June 3, 2025 • 21 mins
Bagels are one of the most famous NYC foods and a MUST-have during your time here. Many people argue that New York is the capital of the world for bagels.
Why are the bagels so good in NYC?
Many people claim that the bagels in NYC are so amazing because the tap water here is considered some of the best in the world. NYC has "soft" water from the Catskill Mountains, meaning it has lower concentrations of calcium and magnesium. The mineral content in water affects the gluten in the dough. Extra hard water strengthens the gluten, which can cause tougher baked goods, meaning softer water yields softer baked goods.
Some bagel experts claim the bagels are so good in NYC because of the refined bagel techniques, including longer proofing time and boiling techniques before baking. Either way, the bagels in New York City are truly second to none.
Liberty Bagels
4 locations in NYC. 5th Ave by the Plaza Hotel/Central Park. Midtown location by Herald Square. Fidi location. Queens location.
They offer fun-flavored cream cheeses and always have rainbow bagels (plain flavor with fun colors). It also features seasonal colors, which are a fun addition. We love the BEC, works bagel, and blueberry bagel. Try the cream cheese before you commit to an entire bagel's worth of it.
We recommend ordering ahead of time on weekends and holidays. Otherwise, the line takes about 30 minutes on a busy weekend morning.
PopUp Bagels
6 locations in NYC (some in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Long Island, NY).
Ashley's new favorite bagel spot in the city!!
They sell the bagels in increments of 3. For example, the smallest order is 3 bagels and 1 schmear, which is great for 2 people and costs $12.
The menu is simple and they only have 5 bagel flavors (Plain, Sesame, Everything, Salt, Poppyseed). Then they have plain cream cheese, scallion, seasonal cream cheese, butter, and vegan schmear options.
It's the softest and freshest bagels I've ever had, and also the best scallion cream cheese I've ever had.
Pick-A-Bagel
Pick a bagel is a solid option, and they have a few locations around the city. We like their bagels with cream cheese and their bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on everything.
The ordering process can be a little chaotic, so be prepared for that.
Russ & Daughters
Since 1914, this landmark NYC institution has been continuously owned and operated by four generations of the Russ family. A classic bagel establishment serving a variety of bagels, lox, pickles, and desserts. It's been open for more than a century and has 2 locations on the Lower East Side, one in Hudson Yards, and one in Brooklyn.
Getting a platter can be fun if you want to sit down and have a true experience with a variety of spreads, breads, and smoked fish.
If you want a bagel with lox, plan on it costing around $20. This place has a wide variety of options. You can get a regular bagel and cream cheese or you could buy caviar. I sampled the pastrami-cured smoked salmon, and it was the best of my entire life.
Apollo Bagels
We haven't been here, but it is a very popular spot. Every photo, video, and review I've seen looks amazing. Only 3 bagel options (plain, everything, sesame). From what I've heard and seen online, plan on waiting in line for 30 min.
General Bagel Tips
-Each bagel shop has a different ordering process. Follow what others are doing and you should be fine.
-Bagel shops are usually a good place to try a black and white cookie.
-If you go to a deli or bodega, you can get a cheaper BEC option that will still be delicious, but it won't be made on a good bagel.
-Bagel shop coffee is usually mediocre. It's fine and will do the job, but if you are a coffee connoisseur, be warned.
You'll Have to Check It Out - Sugarfish
Fairly priced, delicious omakase sushi. Check it out here.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Welcome to the Better Together Here podcast with your host,
Devin. And Ashley?
Helping you make the most of your time in New York City.
Hey everyone, and welcome to today's episode of the Better
Together Here podcast. My name is Devin.
And my name is Ashley. Today we are diving into
arguably one of the cuisines that New York is most known for,
and that is bagels. New York bagels are amazing.
(00:25):
We're going to tell you why. We're going to give you some of
our favorite spots and a couple stories, including the worst
bagel I've ever had in my entirelife.
So let's get right into it. Bagels are arguably one of the
most famous popular foods when you think of New York City and
is an absolute must have during your time here.
(00:46):
And many people would argue thatNew York is the bagel capital of
the world. I have heard arguments for a
couple other places, one of thembeing Montreal, and I have been
there and I have. We didn't try bagels when we
went there, did we? I think you had a bagel when you
went. Yeah, I, I, I went on my own and
with some friends, but not with Ashley.
(01:07):
And I did try their bagel and itwas just so not flavorful.
Like there wasn't a lot of flavor and it wasn't very big
and it was expensive. So Montreal haters come to my
inbox, but New York City, Arguably the best bagels in the
world. But why is that A lot of people
say that the bagels are so amazing because the tap water
(01:28):
here is some of the best in the world.
And we've mentioned this before,but New York City tap is it's
amazing. You don't need to buy water
bottles while you're here. You can use any of the public
fountains. You can use the sink in your
hotel, whatever it is like. I drink New York Tap all day,
every day. And a lot of these bagel experts
think that the bagels are that much better in New York City
(01:49):
because of the water. And that's because the New York
City tap water is, quote UN quote, soft water.
It comes from the Catskill Mountain range and has a lower
concentration of calcium and magnesium, which a lot of people
think lends itself well to beingreally great to make bagels
with. We're not scientists, but the
way it affects like the mineral content and sometimes the, if
(02:11):
you have hard water, it can likemake the glutens harder and
tougher and it just isn't as good.
So that's one of the reasons other people say that it's
because of the techniques, you know, they a lot of the bagel
places here will use a longer proofing time and different
boiling techniques before baking.
