What is the best bagel?

There is no single “best” bagel, but the answer depends on what you want from a bagel:

🥇 Best all-around: a classic New York–style bagel

A great New York bagel has:

• A shiny, slightly crisp crust
• A chewy, dense-but-not-heavy interior
• Enough structure for cream cheese, lox, egg, or a breakfast sandwich

The classic order: everything bagel + scallion cream cheese (or sesame + lox if you want the iconic version). New York–style bagels are typically boiled before baking, with malt and salt contributing to their savory flavor and chew.

🥈 Best if you eat it plain: Montréal-style bagel

A fresh wood-fired Montréal bagel is a serious contender:

• Smaller and thinner
• Bigger hole
• Slightly sweet from honey
• Crisp exterior with a chewy center

Traditional Montréal bagels are hand-rolled, boiled in honey-sweetened water, and baked in wood-fired ovens. Wikipedia Tourisme Montréal My pick here: sesame Montréal bagel, eaten hot with nothing on it.

🥯 My “perfect bagel” ranking:

1. Fresh sesame bagel from a wood-fired Montréal shop — best pure bagel experience
2. Everything bagel with scallion cream cheese — best everyday bagel
3. Sesame bagel with lox, cream cheese, capers, and onion — best classic meal
4. Plain bagel toasted with butter — underrated simplicity

If I had to choose just one: a hot sesame Montréal-style bagel straight from the oven. If I’m building breakfast: a New York everything bagel with scallion cream cheese.

The real controversy is that Montréal and New York bagels are almost different foods—one is a great piece of bread by itself, the other is a perfect vehicle for toppings.

Finding the "best" bagel is a high-stakes, deeply personal debate—usually won by whichever one is fresh out of the kettle, still warm in your hands, and smeared with a dangerous amount of scallion cream cheese.

The eternal debate usually boils down to a few heavyweight contenders and styles:

• The Classic New York Style: Universally praised for its blistered, shiny crust and dense, chewy interior. The secret is often credited to the city's unique tap water mineral content and the traditional method of boiling the dough before baking. Legendary spots like Russ & Daughters or neighborhood staples like Bagels & Schmear set the gold standard.
• The Montreal Style: Smaller, sweeter, and denser than an NYC bagel. They are boiled in honey-sweetened water, baked in a wood-fired oven, and feature a massive hole with a distinctly malty, sweet flavor profile. (If you haven't had a warm one from St-Viateur or Fairmount, you're missing a major piece of the culinary map).
• The Everything Bagel (The Ultimate Flavor): Regardless of geography, the true consensus pick for flavor is the Everything bagel . It achieves peak savory perfection through a chaotic alliance of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, dried garlic, dried onion, and coarse salt.

To help narrow down the search for your ultimate carb:

• What is your preferred style (dense and chewy NYC-style, sweet/wood-fired Montreal-style, or fluffy/soft)?
• What is your go-to schmear or topping?

• Asa's Bakery - 5011 S 34th Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55417
• Rise Bagel Co. - 530 N 3rd St, Minneapolis, MN 55401
• St. Paul Bagelry Nicollet - 5426 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55419
• St. Paul Bagelry - 1702 Lexington Ave N, Roseville, MN 55113
• Bruegger's Bagels - 4554 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55409
• Bruegger's Bagels - 228 E Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55414
• Hen House Eatery - 114 S 8th St, Minneapolis, MN 55402
• Mocha Momma's Coffee - 300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55401
• ElMar's NY Bagels (a pop-up at ElMar's NY Pizza) - 15725 37th Ave N Ste 5, Plymouth, MN 55446
• Mother Dough Bakery Capella Tower Skyway - 1st floor fireside lounge and Skyway, 225 South 6th St, Minneapolis, MN 55402
• Egg on a Roll - 201 N 5th Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55401
• Bruegger's Bagels - 4412 France Ave S, Edina, MN 55410
• Rudy's Breakfast Bagels - 750 S 2nd St, Minneapolis, MN 55401

If you mean in Minneapolis/Twin Cities, my pick is ElMar’s NY Bagels in Plymouth. Recent local discussion is unusually emphatic about it for a true New York–style bagel, and the Star Tribune specifically highlighted ElMar’s among the Twin Cities’ best NY-style options.

My shortlist:

1. 🥯 ElMar’s NY Bagels — best for a classic, chewy NYC-style bagel.
2. Asa's Bakery — best for naturally leavened/sourdough bagels and excellent schmears.
3. Rise Bagel Co. — great all-around Minneapolis option, especially if you like creative flavors.
4. St. Paul Bagelry Nicollet — classic, dependable bagel-shop experience.

But if you're asking “what kind of bagel is best?”: everything bagel + scallion cream cheese. Difficult to beat. 😎🥯

The absolute best bagels in Los Angeles are driven by a major bread renaissance, highlighted by wood-fired Montreal styles, artisanal sourdoughs, and viral stuffed creations. Leading the pack is Courage Bagels in East Hollywood , which famously sparked national debate when the New York Times suggested California bagels had surpassed New York's.

