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1st Ave-14th St (L)
"I love this place to the utmost. If I was cool enough to be one of those "work from home/cafe" types, I would park myself at City Bakery.…" read more »
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The first thing I do when I get into Manhattan is stop by Ess-A-Bagel. The bagels are always warm, fresh, chewy, and filling. I think the plain bagel is best. My boyfriend and I can split one plain bagel with butter for breakfast, and we are satisfied for hours. I ate a whole bagel myself one time, and I regretted it; the bagels are huge! Also, I got cream cheese one time, and it is pretty ridiculous how much cream cheese they put on it; I basically ended up scraping half of it off. It was still delicious, though.
I recommend Ess-A-Bagel to anyone I know who is going to NYC. They always love it!
By the way... don't ask for toasted bagels. You look like an idiot.
Their bagels are super yummy and so is their cream cheese. if you're a fan of lox try the lox cream cheese spread, and if you want something health the scallion tofu spread tastes like cream cheese but isn't fatty.
The only down side, they won't toast your bagel, which is something I personally like... other than that, I continue to go back!
Bagels have always been my favorite food, and when I moved to NYC and had my first Ess-a-Bagel, I knew I had arrived.
If you want the best bagel your money can buy, come here! You will be getting a MEAL, the bagel is so big, and the cream cheese is delicious (and they give you a LOT, let me tell you). I always go with sesame and plain cream cheese, it's just my favorite, but I know they have lots of flavors and I've heard they are all amazing. I had one of their black and whites, too. Not sure where they get them from, but it was good.
To be fair, I've only been here once. But when they handed me my bagel, there was a roach crawling on the bag!!! I will never go back there again!!!
I was super glad to be able to find a place with so many tofu cream cheeses so I didn't mind waiting 10 minutes in line for a bagel.
I decided on the pumpernickle bagel with tofu sundried-tomato spread since I've never seen that vegan cream cheese flavor elsewhere. The bagel was good, but I was disappointed that they didn't toast the bagel (maybe they are too busy). Since the bagel wasn't warm, my cream cheese didn't melt at all, which I really like. Also, I thought the cream cheese had a very strong basil or oregano flavor that was a bit too strong.
Although I wasn't super happy with my bagel, I sampled my friend's everything bagel with scallion tofu cream cheese (which was warm for some reason) and really enjoyed it.
while they do do a better-than-average bagel, their bagels might be better described as bagel-like rolls - while the crust is crispier than the innards, their bagels don't have that dramatic crust-to-chewy-innards that makes, for me, a bagel a bagel.
having just tried them for the first time recently, it's hard to tell if ess-a has only recently embraced the growing trend of huge bagels or if they've always made them mas grande...
in the end, ess-a makes a much better-than-average bagel, but a bagel that's hardly worthy of being called an 'institution'
p. i had an everything with plain cream cheese
Ess-A-Bagel has great bagels (duh!) and the lox and cream cheese sandwich is awesome! It comes with thinly sliced onions and capers when I had it about three years ago. If you're a fan of bagels, you ought to be here!
H&H? Pshaw. It's all about Ess-a! I have just moved across the street from Ess-a-Bagel...low-carb lifestyle be damned! I love me a good bagel, and I have yet to find one better.
Their bagels are hard on the outside, soft and delicious on the inside, and when they are hot and fresh, there is no need to toast it. Of course, they don't even use toasters there, so don't bother asking. They will scoop it out for you, if that's how you roll, but I think it's just plain crazy.
One tip, if you are going on the weekend and want to avoid the crazy line, go directly to the bagel bins to order only bagels (no spreads or coffee). You can schmear some cream cheese on at home and enjoy your ess-a that much faster.
These are not only the best bagels in Manhattan, I daresay they are the best in the world.
You really haven't experienced New York until you've had a bagel from Ess-a-Bagel.
Awesome bagels - crunchy shell, soft insides, HUGE. Amazing cream cheese - fresh, tangy, and they slap a TON on (you can also get it on the side).
The one on 21st is better than the one in midtown in terms of quality, but the one in midtown is run better (i.e. the line moves faster, thus enabling me to have a bagel in my greedy little hands sooner).
A very good bagel, a little denser, but bigger than an H and H. I now pick up a bakers dozen and schlep them in my carry on back here to SF. They're that good.