Either way, the bagels in New York are second to none.
(02:31):
And Ashley's brother, who lived in New York for a couple years,
he had great advice for us. He said there are dozens and
dozens of bagel spots. Some are just OK, some are
really good, some are amazing. But you should not get a bad
bagel in New York City. Like, time is too short.
Like if you look up a place and the reviews are like somewhat
questionable or you're unsure, don't do it.
(02:53):
It's not worth it. There's so many good bagel
spots. You just have to get a good one.
And on that note, we're just going to mention a couple of our
favorites. We have not been to every bagel
shop in city. We're just going to give you
some of our heavy hitters. But if you happen to be in a
certain part of town that doesn't have one of the places
that we've mentioned, just pull up Google Maps and just make
sure it has good reviews and it's probably a great bagel.
(03:14):
We've said this before, our kindof threshold when you use Google
Maps for reviews is if it has four and a half stars or above
and there's over 1000 reviews, you can be pretty confident it's
going to be a good option. OK, so most New York City
bagels, they're fluffy, they're big.
A typical bagel sandwich order in New York City is the BC, the
(03:35):
bacon, egg and cheese, salt, pepper and ketchup.
So if you go and order a bacon, egg and cheese, a lot of the
times the initial response back from the person you're ordering
from will be salt, pepper and ketchup.
Or do you want it done up and you need to understand what
they're asking because it like it'll take you kind of for a
spin the first time you hear it?This is a little more common if
you're going to order like a bacon, egg and cheese and a
(03:55):
bodega on a bagel. But I do want to mention it
because I personally had one. I had to try it when my Co
workers was telling me like Oh yeah, salt, pepper, ketchup,
that's the way you have to have it.
I tried it. It wasn't for me.
But I'm also not a ketchup on myscribbled eggs type of person.
So if you are that type of person, you might love this
combo, but just make sure you know what you're getting.
(04:18):
On that note, here we go, some of our favorites in the city.
Top of the list, not necessarilyin specific order, but arguably
my favorite is Liberty Bagels. Liberty Bagels has a couple
options at 4 actually. In New York City we often go to
the one on 5th Ave. It's very close to the Plaza
Hotel and Central Park. They also have a location by
Herald Square, Fight Eye and then one in Queens.
(04:39):
What Liberty Bagels is often known for is they have these
kind of crazy seasonal colors. They have a rainbow one, they
have a Liberty one. Sometimes they'll do different
ones around holidays. So they kind of have these wild
like Instagram trendy, whatever,colored bagels, but they're just
plain flavors. Which I'm not going to lie,
they're pretty fun. Like if you're in the mood for a
(04:59):
plain bagel, you might as well make it a rainbow bagel because
who doesn't want to eat a rainbow bagel?
Very true. And for like 4th of July,
they'll have like a red, wet andblue bagel.
For Saint Patrick's Day, they'llhave a green and white bagel.
For Halloween they have a orangeand like black kind of bagel.
So they get creative with it, which is cool and.
Definitely fun for like kids as well.
(05:20):
Our recommendation is to order ahead on weekends and holidays.
Otherwise you could probably endup in line for 30 minutes or
more. And that probably is true for
most popular bagel spots. If you go on a weekday in the
morning or if you go on a weekend at all, it's going to be
busy. So ordering ahead really is a
great option. I would recommend going to each
(05:42):
individual spots website and seeing what they want you to do.
Some of you, some of them want you to use DoorDash pickup, Some
of them want you to use their own ordering system.
Whatever it is, it always ends up saving you time.
The one to call out from LibertyBagels that is just absolutely
phenomenal is The Works Bagel. So it's a bacon, egg and cheese,
and then they throw a hash brownon it as well.
(06:03):
It's a massive sandwich. It'll and a sausage Patty.
And a sausage Patty. That's right.
It's kind of a combination of like a sausage Egg Mcmuffin from
McDonald's and a bacon, egg and cheese on a bagel.
Like put together. It's the best breakfast sandwich
I've ever had in my whole. Life.
It's a lot of food, so know thatit is a very, very big option.
You're gonna get full a fun cream cheese.
(06:23):
They have they have a birthday cake cream cheese.
I don't know if you've had that before, but I've had it.
Have you had it? I think I tried it once, it was
a little too sweet for me. It's intense.
And one cool thing about LibertyBagel is they do let you try the
cream cheeses before you fully commit to putting that on your
entire bagel. So if you're wanting to try like
a fun flavor, if you're not positive you're going to love
(06:44):
it, just try it. They give you like a little ice
cream sample spoon to try it. So that's Liberty Bagels, and
that leads us to this episodes in New York.
Know how? This is a quick one.
It's also from the New York CityBasic Tips and Etiquette book
that we have read from many times by Nathan W Pyle.
(07:05):
This is tip #59 and it's just a picture of two buildings, the
Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building.
A lot of people get them confused.
They are kind of in similar parts of town, and when you're
looking at a skyline, they can look very similar.
So this has a fun little way to tell them apart.
The Empire State Building has three lines kind of running down
the middle. And the way the shape is is more
(07:26):
lines running down, thinking of like an E that has the bottom,
top and middle little parts coming out of the actual letter
E for Empire State. Whereas the Chrysler building,
the C if you look at it, it kindof has like a an.
Like AC turned on its side. Yeah, like 90° turned.