Cult Favorites & Wild Fermentations

CallDirections Website Famous for its Montreal-style, 72-hour wild fermented sourdough bagels. They are wood-fired to achieve a shatteringly crisp, blistered exterior with a dense, chewy center.

• Price: $20–$30 for premium open-faced sandwiches.
• Must-Try: The "Simply Delicious " with salmon, capers, and lemon , or salmon roe on a burnt everything bagel.
• Note: Prepare for long weekend lines; it has a high-profile reputation.

Known for gorgeous, hand-split sourdough bagels that are boiled, heavily seeded, and baked fresh daily. They pull seasonal ingredients straight from local farmers markets.

• Price: $10–$20.
• Must-Try: "The Laika " (classic smoked salmon) or the sweet "Pre Jam " featuring fresh raspberries and honey.

CallDirections Website The go-to spot for traditional East Coast purists. They specialize in smaller, classic sourdough boil-and-bake bagels with an authentic, moist, chewy bite.

• Price: $10–$20.
• Must-Try: The signature "Mori" bagel , an out-of-the-box creation with wasabi tobiko roe cream cheese, smoked salmon, and pickled cucumber.

Traditional & Next-Gen Styles

CallDirections Website An unpretentious neighborhood staple serving authentically dense, water-boiled bagels for nearly 40 years.

• Price: $10–$20.
• Must-Try: Sliced Nova Lox sandwich or a classic bacon, egg, and cheese.

CallDirections Website A viral sensation blending Korean baking techniques with American bagel culture. They use a Japanese tangzhong dough method to make ultra-plush, pillow-soft rolls.

• Price: $10–$20.
• Must-Try: The signature stuffed garlic bagel—scored, piped with cream cheese, dunked in garlic herb butter, and re-baked.

CallDirections C and H Bagels (Northeast LA / Highland Park): Boasts a near-perfect customer rating for its exceptional sourdough bagels that achieve a beautiful outer crunch and fluffy interior.

• Price: $10–$20.
• Must-Try: The everything pastrami bagel sandwich or a loaded salmon bagel.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Community Perspectives

Local diners emphasize that choosing the "best" bagel often depends on what neighborhood you are in and how long you are willing to wait.

Are you looking for a specific neighborhood to explore, or do you have a preference for New York style vs. Montreal style bagels?

If you mean the best bagel style overall, my vote is Montreal-style—specifically a fresh sesame bagel from St-Viateur.

Why:

• 🔥 Wood-fired → crisp, slightly smoky crust
• 🍯 Honey-water boiled → subtle sweetness
• 🥯 Chewy but lighter than a classic New York bagel
• 🌰 Sesame or poppy seeds give it plenty of flavor even without toppings

That said, New York-style wins if you want a big, dense, salty bagel loaded with cream cheese, lox, or breakfast fillings. The NY–Montreal debate is genuinely a matter of taste.

My ranking:

1. 🥇 Montreal sesame — best eaten hot and plain
2. 🥈 NY everything — best with cream cheese
3. 🥉 NY egg bagel — best breakfast sandwich
4. Montreal poppy — excellent with butter or cream cheese

And if you mean the best bagel you can actually get near you, I can search around Port Allen/Baton Rouge and find the top spots.

The "best" bagel is a fiercely debated topic, usually coming down to a regional and stylistic holy war. Because a great bagel relies on chemistry, tradition, and personal preference, there is no single consensus winner—instead, there are a few elite contenders depending on what style you crave.

The Heavyweights: Style Showdown

• The New York-Style Bagel
  • The Vibe: Large, puffy, and dense with a shiny, blistered crust and a satisfyingly chewy interior.
  • The Process: Hand-rolled, boiled in malted water, and baked.
  • The Champion: Utopia Bagels (Queens, NY) is routinely cited by food critics as the pinnacle of the craft . However, in national blind-tasting showdowns like BagelFest, outsiders occasionally steal the crown—such as Dallas's Starship Bagel , which took top honors with its strict, Brooklyn-inspired NY-style execution.
• The Montreal-Style Bagel
  • The Vibe: Smaller, thinner, sweeter, and denser, featuring a massive hole and a smoky, wood-fired char.
  • The Process: Contains eggs and honey in the dough, is poached in honey-infused water, and is baked in a blazing wood-fired oven.
  • The Champion: St-Viateur Bagel (and its legendary rival, Fairmount Bagel ) in Montreal . Connoisseurs argue you can eat a Montreal sesame bagel completely plain, straight out of the bag, without any schmear at all.

How to Choose Your Winner

• Choose New York Style if: You want a heavy-duty breakfast vehicle . They are structurally superior for maximalist, exploding-at-the-seams lox or bacon-egg-and-cheese sandwiches.
• Choose Montreal Style if: You care more about the pure, artisanal taste of the dough itself, prefer a crunchier exterior , and like a subtle, honeyed sweetness.