There is no substitute for an Ess a Bagel. And the choices take care of any and all preferences in how you like your bagel.
Ess a Bagel has about everything a bagel enthusiast can want. 14 types of bagels. Apple-cinnamon cream cheese, sun-dried tomato cream cheese, raisin walnut cream cheese, and 16 other varieties. Plus pastries, cakes, sandwiches, and other distractions. But the bagels are the event. They are HUGE, absolutely the biggest you've ever seen in a store. The perfect NY bagel - which is why they're always rated the best bagels in New York.
If you want to have one fixed your way, join the line. If you want a bag of bagels to take home, go around the line to the counter filled with bagels in the back. There are tables to sit and enjoy you bagel and coffee, usually half of them filled with Japanese tourists with their guide books out. (Most of the locals take them home or to the office.)
Ess A easily has the best bagels I have ever ate (yes, way better than Murray's). The hard, almost crunchy exterior and the yeasty, soft interior give these bagels the perfect texture. Their plain cream cheese is nice and tangy with a great thick texture.
The workers here also have a great, old-school, no fuss NY attitude that I appreciate much more than the overly friendly nonsense that some places have going on. For 3 dollars and change this is the best money I spend on food all week.
$3.60 for a massive, fresh, warm, poppy seed bagel heaped with apple cinnamon cream cheese. It can't be beat! Yummmm...
There are a few tables inside, but I got mine to go.
FYI, they absolutely refuse to toast bagels here and look at you in disgust if you ask them to. Don't worry though, the bagel does not need to be toasted. It is delicious as it is!
Holy Moly these bagels are delicious. I would have totally given an epic 5 star bagel review but the iced coffee was crap and c'mon what goes better with A FANTASTIC BAGEL LOADED WITH MELT IN YOUR MOUTH CREAM CHEESE... is a bad ass iced coffee which it wasn't. So, sorry ess a bagel get that ass into gear with iced coffee and I'll give you 5 stars, hands down.
Mmmmm. Hard on the outside, soft on the inside.
Best Bagels in the world!!!! This is where it is at....some people are creeped out by one of the guys behind the counter but those are also the same people who don't take the NQRW from Union Square to Times Square because they are afraid of being molested...this place has it all and they know how to put it together
if you live in ny this is where you need to get your bagels
Bagels in Los Angeles just don't hold a candle to this place. In fact, I'd likely take a bullet for you Ess-A, just to have the lox!
This place is amazing, but a bit disorganized and hectic. The Gayz came here on our New York trip after reading yelp reviews and found it lived up to expectations. The nova scotia is less salty than you'd find on the west coast. The Nova platter ($14.95) is great but they forgot my onions(!). If you order the Nova bagel sandwich ($9.95) be sure to ask for cucumbers and capers if you want them because it only comes with tomatoes and white onion.
"What do I have to do heeeeyah (insert thick Brooklyn accent) to get you's to buy a toastah?"
This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between me and Ess-A-Bagel!
I know a couple of bagel shops that don't toast their bagels, but the guys at ESS-A are adamant on their bagels being 100% fresh with no need for a toast. I am usually a toaster-Nazi, in that I have to have my bread toasted. I'll be the first to admit that I was wrong in thinking it was a necessity to toast their bagels. They were pretty damn amazing without a toast.
My boyfriend and I decided to grab a bagel for a quick morning breakfast. We heard this place was magical and wanted to form our own opinions. Two everything bagels, scallion cream cheese, and tomatoes later, we sat and enjoyed our breakfast.
My breath is still kickin' from the onion in the bagel/scallion cheese, but it was well worth it. The bagel was so huge we saved half for later. In fact, writing about it is making me want to finish it.
I came back here again and tried the whitefish on an everything bagel and blueberry spread on a whole wheat bagel. The blueberry is just orgasm in the mouth goodness. It is currently my #1 favorite spread. The whitefish was a bit too salty for me but Ess-a-Bagel gave me almost a fish worth of meat. I had to split up the whitefish salad into two meals because there were just too much protein. Love this place!
My friend and I wanted a good breakfast so we Yelp'd and UB'd nearby places. Ess-a-Bagel was the… Read more »
I was weaned on these bagels.
My grandparents lived across the street in Stuyvesant Town for over 50 years.* Not only have these bagels been at more family functions than me, but I'm pretty sure they are more welcome as well.