So it kind of looks like a, you know, it just looks like an
(07:48):
arch. Yeah, like a rainbow shape, but
it kind of looks like AC So C for Chrysler, E for Empire
State. Just a fun little tip to be able
to tell them apart. No shade 'cause I definitely got
this confused before we lived here and I knew the difference
for sure about the amount of times people come to visit and
they're like, oh, there's the Empire State Building and
they're pointing at the ChryslerBuilding.
It happens. It happens to all of us, but
now, now you'll know. Now you know, 'cause that's this
(08:11):
episode's New York know how. All right, back to the best
bagels. And we're going to talk about
pop up bagels. Pop Up Bagels is my new favorite
bagel I've ever had in New York City.
I know, that's quite a bold statement.
Like I said, I haven't tried every bagel in New York, but of
(08:31):
all of the bagels I've tried in New York, Pop Up Bagel has the
best individual bagel and I willdie on that hill until I try a
better bagel. They sell bagels in increments
of three and their focus is kindof having like a smaller menu
that they really really do well.So they only have 5 bagel
flavors. It's plain sesame everything,
salt and poppy seed. And then they have two or three
(08:53):
types of cream cheese. They usually have a seasonal
cream cheese and the bagels are made to be like so soft and
delicious and warm that you can literally pull them apart and
you get let's say like you're getting like the smallest
increment which would be 3 bagels.
You get 3 bagels and a smear comes out to like $12.00 but
it's made to be torn apart and dipped into the smear.
(09:14):
It's not sliced in half with cream cheese in the middle.
You're it's so soft, you literally tear it apart and dip
it into the cream cheese and eatit like that and it's awesome.
Yeah, a very delicious option. The bagels are like slightly
smaller. So don't think that you're
getting three bagels and they'regoing to be the kind of standard
full size New York City bagel. They are slightly smaller than
(09:35):
like what your bagel would be elsewhere.
Yeah, that's a good point. I would call them like small to
medium. Yeah, like for one person I
would bank on like 1 1/2 bagels.Yeah, that's a good option.
But yeah, soft, delicious, great, great option.
Okay, next on our list is Pick aBagel.
So pick a bagel. It's a really solid option.
They have multiple locations throughout the city.
We like all the classics there. We like the bagels with cream
(09:57):
cheese, the bacon, egg and cheese, all those great options.
They have good locks options as well.
The downside of Pick a Bagel, atleast the one that we go to in
more of the midtown area, is theordering process is like super
chaotic and you get in and, and frankly, a lot of delis and, or
like busy breakfast or bagel type spots in the city can be
(10:18):
very overwhelming and it can feel like a lot going on.
So know this specifically for pick a bagel, but just in
general, have your order ready before you get up to where the
spot is that you're going to order.
And try and speak as clearly andas loudly as you can, because if
not, they may misunderstand you and you might get a bagel.
Walk all the way to Central Park, open it up, and realize
(10:40):
that you got a blueberry bagel with scallion cream cheese.
And you might cry like Devin did.
I didn't actually cry, but I wasvery upset.
There were no tears. You were crying on the inside
for first. I mean, K.
'Cause you asked for a blueberrybagel with strawberry cream
cheese. Which is such a different vibe
than a blueberry bagel with scallion cream cheese.
(11:02):
Cause like scallion cream cheesenumber one, it's also an
acquired taste. Not an acquired taste, but like
you either like scallion cream cheese or you don't.
And I don't really like it to begin with.
And if I were to have scallion cream cheese, I would put it on
an everything or, you know, maybe even like a pumpernickel
or a sesame not. Anything besides a blueberry
(11:22):
bagel. So.
This, this bagel professional, this man should have known.
He should. He should have verified.
He ruined my day. He did ruin your day.
Almost my year. But Pickle Bagel is a solid
option. They have several of them around
the city. It's not my favorite bagel I've
had, but it's consistently very good.
All right. Next on our list, Russ and
(11:44):
Daughters. So since 1914, Russ and
Daughters has been a landmark institution in the city and it
has been continuously owned and operated by 4 generations of the
Russ family. They serve a wide variety of
bagels, lox, Pickles, desserts, and it's been open for more than
a century. They have a location on the
Lower East Side, one in Hudson Yards and then or sorry, a
(12:08):
couple locations on the Lower East Side, one in Hudson Yards
and one in Brooklyn. If you want to go and sit down
in the restaurant, you can. You can order a platter that can
be fun if you want to sit down and have the full experience.
It comes with a bread basket, variety of spreads, smoked fish,
capers, onions, tomato. So that can be fun if you want
like kind of a nicer sit down bagel breakfast.
(12:29):
Those platters usually run around $100.00 so just be
prepared for that or it's a great option if you want to just
go in and get a bagel with creamcheese or a bagel with lox.
Highly highly recommend coming here if you like smoked salmon.
This is pretty much what it's known for.
If you are planning on getting abagel with lox pretty much
anywhere in the city, just plan on it costing around $20.
The smoked salmon is expensive. They usually smoke it in house.
(12:52):
Russ and Daughters has a wide variety and I actually actually
went today to do a little bit ofresearch for this podcast and I
tried the pastrami cured smoked salmon and it was the best
smoked salmon I've had in my life.
It melted in my mouth. It was so flavorful.
Definitely worth it if you like smoked salmon.
I would check this place out. And depending on the time,
Russian daughters can have quitea line.
(13:14):
And so I feel like if you're going to go to Russian
Daughters, you're probably goingto get more of like a fancier
type bagel, like a lox, like something a full kind of ordeal
and not just like a plain bagel with cream cheese.
