Here Are The Best Bagels In New York City

NEW YORK CITY – Patch's schmear campaign is complete. Hundreds of Patch readers voted last week on where to find the best bagels in New York City, which means we now know where to find the best bagels in all the universe.

We learned where to find the best bagels. We also learned how much you love bagels. It's a lot. You love bagels a whole lot.

"Whoever invented bagels was a genius," one correct reader wrote.

"I love bagels," said a reader who is on the same page. "Crave them. Yummy"

Bagel lovers from Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island weighed in on where to find the perfect schmear, the best lox, the supreme bacon, egg and cheese.

Keep reading to find out which bagel shops the city loves most, which odd order is probably going to be the culinary trend of 2019 and read our favorite bagel rants.

The next time you need a hole-y fix, here's where to look:

READERS TOP PICKS:

• Utopia Bagels in Whitestone: 15 votes
  • Reason: "They’re slightly crunchy on the outside but fluffy and chewy on the inside...They even special pack them for me when I take them overseas to friends."
• Baker's Dozen in Greenpoint and Kew Gardens: 8 votes
  • Reason: "I’m SHOCKED to rarely see them on NYC best bagel recognitions...They’re the best! Chewy soft inside, crispy outside. And the best options for flavored cream cheese."
• Ess-a-Bagel in Manhattan: 8 votes
  • Reason: "Ess-A-Bagel is one of the few places left that know how to make an authentic bagel. All the new places that open offer atmosphere but take a short-cut and don't bother to invest in the machinery to produce an authentic bagel."
• Tal's Bagels in Manhattan: 8 votes
  • Reason: "Crisp on the outside, soft inside, lots of seasonings, made fresh throughout the day and night.
• Bagel Hole: 7 votes
  • Reason: "These have the perfect combination of 'chew' and complex rich flavors that hold up to toppings...There’s a hint of tartness in the basic dough recipe that is lost on other shops’ huge, fluffy bland monstrosities that are around, these days....Go early, when the bagels are hot and aromatic. "

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  WHAT MATTERS MOST:

• History: 29 percent chose places that have been making bagels for decades
• Water: 27 percent said it's all about the tap
• Laziness: 8 percent of you don't want to schlep

MOST POPULAR ORDERS:

• 37 percent said Bagels and Lox
• 11 percent said Bacon, Egg and Cheese
• The rest of you order bagels as special as you are.

BAGEL ORDERS AS SPECIAL AS YOU ARE:

• Rainbow bagels and mac and cheese (This is either two separate favorites or the culinary trend of 2019.)
• Cinnamon Raisin bagel with apple walnut cream cheese at La Bagel Delight
• Scottish salmon, sable, cream cheese, tomato, onion, chive on an everything bagel at Baz Bagel
• Everything pumpernickel bagel with falafel at Tal's
• A dozen bagels

OUR FAVORITE BAGEL RANTS:

• Truth: Toasting Bagels are a thing!
• Decent Human Bagel Award: [Bagels & Co. on the Upper East Side] donates any left over bagels to charities.
• Nostalgia Bagel: While there are good bagels out there, I long for the bagels of my youth which have all but vanished. Today's bagels are grossly oversized and don't have quite the right taste. Is this what happened to all foods brought to the U.S. by immigrants in the 1800's? Probably.
• Request: Ban all other bagels with their new-found gimmicks.
• Demand: We need bialys with onion and poppy. And, yes, I've told Shelsky's

Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to share their thoughts and recommendations. Pulling this story together was the highlight of this reporter's week.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go eat 6,000 bagels.

Photo by Kathleen Culliton