They were the best bagels then, and they are the best bagels now. Regardless of your bagel preference, these will be the most delicious you've ever eaten.
My dad happens to like the salt bagels, which are crusted with more sodium than is contained in an entire case of ramen. I usually go with the everything, or perhaps a cinnamon raisin when I feel like getting crazy.
You should just order whatever you like. It will be good.
And if it isn't, don't come crying to me. You either have awful taste in bagels, or...actually, that's the only explanation.
*Occasionally I think about their rent-controlled, $875/month, three-bedroom apartment (that we no longer have) and weep uncontrollably.
Good bagels, get cream cheese and Nova salmon (which is the less salty salmon) on your bagel, and ask for them to slightly toast the bagel if not right out of the oven. Guarantee you will enjoy!
They have some nifty flavored bagels to try out here too, if you're so inclined. Coffee is just average here.
Yum! Tasty bagels! I got a whole wheat everything bagel with lox tofu spread. The bagels are huge and are crispy outside and soft inside -exactly how it should be. The lox tofu spread was great it tasted as good as real cream cheese. The line was long on a Sunday morning but it moved fairly fast and it was definitely worth the wait!
Great bagels! There are often long lines here in the morning, particularly on weekends. It's faster to get bagels without toppings than with.
If you get cream cheese, they will give you tons of it, so ask for just a little cream cheese if you don't want a huge amount.
I thought finding a plain bagel toasted with cream cheese in NYC would be a piece of cake. How in the world did I end up walking for 30 minutes trying to find this? Isn't there supposed to be a cafe with thousands of bagel choices and giant salad bars on every corner, right next to the Starbucks? That's the American dream!
I can really only write this review on the bagels, as I didn't try anything else there. But let me tell you, they sure know how to do a plain bagel and cream cheese right! Yeah I know, cause it's so difficult right? But whatever, it satisfied my craving. I was also highly amused by the guy making my bagel who hit on me somewhat relentlessly. He probably hits on anything that moves, but it was early, and it made me smile. Is it wrong that I get a kick out of that?
Good bagels, fast line, good OJ. What more should I ask for? Caviar?
2 famous bagel joints. 2 different directions. How to choose?
If I feel like walking up from 13th st. (~8 blocks) than Ess-A-Bagel is the place.
If I feel like walking down from 13th st. (~13 blocks) than its Russ and Daughters.
The best bagels in the world. I've been nursing an Ess-a-bagel addiction for years. Whole wheat everything with tuna salad never fails me. NOM NOM NOM. This location is FAR superior to the midtown location. Some of the haters complain that the seeds/onion bits/garlic bits/whatever are limited to the top half of the bagel but WHO CARES when the bagel is textural and taste perfection????!!!
I rarely make a cross country trip without a baker's dozen from Ess-a-bagel stuffed in my carry-on. Yes it makes all my clothes smell bagel-y but it's TOTALLY WORTH IT.
I sit here with an unfinished bagel, staring at my table in sadness. My dog is eyeing it up, and I might just let him have it. At least then it will be enjoyed.
Sesame bagel with lox? No lox.
Ok, lox spread any good? Yes it's delicious.
Can you toast that? We don't toast. (????)
The sesame bagel was nothing to write home about, but the lox spread was bitter and not appetizing.
I got an egg & cheese on whole wheat also; it appears that when they made it they microwaved the entire thing instead of just the inside, which turned the bagel into mush. (the egg and cheese part of it were tasty at least)
On the bright side, it was only $6.50 total for these. My normal bagel shop charges $10.50 for the same items. However, it's worth the extra $4 to have better bagels.
No thanks, sorry.
??? What is all this hype? Once people find out where we live, they say "OOOH you live near Ess A Bagels!"
My husband and I tried their bagels but I don't see what's so special about it? I had an onion bagel with cheddar cream cheese, but the cream cheese ended up tasting like fish. I think it was right next to the lox but either way, I ended up scraping it off and eating my own plain cream cheese.
My husband got their seasame bagel with jelly and butter and it was just ok.