I'm sure it's great there, but that's not necessarily what it's
known. For and on that note, I added
this place because overall I think it's a good bagel
experience, but the bagel I had with my sandwich was good, not
(13:38):
great. So if you're going to go and
just get like a bagel with creamcheese, I probably would go
somewhere else. But if you want something with
LOX I would go to Russ and Daughters.
And that leads us to this episode that you'll have to
check it out segment. The next stop is sugarfish.
All right, Sugarfish is the mostphenomenal, well priced omakase
(13:59):
sushi option. I would argue that you can get
in the city. I I know that there are better
options probably like flavor wise and unique and variety.
But when you compare the qualityof of the sushi with the
experience and the price, I don't know if it can be beat.
If anyone's not familiar with what omakase sushi is, omakase
(14:21):
is a word that in Japanese meanschef's choice.
I believe. So usually if you're getting
omakase sushi, you're getting a mixture of what the chef thinks
is good to serve that day. Sometimes it's whatever's fresh.
Sugar Fish makes omakase sushi alittle bit more approachable for
people and a little more affordable.
(14:43):
Typically, if you're going to goto Omakase in New York City,
it's going to cost you about $100 a person at Sugar Fish, I
believe I. Think the cheapest is 37?
Cheapest is 37 but the middle range.
Is like 46 and then the higher range is like 54 or something
like that, which frankly even the middle range I think you're
getting, it's not sushi rolls. Again, just to clarify.
(15:06):
It's like more like true sushi style and.
Nagiri. Nagiri yeah.
And it I think you're usually get it like on the middle price
tier, the $46 tier, you're probably getting what 9 kind of
courses plus an appetizer of of edamame's, edamame, edamame's.
(15:26):
Edamame What's? The plural of edamame's.
I think it's his own. It's its own plural.
English language sucks either way.
It's a good amount of food for avery fair price.
And sugar fish is a no tipping establishment which is a very
common thing in Japanese culture.
And you know what? It just, it just feels better to
(15:48):
go and know that you're not going to spend an extra 20% on
whatever price you see and just know that what you're paying is
what's cooked into it. And the stuff there is always
very nice and very attentive andit just, I don't know, makes me
feel a little warm and fuzzy knowing that people are there
and they're actually being paid a living wage to do a good job
and that they're not just livingoff of tips.
(16:09):
Yeah, 100% with sugar fish. Prime lunchtime, prime dinner
time. It's going to be busy.
I would recommend going by seeing what the line is like.
If, for example, what's happenedto us the past couple times,
they say, oh, it's, you know, roughly 30 minutes, you can come
back in 20 minutes. So you kind of put your name
down. You can go grab a quick drink or
just walk around or sit outside and just relax and hang out and
(16:34):
then come back. Just know that you do have to
have your entire party there to be seated.
But sugar fish, an amazing option for omakase in New York
City. All right, that's this episode.
You'll have to check it out. Segment Sugar fish.
And now, back to our last recommended spot for bagels.
Stand clear of the closing doors, please.
(16:54):
All right. The last time on our list is
Apollo Bagels. We haven't actually been here,
and we try to not include or talk about places we haven't
been, but this place is at the top of all the lists.
Every photo, video review, it all just looks absolutely
amazing. And it's kind of more similar
where they're going for that, similar to pop up where they're
trying to just offer only a few things and do them really,
(17:16):
really well. They only have three bagel
options, a plain everything in sesame, but they have a lot of
like sandwiches that include like bagel with cream cheese
with fresh tomatoes on top. That seems to be 1.
I see very commonly that people are getting and they also have
smoked salmon options as well. If you come here, plan on
waiting in a line, but that is what it is.
(17:37):
All right, we're going to end this episode out with just a few
kind of general bagel notes and recommendations.
Know that every bagel shop has adifferent ordering process and
it can be a little bit confusing, especially when it's
busy. So if you're confused, maybe ask
the person in front of you or ask someone who's working.
But some of them will have like a ticketing system.
Some of them you have someone who takes your order and then
(17:57):
you go down the line and then you pay other ones that like
they take your order and you payat the same time and then they
call your name. So just know that it like
everyone's a little bit different.
So just kind of be on your toes looking to figure it out.
Next general bagel shop recommendation is that bagel
shops are usually a really good place for you to try a black and
white cookie. I feel like most of the standard
(18:19):
bagel shops that I've been to inthe city also have like homemade
baked goods and a black and white cookie is a very common,
very popular New York City dessert cookie option.
So if you would also like to trya dessert, highly recommend
trying a black and white cookie that you get at a bagel shop.
Another tip is that most of these actual bagel places, if
(18:41):
you're going to get a bacon, eggand cheese, you're probably
going to be anywhere from like 11 to $15 or more.
If you want a cheaper option, most delis or bodegas will have
a really solid bacon, egg and cheese option.
It's usually just that the bagelitself isn't as good.
But there's a a place near us that we go sometimes like and we
can get a bacon, egg and cheese for what, 7 dollars, $8?
(19:04):
Like 7 bucks. Which is.
It's a very good bacon, egg and cheese.
But the bagel is not like a trueNew York bagel.
It's tastes more like a it's nota bad bagel, but it tastes more
like a store bought bagel. Yeah, 'cause they're selling
them in bulk. Yeah, like, I wouldn't, I
wouldn't have a bodega or a delibagel be like your New York City
bagel experience. But, you know, if you go to one
of these places, it's a little bit fancier and has better
(19:25):
bagels and you, you know, pay them more of the premium or
stand in line and then the next day maybe you get a bodega bagel
with the bacon, egg and cheese and you'll be totally fine.
