![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/starship_bagels_main_st_-_hank_vaughn_-_-20.webp.jpeg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tA toasted onion bagel with lox schmear from Starship Bagels, the reigning king of Dallas bageldom.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tA toasted onion bagel with lox schmear from Starship Bagels, the reigning king of Dallas bageldom.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Hank Vaughn<\/p>\n
J. Kenji L\u00f3pez-Alt is a food columnist at The New York Times and has authored a book about better home cooking through science.\u00a0He studied architecture at MIT and, perhaps a smidge more important than that, grew up in New York City, where he ritually ate bagels from his neighborhood shop.<\/p>\n
In his Serious Eats article,\u00a0\u201cThe Good Bagel Manifesto<\/a>,\u201d L\u00f3pez-Alt offers some trademarks of a proper bagel. The \u201ccrust should give way to a crumb that\u2019s dense and chewy, but tender and easy to bite through.\u201d The skin of a bagel should be thin and shiny with a \u201ccrackly crust spotted with the kind of microblisters that you can only get from proper boiling followed by a high-temperature bake.\u201d<\/p>\n Mostly,\u00a0L\u00f3pez-Alt\u00a0says bagels should never be toasted:<\/p>\n \u201cAll through 1989 I remember waking up every morning thinking today might be the day they come out with the hoverboard. Not once did I think they might come out with that wheely-chain thingy that makes bagels browner!\u201d<\/p>\n Hoverboards never really took off. Browner bagels, for better or worse, are a thing.<\/p>\n After years of a blossoming bagel scene in Dallas, including one spot that is racking up national awards, we consulted a group of bagel connoisseurs and chefs on their favorite local bagel. We combined those results for a ranking of\u00a0the best bagels in Dallas, chock full of microblisters and tender easiness:<\/p>\n 1. Starship Bagels<\/p>\n 1108 W. Main St., Lewisville; 6859 Arapaho Road; 1520 Elm St. 2. Cindi\u2019s NY Deli and Restaurant<\/p>\n Multiple Locations Third place was a three-way tie.<\/p>\n 3. Deli News<\/p>\n 17062 Preston Road 3. Lubbies Bagels<\/p>\n 1160 Peavy Road 3. Shug\u2019s Bagels<\/p>\n 3020 Mockingbird Lane and 4001 Lemmon Ave. Two places tied for sixth.<\/p>\n 6. Sclafani\u2019s <\/p>\n
Several of our local \u201cbagel experts\u201d selected Starship Bagels as their top dog, which aligns with national rankings. Starship\u2019s mothership opened in Lewisville in 2021 and now has two satellite shops<\/a>\u00a0(North Dallas and Downtown). These bagels made Bon App\u00e9tit\u2019s list of Best Bagels in the U.S. (Outside of New York)<\/a> in 2023. Starship has won Bagel of the Year twice at the New York Bagel Fest<\/a> (2023, 2025), and its schmear has won multiple awards from the same competition, including Schmear of the Year in 2024. They also happen to be one of our personal favorites. The key to these bagels is a 24-hour fermentation process, and, of course, these orbs are boiled before being baked. <\/p>\n
Sure, Cindi\u2019s<\/a> is a Dallas institution, but we\u2019re surprised how many of our super exclusive bagel panel chose this spot immediately and, in one case, singularly, for the best bagels in Dallas. In terms of the bagel game, this is a sleeper hit. A true October surprise. We\u2019ve been celebrating the wave of new bagels in Big D, but all along Cindi\u2019s has been making stellar orbs. Cindi\u2019s is certainly one of our favorite New York delis with tall Reuben sandwiches and a menu that is a short novel. Here, you can get nova salmon, flown in weekly, with LTO, cucumbers, Greek olives and cream cheese, plus your choice of bagel, for about $18.<\/p>\n
Deli-News<\/a> is another Dallas deli institution, open for almost 30 years and prized for authentic Russian-Jewish plates and sandwiches. Everything here is from scratch and baked daily, including the bagels, which are served with all the trimmings or just a schmear, if that\u2019s how you roll (just $4.99 with schmear).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/lubbie-s-bagels---hank-vaughn-19.webp.jpeg\")
Blueberry swirl schmear on an everything bagel at Lubbie\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Sisters Jen and Adrea Lubkin, from Brooklyn, New York, and Montclair, New Jersey, respectively, opened this East Dallas shop in 2023. Lubbies\u00a0is designed for grab-and-go orders, though a small dine-in area evokes Bubbie\u2019s kitchen. The skin of the bagels here is speckled with that crucial microblistering, and as Hank Vaughn wrote after his first visit, \u201cthe all-important chew factor: slightly crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside and full of yeasty flavor and toppings that were not overpowering.\u201d Light and fresh schmears are substantial but not overpowering, Vaughn continued. Bakers use organic flour and dark barley malt for character, and smoke their salmon in-house. They select local producers for other ingredients, like Lusher\u2019s Post Oak and Evan\u2019s Meats. <\/p>\n
When Shug\u2019s<\/a> boldly opened during the pandemic (August 2020), owner\u00a0Justin Shugrue promised to deliver the bagels that Dallas deserves. Meaning, mainly, not Einstein\u2019s. Shugrue is a Westchester County native (north of the Bronx), here by way of SMU. He recruited restaurateurs and bagel experts from up North to help open this spot, as well as staging at a bagel spot in New York. The bodega-style bagels here are kettle-boiled in refurbished equipment prior to baking. You can get fat sandwiches loaded with meats, cheeses, eggs, and more, as well as traditional deli items.\u00a0\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"Sclafani's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/sclafani_s_bagels_lauren_drewes_daniels.webp.jpeg\")
Clockwise from top left: Sclafani\u2019s poppyseed, plain, everything and whole wheat.<\/p>\n