The Best Bagels in New York City, According to Professional Chefs

What makes a great bagel shop? Some say it comes down to technique — following traditional methods of hand-rolling, shaping the dough into loops, kettle-boiling, and baking. Others say it’s all about the texture of the bagels — chewy on the inside with a slight crunch on the outside. Then, for many New Yorkers, the best bagel shops are the ones in their neighborhood, where the owners remember their name and order (and where they can get it made in five minutes flat).

If you ask any New Yorker, they’ll give you their opinion on their favorite bagel shop. But for the best, most trusted recommendations, you can (and should) rely on professional chefs. Here’s where to get the best bagels in the Big Apple, according to F&W Best New Chefs.

Russ & Daughters

Founded in 1914, Russ & Daughters has been selling bagels for over 100 years — but that’s not all. “The bagels are solid, but it’s really about the hand-sliced lox and the feeling that your breakfast is being prepared with the precision of open-heart surgery,” says 1999 F&W Best New Chef Rocco DiSpirito. 

In addition to bagels and Jewish staples like latkes and matzo ball soup, Russ & Daughters is known for having some of the city’s best smoked and cured fish. Go for its classic Gaspé Nova smoked salmon — add it to a sandwich, or buy it by the pound along with cream cheese and a dozen bagels. If you can’t make it to Russ & Daughters’ original appetizing shop or the neighboring café in the Lower East Side, the NYC institution also has locations in Hudson Yards and the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Apollo Bagels

A new addition to the New York City bagel scene, Apollo Bagels was born in 2023 out of a pop-up at Leo, a pizzeria in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Now with four locations across Brooklyn and Manhattan, Apollo’s makes sourdough bagels with a distinct, airy interior and a bubbly, crunchy shell. The shop only sells three types of bagels — plain, sesame, and everything — and its sandwiches come open-faced. 

2023 F&W Best New Chef Eunji Lee, owner of Lysée bakery, is a fan of Apollo’s cream cheese and tomato sandwich and another that comes with smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, red onion, and dill. “But I love their plain bagel, as well,” she says.

Baker’s Dozen

Sydell Group culinary director and 2015 F&W Best New Chef Bryce Shuman is a regular at his favorite bagel shop, Baker’s Dozen. “It’s my local [spot],” he says. “I’ve got to support it.” Located in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, Baker’s Dozen has been hand-rolling and kettle-boiling bagels since 2012. Its bagels are consistently warm, ultra-chewy, and crisp on the outside. Insider tip: If you order six bagels online, you’ll get three more for free, plus a medium-size cream cheese.

Black Seed Bagels

Co-founded in 2014 by restaurateurs Noah Bernamoff and Matt Kliegman, with founding baker Dianna Daoheung, Black Seed serves a mashup of New York– and Montreal–style bagels that are naturally fermented, subtly sweet, and baked in a wood-burning oven. 1998 F&W Best New Chef Laurent Tourondel, founder of LT Hospitality, orders them weekly. “I order two to share. One of them is the smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, and onion on an everything bagel. We also do an everything bagel with bacon, cheese, and eggs.”

Black Seed is also a favorite for 2016 F&W Best New Chef Fabian von Hauske, co-owner of Bar Contra, Wildair, and Jac’s on Bond, who used to live near the former East Village location (there are now 10 locations throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens). “I have had so many good memories there,” he says.

Bagel Talk

“As an Upper West Side resident, there are a lot of options,” says 1997 F&W Best New Chef Dan Silverman, vice president of culinary at Standard International hotels. If he’s looking for smoked fish, he heads to Barney Greengrass or Zabar’s, but if he’s looking for the chewiest bagels in the area, he swears by Bagel Talk. This no-frills joint on Amsterdam Avenue has been a neighborhood staple since 1998, with a wide variety of smears and reliable bagels baked in-house.

Murray’s Bagels

“I have been a fan of Murray’s Bagels since I moved to New York City 30 years ago,” says 2006 F&W Best New Chef Jonathan Benno, culinary director of Four Twenty Five. The Greenwich Village bagel shop opened in 1996 and quickly grew a reputation for having some of the best, old-school bagels in the city — hand-rolled, kettle-boiled, and made with barley malt. “Their oversize, fresh-out-of-the-oven bagel with smoked salmon, scallion cream cheese, red onion, capers, and tomato has been my favorite for decades.”