Last note here, bagel shop coffee is usually pretty
mediocre. I have found in New York City,
if you're going to a place for aspecific thing, they will offer
you all kinds of other things. But that doesn't always mean
(19:47):
that those are good. Like the core offerings are
usually good, but sometimes the secondary offerings are not very
good. And in this case, coffee, like
the coffee at a bagel shop is, it's a secondary thought.
So it's like if you just want like a hot cup of coffee or a
cappuccino, like it's probably fine.
But there's so many other like phenomenal coffee shops that I
(20:07):
would recommend get the bagel. Get coffee elsewhere and you'll
probably have a better experience.
Like it'll do the job, but it's if you're like a coffee
connoisseur and you like really care about having good coffee, I
wouldn't get it at a bagel shop.So those are our tips and our
favorite places to get bagels inNew York City.
(20:28):
Above all, like I actually said,if you're not around one of
these places or they're too crowded or whatever it is, just
make sure you get a good bagel in New York City.
Don't get a bad bagel. Look at reviews, find a good
spot, try a New York City bagel.Well, you are here.
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(20:50):
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(21:10):
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trip in New York City. And other than that, we'll catch
you on the next episode.
Welcome to the Better Together Here podcast with your host,
Devin. And Ashley?
Helping you make the most of your time in New York City.
Hey everyone, and welcome to today's episode of the Better
Together Here podcast. My name is Devin.
And my name is Ashley. Today we are diving into
arguably one of the cuisines that New York is most known for,
and that is bagels. New York bagels are amazing.
(00:25):
We're going to tell you why. We're going to give you some of
our favorite spots and a couple stories, including the worst
bagel I've ever had in my entirelife.
So let's get right into it. Bagels are arguably one of the
most famous popular foods when you think of New York City and
is an absolute must have during your time here.
(00:46):
And many people would argue thatNew York is the bagel capital of
the world. I have heard arguments for a
couple other places, one of thembeing Montreal, and I have been
there and I have. We didn't try bagels when we
went there, did we? I think you had a bagel when you
went. Yeah, I, I, I went on my own and
with some friends, but not with Ashley.
(01:07):
And I did try their bagel and itwas just so not flavorful.
Like there wasn't a lot of flavor and it wasn't very big
and it was expensive. So Montreal haters come to my
inbox, but New York City, Arguably the best bagels in the
world. But why is that A lot of people
say that the bagels are so amazing because the tap water
(01:28):
here is some of the best in the world.
And we've mentioned this before,but New York City tap is it's
amazing. You don't need to buy water
bottles while you're here. You can use any of the public
fountains. You can use the sink in your
hotel, whatever it is like. I drink New York Tap all day,
every day. And a lot of these bagel experts
think that the bagels are that much better in New York City
(01:49):
because of the water. And that's because the New York
City tap water is, quote UN quote, soft water.
It comes from the Catskill Mountain range and has a lower
concentration of calcium and magnesium, which a lot of people
think lends itself well to beingreally great to make bagels
with. We're not scientists, but the
way it affects like the mineral content and sometimes the, if
(02:11):
you have hard water, it can likemake the glutens harder and
tougher and it just isn't as good.
So that's one of the reasons other people say that it's
because of the techniques, you know, they a lot of the bagel
places here will use a longer proofing time and different
boiling techniques before baking.
Either way, the bagels in New York are second to none.
(02:31):
And Ashley's brother, who lived in New York for a couple years,
he had great advice for us. He said there are dozens and
dozens of bagel spots. Some are just OK, some are
really good, some are amazing. But you should not get a bad
bagel in New York City. Like, time is too short.
Like if you look up a place and the reviews are like somewhat
questionable or you're unsure, don't do it.
(02:53):
It's not worth it. There's so many good bagel
spots. You just have to get a good one.
And on that note, we're just going to mention a couple of our
favorites. We have not been to every bagel
shop in city. We're just going to give you
some of our heavy hitters. But if you happen to be in a
certain part of town that doesn't have one of the places
that we've mentioned, just pull up Google Maps and just make
sure it has good reviews and it's probably a great bagel.
(03:14):
We've said this before, our kindof threshold when you use Google
Maps for reviews is if it has four and a half stars or above
and there's over 1000 reviews, you can be pretty confident it's
going to be a good option. OK, so most New York City
bagels, they're fluffy, they're big.
A typical bagel sandwich order in New York City is the BC, the
(03:35):
bacon, egg and cheese, salt, pepper and ketchup.
So if you go and order a bacon, egg and cheese, a lot of the
times the initial response back from the person you're ordering
from will be salt, pepper and ketchup.
Or do you want it done up and you need to understand what
they're asking because it like it'll take you kind of for a
spin the first time you hear it?This is a little more common if
you're going to order like a bacon, egg and cheese and a
(03:55):
bodega on a bagel. But I do want to mention it
because I personally had one. I had to try it when my Co
workers was telling me like Oh yeah, salt, pepper, ketchup,
that's the way you have to have it.
I tried it. It wasn't for me.
But I'm also not a ketchup on myscribbled eggs type of person.
So if you are that type of person, you might love this
combo, but just make sure you know what you're getting.
(04:18):
On that note, here we go, some of our favorites in the city.
