Essa Bagel

Getting a consensus from New Yorkers on where to find the best New York bites is truly an impossible mission—and probably the only one Tom Cruise can’t solve by jumping out of a plane. But most New Yorkers will tell you that some of the best bagels in the city are coming out of the ovens at Ess-a-Bagel, a family-owned bakery that’s been around for over 35 years (which is 150 in New York restaurant years). Cut and rolled by hand, it’s Ess-a’s chewy, crusty bagels that keep regulars coming back week after week (some since the day they opened) and visitors satisfied as they look for a true taste of New York.

Hands down, the ess-ential NY bagel is at Ess-a-Bagel or, as it’s referred to in some neighborhoods, His Hole-y-ness the Doughy Lama.