The 9 Best Bagels in NYC (2026)

1. Russ & Daughters — Lower East Side (Houston Street), Manhattan

The temple of smoked fish since 1914 — the best bagel and lox in the city.

Russ & Daughters has sold smoked fish, caviar and 'appetizing' from Houston Street since 1914, and it is the place to understand what bagel and lox should be: hand-sliced Gaspe Nova, cream cheese, capers and onion on a fresh bagel.

The original shop is takeaway; the Russ & Daughters Cafe on Orchard Street is the sit-down version.

Good to know: Take a number at the counter and ask for the Classic.

179 E Houston St, New York, NY

Google Maps Website

2. Ess-a-Bagel — Midtown East and Stuyvesant Town, Manhattan

Huge, chewy, classic Manhattan bagels with a deep tray of spreads.

Ess-a-Bagel calls itself the original Gramercy bagel store and is known for big, chewy bagels piled high with spreads and fish. It is a Midtown East breakfast institution.

Expect lines on weekend mornings.

Good to know: Ask for it 'scooped' if the size defeats you.

831 3rd Ave, New York, NY

Google Maps Website

3. Utopia Bagels — Whitestone, Queens

Hand-rolled, kettle-boiled bagels that many New Yorkers rate the city's best.

Utopia Bagels, in Whitestone, Queens, makes bagels the old way — hand-rolled, kettle-boiled and baked on boards — and has a cult following that travels from across the city.

It is out of the way for visitors, but worth it for bagel purists.

Good to know: Buy a dozen to take home — they freeze well.

19-09 Utopia Pkwy, Whitestone, NY

Google Maps Website

4. Murray's Bagels — Chelsea and Greenwich Village, Manhattan

Classic hand-rolled bagels with a famously strict no-toasting tradition.

Murray's Bagels has been a downtown favorite for decades, known for hand-rolled bagels and a long-standing refusal to toast them — a fresh bagel, they argue, shouldn't need it.

Its bagels also ship nationwide.

Good to know: Don't ask for it toasted.

242 8th Ave, New York, NY

Google Maps Website

5. Tompkins Square Bagels — East Village, Manhattan

Wildly creative cream cheese flavors and big East Village bagel sandwiches.

Tompkins Square Bagels, on Avenue A, is known for its huge rotating range of cream cheese flavors — from classic scallion to sweet birthday-cake schmears — and stacked bagel sandwiches.

It is a neighborhood favorite with lines on weekends.

Good to know: Try one wild schmear and one classic.

165 Avenue A, New York, NY

Google Maps Website

6. Leo's Bagels — Financial District (Hanover Square), Manhattan

The Financial District's classic bagel shop.

Leo's Bagels, on Hanover Square, is the downtown office crowd's go-to for hand-rolled bagels and sandwiches.

It is a short walk from Wall Street, the Staten Island Ferry and the Statue of Liberty ferries.

Good to know: Breakfast here before the morning ferry from Battery Park.

3 Hanover Square, New York, NY

Google Maps Website

7. PopUp Bagels — Several Manhattan and Brooklyn locations, Manhattan

Warm, pull-apart bagels with dip-style schmears — the bagel trend of the moment.

PopUp Bagels began as a Connecticut pop-up and became a phenomenon: warm bagels you tear and dip into tubs of schmear rather than slice. It now has several New York locations.

Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun lists its Upper East Side shop's bagels (only) under Rabbi Mehlman's supervision.

Good to know: Order a 'three-pack' and two schmears to share.

Website

8. Liberty Bagels — Midtown (near Penn Station), Manhattan

Big, hand-rolled Midtown bagels — and the famous rainbow bagel.

Liberty Bagels, near Penn Station and Herald Square, is known for big hand-rolled bagels and Instagram-friendly creations like rainbow bagels.

It is one of the most convenient good bagels for Midtown hotels.

Good to know: Handy before a train from Penn Station.

260 W 35th St, New York, NY

Google Maps Website

9. Zabar's — Upper West Side, Manhattan

The Upper West Side's legendary food emporium — bagels, smoked fish and everything else.

Zabar's, on Broadway at 80th Street, has fed the Upper West Side since 1934: smoked fish sliced to order, cheese, coffee, bagels and a famously crowded upstairs housewares floor.

Its small café next door serves bagels and coffee.

Good to know: Ask for a taste at the smoked fish counter before you buy.

2245 Broadway, New York, NY

Google Maps Website