Top of the list, not necessarilyin specific order, but arguably
my favorite is Liberty Bagels. Liberty Bagels has a couple
options at 4 actually. In New York City we often go to
the one on 5th Ave. It's very close to the Plaza
Hotel and Central Park. They also have a location by
Herald Square, Fight Eye and then one in Queens.
(04:39):
What Liberty Bagels is often known for is they have these
kind of crazy seasonal colors. They have a rainbow one, they
have a Liberty one. Sometimes they'll do different
ones around holidays. So they kind of have these wild
like Instagram trendy, whatever,colored bagels, but they're just
plain flavors. Which I'm not going to lie,
they're pretty fun. Like if you're in the mood for a
(04:59):
plain bagel, you might as well make it a rainbow bagel because
who doesn't want to eat a rainbow bagel?
Very true. And for like 4th of July,
they'll have like a red, wet andblue bagel.
For Saint Patrick's Day, they'llhave a green and white bagel.
For Halloween they have a orangeand like black kind of bagel.
So they get creative with it, which is cool and.
Definitely fun for like kids as well.
(05:20):
Our recommendation is to order ahead on weekends and holidays.
Otherwise you could probably endup in line for 30 minutes or
more. And that probably is true for
most popular bagel spots. If you go on a weekday in the
morning or if you go on a weekend at all, it's going to be
busy. So ordering ahead really is a
great option. I would recommend going to each
(05:42):
individual spots website and seeing what they want you to do.
Some of you, some of them want you to use DoorDash pickup, Some
of them want you to use their own ordering system.
Whatever it is, it always ends up saving you time.
The one to call out from LibertyBagels that is just absolutely
phenomenal is The Works Bagel. So it's a bacon, egg and cheese,
and then they throw a hash brownon it as well.
(06:03):
It's a massive sandwich. It'll and a sausage Patty.
And a sausage Patty. That's right.
It's kind of a combination of like a sausage Egg Mcmuffin from
McDonald's and a bacon, egg and cheese on a bagel.
Like put together. It's the best breakfast sandwich
I've ever had in my whole. Life.
It's a lot of food, so know thatit is a very, very big option.
You're gonna get full a fun cream cheese.
(06:23):
They have they have a birthday cake cream cheese.
I don't know if you've had that before, but I've had it.
Have you had it? I think I tried it once, it was
a little too sweet for me. It's intense.
And one cool thing about LibertyBagel is they do let you try the
cream cheeses before you fully commit to putting that on your
entire bagel. So if you're wanting to try like
a fun flavor, if you're not positive you're going to love
(06:44):
it, just try it. They give you like a little ice
cream sample spoon to try it. So that's Liberty Bagels, and
that leads us to this episodes in New York.
Know how? This is a quick one.
It's also from the New York CityBasic Tips and Etiquette book
that we have read from many times by Nathan W Pyle.
(07:05):
This is tip #59 and it's just a picture of two buildings, the
Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building.
A lot of people get them confused.
They are kind of in similar parts of town, and when you're
looking at a skyline, they can look very similar.
So this has a fun little way to tell them apart.
The Empire State Building has three lines kind of running down
the middle. And the way the shape is is more
(07:26):
lines running down, thinking of like an E that has the bottom,
top and middle little parts coming out of the actual letter
E for Empire State. Whereas the Chrysler building,
the C if you look at it, it kindof has like a an.
Like AC turned on its side. Yeah, like 90° turned.
So it kind of looks like a, you know, it just looks like an
(07:48):
arch. Yeah, like a rainbow shape, but
it kind of looks like AC So C for Chrysler, E for Empire
State. Just a fun little tip to be able
to tell them apart. No shade 'cause I definitely got
this confused before we lived here and I knew the difference
for sure about the amount of times people come to visit and
they're like, oh, there's the Empire State Building and
they're pointing at the ChryslerBuilding.
It happens. It happens to all of us, but
now, now you'll know. Now you know, 'cause that's this
(08:11):
episode's New York know how. All right, back to the best
bagels. And we're going to talk about
pop up bagels. Pop Up Bagels is my new favorite
bagel I've ever had in New York City.
I know, that's quite a bold statement.
Like I said, I haven't tried every bagel in New York, but of
(08:31):
all of the bagels I've tried in New York, Pop Up Bagel has the
best individual bagel and I willdie on that hill until I try a
better bagel. They sell bagels in increments
of three and their focus is kindof having like a smaller menu
that they really really do well.So they only have 5 bagel
flavors. It's plain sesame everything,
salt and poppy seed. And then they have two or three
(08:53):
types of cream cheese. They usually have a seasonal
cream cheese and the bagels are made to be like so soft and
delicious and warm that you can literally pull them apart and
you get let's say like you're getting like the smallest
increment which would be 3 bagels.
You get 3 bagels and a smear comes out to like $12.00 but
it's made to be torn apart and dipped into the smear.
(09:14):
It's not sliced in half with cream cheese in the middle.
You're it's so soft, you literally tear it apart and dip
it into the cream cheese and eatit like that and it's awesome.
Yeah, a very delicious option. The bagels are like slightly
smaller. So don't think that you're
getting three bagels and they'regoing to be the kind of standard
full size New York City bagel. They are slightly smaller than
(09:35):
like what your bagel would be elsewhere.
Yeah, that's a good point. I would call them like small to
medium. Yeah, like for one person I
would bank on like 1 1/2 bagels.Yeah, that's a good option.
But yeah, soft, delicious, great, great option.
Okay, next on our list is Pick aBagel.
So pick a bagel. It's a really solid option.
