Best Bagels in NYC: What the Ratings Say About the Famous Names

The bagel is New York’s most argued-about food, which is saying something in a city that fights about pizza. Everyone has a shop, everyone thinks the tourists go to the wrong one, and everyone is certain the water theory explains it.

We pulled verified Google ratings and review counts for the city’s most-cited bagel shops. The pattern that’s held across our pizza, brunch, and sandwich guides holds here too: the most famous name is not the best-rated one.

Finding Best Bagels in NYC: The Famous One Rates Lowest

• Ess-a-Bagel — 831 3rd Ave, Midtown East. Google: 4.1 (4,859 reviews). $

Ess-a-Bagel is the name out-of-towners know, and it is a genuine NYC institution — the sandwiches are enormous, the bagels are fresh, and reviewers consistently describe generous, properly-stuffed builds. “You can immediately understand why this place is so famous,” as one put it.

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But 4.1 is the lowest score in this guide, and the reviews explain why. The recurring theme is price and line: “the best and most expensive bagels I’ve had,” the sandwiches so stacked they’re hard to eat in one bite, and waits that can be substantial. It’s a legitimately good bagel with a fame premium attached. Worth doing once; not the highest-rated bagel in New York.

The Highest-Rated: An Institution And An Upper West Side Counter

• Russ & Daughters — 179 E Houston St, Lower East Side. Google: 4.6 (4,715 reviews). $$

Open since 1914 and now in its fourth generation, Russ & Daughters is the appetizing store the city built its bagel-and-lox identity around. Reviewers describe bagels that are crispy outside and soft inside, paired with smoked fish of a quality that justifies the reputation. The Super Heebster (whitefish salad, wasabi roe) draws specific devotion.

A practical note from the reviews: the shop itself has almost no seating — two benches out front. Their separate café a few blocks away is where you sit down.

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• New Absolute Bagels — 2788 Broadway, Upper West Side. Google: 4.6 (3,683 reviews). $

Tied for the top score, and the purist’s pick. Reviewers rate the texture above everything else — “pillowy soft on the inside with a nice crunch that holds its shape,” and “probably the best overall texture in a bagel.” Reopened recently after a closure, and the new space draws praise for service speed.

One consistent criticism worth knowing: the lox portions are widely described as small for the price. Order the plain-with-cream-cheese and you’ll understand the ratings; order the expensive lox build and you may not.

The Queens Pilgrimage

• Utopia Bagels — 19-09 Utopia Pkwy, Whitestone, Queens. Google: 4.5 (2,975 reviews). $

The outer-borough answer, and one with a genuine claim to the crown. Utopia hand-rolls over 100,000 bagels a week, and reviewers describe the everything bagel as having “the perfect crunch on the outside… soft and fresh on the inside.” Multiple reviews mention staff who treat regulars like family, which is not nothing.

Opens at 5am. If you’re serious about bagels, this is the trip worth making.

The East Village Standby

• Tompkins Square Bagels — 165 Avenue A, East Village. Google: 4.5 (2,258 reviews). $

The neighborhood shop that scales. Reviewers call the bagels “incredibly fresh, perfectly chewy,” and the cream cheese range is where this place separates itself — the flavored spreads are the draw as much as the bagels. The French toast bagel has a small cult following.

The knock in recent reviews is consistency: a few diners report skimpier scallion cream cheese than they remember. Still a strong, reliable pick.

The Brooklyn Old-Timer

• Bagel Hole — 400 7th Ave, Park Slope. Google: 4.1 (385 reviews). $

Included because it’s a genuine Brooklyn classic with a devoted following — “chewy inside, crunchy outside, the perfect balance,” and unchanged since the 1960s. But the data is honest: 4.1 with a small sample, and the negative reviews are pointed, citing dryness and service. A local institution that divides people. Go if you’re in Park Slope; don’t cross the city for it.

What The Ratings Tell You

The famous name rates lowest. Ess-a-Bagel (4.1) trails Russ & Daughters and Absolute (both 4.6). This is now the fourth NYC category where we’ve found the same thing — fame and quality track loosely at best.

Price doesn’t buy quality. Absolute and Utopia are both $ and both out-rate the pricier options. In bagels, more money buys you a bigger sandwich, not a better bagel.

The outer boroughs hold up. Utopia in Queens (4.5) beats most of Manhattan. Bagel purists have said this for years and the ratings back them.

Order simply at the best places. The clearest pattern in the reviews: the elaborate lox builds draw price complaints, while the plain-with-cream-cheese orders draw raves. Let the bagel be the point.

On The Water Theory

You’ll hear that New York bagels are superior because of the city’s water — low mineral content affecting gluten. It’s partly true and mostly overstated. The bigger factors are technique: high-gluten flour, a proper boil before baking, and hand-rolling. Utopia’s 100,000 hand-rolled bagels a week are a better explanation than the reservoir.

The Bottom Line

New York’s best-rated bagels, by the numbers, are at Russ & Daughters and New Absolute Bagels, with Utopia in Queens close behind and worth the trip. Ess-a-Bagel is a genuine institution carrying a fame premium — good, expensive, crowded. Order simply, and don’t assume the name you’ve heard of is the bagel you want.

Sources And Methodology

• Google Places ratings, review counts, addresses, price levels, and hours, verified July 2026
• Reviewer sentiment summarized from published Google reviews; where criticism is consistent (price, portions, lines), we report it

Note: A guide synthesizing aggregated ratings and published reviews, not firsthand visits. Ratings and hours change; confirm before travelling.