True bagels are boiled briefly before being baked. Chewy, glutinous, and highly caloric, a lone bagel is a meal and a very satisfying one, especially when schmeared with cream cheese and layered with lox or another form of cured fish.
Even today, the bagel continues to evolve, as several points on this map will demonstrate. Here are some favorites, including some stunt bagels, all good enough to eat whole without any topping at all. This round, we’ve nixed Tompkins Square Bagels, Bagel Supreme, and Terrace Bagels. We’ve added Greenpoint’s Bagel Joint.
Nadia Chaudhury is a born-and-raised New Yorker whose go-to college shop was Murray’s Bagels back when it was much smaller; her go-to order is an everything bagel with scallion cream cheese, lox, tomatoes, and capers — no onions ever.
Robert Sietsema is the former senior restaurant critic for Eater NY, with more than 35 years of experience writing about New York City restaurants. Previously, he has written for the Village Voice, Lucky Peach, Gourmet, and dozens of other publications. He specializes in food that’s fun to eat and not expensive, covering the five boroughs, New Jersey, and beyond. These days, you can find his work on Substack.