They have multiple locations throughout the city.
We like all the classics there. We like the bagels with cream
(09:57):
cheese, the bacon, egg and cheese, all those great options.
They have good locks options as well.
The downside of Pick a Bagel, atleast the one that we go to in
more of the midtown area, is theordering process is like super
chaotic and you get in and, and frankly, a lot of delis and, or
like busy breakfast or bagel type spots in the city can be
(10:18):
very overwhelming and it can feel like a lot going on.
So know this specifically for pick a bagel, but just in
general, have your order ready before you get up to where the
spot is that you're going to order.
And try and speak as clearly andas loudly as you can, because if
not, they may misunderstand you and you might get a bagel.
Walk all the way to Central Park, open it up, and realize
(10:40):
that you got a blueberry bagel with scallion cream cheese.
And you might cry like Devin did.
I didn't actually cry, but I wasvery upset.
There were no tears. You were crying on the inside
for first. I mean, K.
'Cause you asked for a blueberrybagel with strawberry cream
cheese. Which is such a different vibe
than a blueberry bagel with scallion cream cheese.
(11:02):
Cause like scallion cream cheesenumber one, it's also an
acquired taste. Not an acquired taste, but like
you either like scallion cream cheese or you don't.
And I don't really like it to begin with.
And if I were to have scallion cream cheese, I would put it on
an everything or, you know, maybe even like a pumpernickel
or a sesame not. Anything besides a blueberry
(11:22):
bagel. So.
This, this bagel professional, this man should have known.
He should. He should have verified.
He ruined my day. He did ruin your day.
Almost my year. But Pickle Bagel is a solid
option. They have several of them around
the city. It's not my favorite bagel I've
had, but it's consistently very good.
All right. Next on our list, Russ and
(11:44):
Daughters. So since 1914, Russ and
Daughters has been a landmark institution in the city and it
has been continuously owned and operated by 4 generations of the
Russ family. They serve a wide variety of
bagels, lox, Pickles, desserts, and it's been open for more than
a century. They have a location on the
Lower East Side, one in Hudson Yards and then or sorry, a
(12:08):
couple locations on the Lower East Side, one in Hudson Yards
and one in Brooklyn. If you want to go and sit down
in the restaurant, you can. You can order a platter that can
be fun if you want to sit down and have the full experience.
It comes with a bread basket, variety of spreads, smoked fish,
capers, onions, tomato. So that can be fun if you want
like kind of a nicer sit down bagel breakfast.
(12:29):
Those platters usually run around $100.00 so just be
prepared for that or it's a great option if you want to just
go in and get a bagel with creamcheese or a bagel with lox.
Highly highly recommend coming here if you like smoked salmon.
This is pretty much what it's known for.
If you are planning on getting abagel with lox pretty much
anywhere in the city, just plan on it costing around $20.
The smoked salmon is expensive. They usually smoke it in house.
(12:52):
Russ and Daughters has a wide variety and I actually actually
went today to do a little bit ofresearch for this podcast and I
tried the pastrami cured smoked salmon and it was the best
smoked salmon I've had in my life.
It melted in my mouth. It was so flavorful.
Definitely worth it if you like smoked salmon.
I would check this place out. And depending on the time,
Russian daughters can have quitea line.
(13:14):
And so I feel like if you're going to go to Russian
Daughters, you're probably goingto get more of like a fancier
type bagel, like a lox, like something a full kind of ordeal
and not just like a plain bagel with cream cheese.
I'm sure it's great there, but that's not necessarily what it's
known. For and on that note, I added
this place because overall I think it's a good bagel
experience, but the bagel I had with my sandwich was good, not
(13:38):
great. So if you're going to go and
just get like a bagel with creamcheese, I probably would go
somewhere else. But if you want something with
LOX I would go to Russ and Daughters.
And that leads us to this episode that you'll have to
check it out segment. The next stop is sugarfish.
All right, Sugarfish is the mostphenomenal, well priced omakase
(13:59):
sushi option. I would argue that you can get
in the city. I I know that there are better
options probably like flavor wise and unique and variety.
But when you compare the qualityof of the sushi with the
experience and the price, I don't know if it can be beat.
If anyone's not familiar with what omakase sushi is, omakase
(14:21):
is a word that in Japanese meanschef's choice.
I believe. So usually if you're getting
omakase sushi, you're getting a mixture of what the chef thinks
is good to serve that day. Sometimes it's whatever's fresh.
Sugar Fish makes omakase sushi alittle bit more approachable for
people and a little more affordable.
(14:43):
Typically, if you're going to goto Omakase in New York City,
it's going to cost you about $100 a person at Sugar Fish, I
believe I. Think the cheapest is 37?
Cheapest is 37 but the middle range.
Is like 46 and then the higher range is like 54 or something
like that, which frankly even the middle range I think you're
getting, it's not sushi rolls. Again, just to clarify.
(15:06):
It's like more like true sushi style and.
Nagiri. Nagiri yeah.
And it I think you're usually get it like on the middle price
tier, the $46 tier, you're probably getting what 9 kind of
courses plus an appetizer of of edamame's, edamame, edamame's.
(15:26):
Edamame What's? The plural of edamame's.
I think it's his own. It's its own plural.
English language sucks either way.
It's a good amount of food for avery fair price.
And sugar fish is a no tipping establishment which is a very
common thing in Japanese culture.
