fruit or nut spreads and cream cheese options. 

This Park Slope bagel counter specializes in hand-rolled, kettle-cooked bagels in varieties like cinnamon raisin, pumpernickel and garlic. Adorn them in a vibrant array of flavored cream cheeses (mixed berry, guacamole), smoked fish or with the bodega-breakfast-of-champions, bacon, egg and cheese.

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