If you want to narrow down your search, tell me:

• Are you looking for a local recommendation in a specific city , or trying to order a batch online?
• Do you prefer a plain/savory chew or a sweet/wood-fired crunch?

If we’re talking the best kind of bagel, my vote is:

🥇 Everything bagel + scallion cream cheese

The ideal bagel should be boiled then baked, with a shiny, slightly crisp crust and a dense, chewy interior—not a fluffy bread roll with a hole in it.

The everything topping gives you salt, sesame, poppy, garlic, and onion, while scallion cream cheese adds richness without overwhelming it. It’s also the benchmark order used in a large NYC bagel survey.

But: if you're asking where to get the best bagel near you, that's a different—and more interesting—question. I can pick the best local one.

Asking for the "best bagel" is a quick way to start a holy war between food lovers . It entirely depends on whether you lean toward the heavy, malt-forward chew of a New York classic or the sweet, wood-fired crunch of a Montreal style.

The top contenders for the best bagel styles and legendary spots break down as follows:

• The New York Style: Large, puffy, slightly salty, and boiled in malt water before baking, giving it a shiny, tough exterior and a dense, chewy interior.
  • Top NYC Icons: Russ & Daughters for the ultimate lox-and-appetizing experience, Best Bagel & Coffee for massive, fluffy midtown proportions, and Tompkins Square Bagels for creative, maximalist flavor combos.
• The Montreal Style: Smaller, thinner, distinctly sweeter (thanks to being boiled in honey-sweetened water), and baked exclusively in a wood-fired brick oven. They feature a large hole and a crackly, almost pastry-like crunch.
  • Top Montreal Icons: St-Viateur Bagel (the historic Mile End favorite) and its fierce, equally historic rival Fairmount Bagel.

Are you firmly on Team New York (dense, savory, giant sandwiches) or Team Montreal (sweet, wood-fired, perfect plain), or are you looking for recommendations in a specific city?

Declaring the "best" bagel is a dangerous sport, as fierce debates rage from Brooklyn to Montreal. Ultimately, it comes down to which style and texture you prefer.

The top contenders across the bagel landscape break down by style and legendary status:

• The Gold Standard Classic (New York Style): Utopia Bagels (Whitestone, Queens) or Ess-a-Bagel (Manhattan). Characterized by a kettle-boiled, hand-rolled process that yields a blistered, shiny, crackly crust with a dense, chewy interior. Ess-a-Bagel leans massive and fluffy-dense , while Utopia is routinely worshipped by purists for achieving the ultimate crisp-to-chew ratio fresh out of their vintage carousel oven.
• The Smoked Fish Institution: Russ & Daughters (Lower East Side, NYC). While famous for its century-old appetizing counter and pristine Nova lox, getting an everything bagel with scallion cream cheese and silky salmon here is a quintessential ritual.
• The Sourdough Upstart: Apollo Bagels (East Village/Lower East Side/Williamsburg). Known for a distinct, tangy sourdough base, large air pockets in the crumb, and an aggressive, almost pizza-crust-like crunch on the exterior.
• The Sweet & Wood-Fired Alternative (Montreal Style): Fairmount Bagel or St-Viateur (Montreal, Canada). Smaller, denser, sweeter (boiled in honey water), and fired in a wood-burning oven. They have a massive hole, a malted flavor, and a cracker-like crunch.
• The Neighborhood Favorite: Tompkins Square Bagels (East Village, NYC). Beloved for sticking to 1950s hand-rolled small-batch methods while pioneering incredible creative cream cheese flavors (like bacon scallion or birthday cake).

If you want to narrow down the search, tell me:

• Are you looking for a traditional dense chew or something lighter/crispier?
• Do you prefer a plain bagel with butter, or a fully loaded lox sandwich?

I can give you a local recommendation if you share your city!

The “best” bagel depends on what you want from a bagel, but the classic contenders are:

🥇 New York–style bagel — probably the all-around champion

• Thick, chewy interior
• Slightly crisp exterior
• Best with cream cheese, lox, egg sandwiches, or a heavy schmear
• A great example: a fresh sesame or everything bagel, lightly toasted (or not toasted if it’s truly fresh)

🥇 Montreal-style bagel — the purist’s favorite

• Smaller, thinner, sweeter, with a larger hole
• Hand-rolled, dipped in honey water, and traditionally baked in a wood-fired oven, giving it a chewy texture and crisp crust
• Best eaten hot from the oven with just a little cream cheese

🥯 My pick: a fresh Montreal sesame bagel if I’m eating it plain; a New York everything bagel if I’m making a sandwich. The sesame seed crust + chewy center is hard to beat.

For the “perfect order”:

• Bagel: everything or sesame
• Spread: scallion cream cheese
• Upgrade: smoked salmon, tomato, red onion, capers

If you mean best bagel shop, the answer changes a lot depending on your city.