And you know what? It just, it just feels better to
(15:48):
go and know that you're not going to spend an extra 20% on
whatever price you see and just know that what you're paying is
what's cooked into it. And the stuff there is always
very nice and very attentive andit just, I don't know, makes me
feel a little warm and fuzzy knowing that people are there
and they're actually being paid a living wage to do a good job
and that they're not just livingoff of tips.
(16:09):
Yeah, 100% with sugar fish. Prime lunchtime, prime dinner
time. It's going to be busy.
I would recommend going by seeing what the line is like.
If, for example, what's happenedto us the past couple times,
they say, oh, it's, you know, roughly 30 minutes, you can come
back in 20 minutes. So you kind of put your name
down. You can go grab a quick drink or
just walk around or sit outside and just relax and hang out and
(16:34):
then come back. Just know that you do have to
have your entire party there to be seated.
But sugar fish, an amazing option for omakase in New York
City. All right, that's this episode.
You'll have to check it out. Segment Sugar fish.
And now, back to our last recommended spot for bagels.
Stand clear of the closing doors, please.
(16:54):
All right. The last time on our list is
Apollo Bagels. We haven't actually been here,
and we try to not include or talk about places we haven't
been, but this place is at the top of all the lists.
Every photo, video review, it all just looks absolutely
amazing. And it's kind of more similar
where they're going for that, similar to pop up where they're
trying to just offer only a few things and do them really,
(17:16):
really well. They only have three bagel
options, a plain everything in sesame, but they have a lot of
like sandwiches that include like bagel with cream cheese
with fresh tomatoes on top. That seems to be 1.
I see very commonly that people are getting and they also have
smoked salmon options as well. If you come here, plan on
waiting in a line, but that is what it is.
(17:37):
All right, we're going to end this episode out with just a few
kind of general bagel notes and recommendations.
Know that every bagel shop has adifferent ordering process and
it can be a little bit confusing, especially when it's
busy. So if you're confused, maybe ask
the person in front of you or ask someone who's working.
But some of them will have like a ticketing system.
Some of them you have someone who takes your order and then
(17:57):
you go down the line and then you pay other ones that like
they take your order and you payat the same time and then they
call your name. So just know that it like
everyone's a little bit different.
So just kind of be on your toes looking to figure it out.
Next general bagel shop recommendation is that bagel
shops are usually a really good place for you to try a black and
white cookie. I feel like most of the standard
(18:19):
bagel shops that I've been to inthe city also have like homemade
baked goods and a black and white cookie is a very common,
very popular New York City dessert cookie option.
So if you would also like to trya dessert, highly recommend
trying a black and white cookie that you get at a bagel shop.
Another tip is that most of these actual bagel places, if
(18:41):
you're going to get a bacon, eggand cheese, you're probably
going to be anywhere from like 11 to $15 or more.
If you want a cheaper option, most delis or bodegas will have
a really solid bacon, egg and cheese option.
It's usually just that the bagelitself isn't as good.
But there's a a place near us that we go sometimes like and we
can get a bacon, egg and cheese for what, 7 dollars, $8?
(19:04):
Like 7 bucks. Which is.
It's a very good bacon, egg and cheese.
But the bagel is not like a trueNew York bagel.
It's tastes more like a it's nota bad bagel, but it tastes more
like a store bought bagel. Yeah, 'cause they're selling
them in bulk. Yeah, like, I wouldn't, I
wouldn't have a bodega or a delibagel be like your New York City
bagel experience. But, you know, if you go to one
of these places, it's a little bit fancier and has better
(19:25):
bagels and you, you know, pay them more of the premium or
stand in line and then the next day maybe you get a bodega bagel
with the bacon, egg and cheese and you'll be totally fine.
Last note here, bagel shop coffee is usually pretty
mediocre. I have found in New York City,
if you're going to a place for aspecific thing, they will offer
you all kinds of other things. But that doesn't always mean
(19:47):
that those are good. Like the core offerings are
usually good, but sometimes the secondary offerings are not very
good. And in this case, coffee, like
the coffee at a bagel shop is, it's a secondary thought.
So it's like if you just want like a hot cup of coffee or a
cappuccino, like it's probably fine.
But there's so many other like phenomenal coffee shops that I
(20:07):
would recommend get the bagel. Get coffee elsewhere and you'll
probably have a better experience.
Like it'll do the job, but it's if you're like a coffee
connoisseur and you like really care about having good coffee, I
wouldn't get it at a bagel shop.So those are our tips and our
favorite places to get bagels inNew York City.
(20:28):
Above all, like I actually said,if you're not around one of
these places or they're too crowded or whatever it is, just
make sure you get a good bagel in New York City.
Don't get a bad bagel. Look at reviews, find a good
spot, try a New York City bagel.Well, you are here.
If you have not already, please leave us a review on Apple
Podcasts. Even if you listen on Spotify,
if you find our information helpful and it's helped you have
(20:50):
a better trip in New York City, it's a huge help for us.
If you can leave us a review on Apple Podcasts for whatever
reason helps the algorithm. Who knows how algorithms work,
but reviews seem to help. Also, be sure you sign up for
our newsletterbettertogetherhere.com
back slash newsletter. When you do that, you get access
to our Ultimate NYC Transportation and Navigation
(21:10):
Guide, which covers all things including subways, getting to
and from the airport, biking around the city, walking,
navigating all the things you need to know.
And you get access to our curated collection of Google
Maps list. And we e-mail once a week with
interesting content that is going to help you have a better
trip in New York City. And other than that, we'll catch
you on the next episode.
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