I like the bagels I toast just as much? I do like the ambiance and how it's a very homey feel.... but that's pretty much it.
i'm really annoyed. i finally got my ass out of bed early enough to get a fresh bagel and they got my order wrong. I ordered an egg and cheese bagel, they gave me egg salad. I'm annoyed because they weren't even that busy so their is no real good excuse as to why they can't listen.
but...it was good. i don't particularly like egg salad, but i tried it and it was edible. the bagel was wonderful though.
i'm giving them one more shot at my egg cheese, at which time i will come back and revise my review.
My roommates and I sing about these bagels.
I ate here every day whilst living in my car, which I did at 19, when I first moved to NYC.
For 108 days straight, this was the only consistent sustenance I had.
These bagels quite possibly saved my life.. seriously.
Years later, (I now have a beautiful home of my own), I revisit the round-dough vender of life, and the bagel was so soft- it was as if I had taken MDMA.. I really had to look around for a minute.. gain my balance and take another bite. I don't portend to understand what kosher really means but I think these guys, somehow, got god to blow bubbles in their boiler.
Best bagel I have ever had.. and the joint is clean. (sorry David's)
Eat Well!
The X
I needed bagels to bring back to my mother, and my cousin's boyfriend (who is a native city kid) reccomended this place, especially since it was right off the L train.
After a six block run/walk from the 1st avenue station, I found Ess A Bagel. They have a decent selection midday, but I would guess that the earlier that you get here, the more selection you would have. They had an amazing choice of spreads, but I wasn't going to fly 3000 miles with cream cheese. The guy was a little hard to understand inside, but I got a variety of bagels to bring back to San Francisco. They still tasted very fresh and tasty, and my mother was happy.
At about $1/bagel, I was content. They say they give you a Baker's Dozen for $12, but I'm not sure if I got 12 or 13 bagels.
I was SO looking forward to trying some traditional New York bagels, and i had read that Ess-a-Bagel was my man for the job.
Lox spread is YUCK! Oh my gosh, I was SO disappointed, I LOVE salmon, I like cream cheese, I LOVE bagels, I felt this should be a winning combination for me, but oh dear god, it was really really vile! A bad choice on my part. I tried scraping the lox off the bagel so I could eat it plain, but the taste lingered so I abandoned my task.
I did sneak a bite of my boyfriend's plain bagel with cream cheese & that was alright, nice chewy bagel. I just wish I had gone for another filling (next time!) instead of being so adventurous!
Cute place though, we sat by the window and people watched.
Incredible hot, chewy, delicious New York bagels. Extremely long line every weekend.
If you have the time to kill, Ess-A-Bagel is worth the wait... If you don't have the time, Gramercy Bagels on 3rd Avenue is *almost* as good.
to me - the gold standard. when I was looking to buy an apartment 10 years ago being walking distance from Ess-A was high on my list. as a new yorker one has to take their bagels seriously and this, sorry H&H, is as where it starts and ends for me.
HELLLO BAGELS
i love you, but they taste even better here.
the only place that does cream cheese justice
I feel sorry for all other bagels that I pass outside of ess a. The multigrain bagels are killer. They're just the right amount of crunchy and soft with a hint of brown sugar. It's about a 25 minute walk from my apartment and after skipping the whole way there, I have to fight my urge to take a cab home because I can't wait to devour it (I'm not really interested in eating there).
I can't find a better way to spend a little less than four bucks.
By far the BEST tofu cream cheese I have EVER had. My staple is the tofu scallion on a multi grain bagel. They have a ton of different tofu cream cheese flavors!!! (what?? so unheard of!) And these aren't bagels these are like massive hero sandwiches. Usually one ess-a-bagel is two meals for me. The staff is very friendly. And the whole place is just pure New York.
The only downside is going on the weekends. Just forget it. The line is out the door and you'll be waiting upwards of 30 minutes. Also, the closing times vary, sometimes they're open past 6 and sometimes they're not. Many a times I have walked over there to see the gate down. I'm completely addicted.
You're hard-pressed to find a better bagel in Manhattan. Only Brooklyn provides any competition. The bagels are crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and the pumpernickel is as black as night and just as tasty. I've always contended that the 20th street location was the better of the two Ess-a-bagels and I spoke to one of the guys behind the counter who actually confirmed it. They're a lot busier at the uptown location and much bigger, he told me, so they can't offer the same level of attention and care that they do in the smaller, more intimate downtown bagelry. Come here, and you'll never want to go the H&H ever again.
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