The perennial debate about where to find the best bagel in Manhattan is something that can incite riots, rip families apart, and destroy friendships. OK, maybe it’s not quite that dramatic, but it is indeed a topic that New Yorkers take quite seriously. And as a non-native, I’m hardly an expert on the topic.
However, I have spent a fair amount of time in Manhattan at various points throughout my career – at least enough time to have an opinion about the bagel joints located in the parts of the city where I’ve spent the most time. The area around 50th Street and 3rd Avenue is the part of town I’m most familiar with, and subsequently I’m confident in declaring Ess-a-Bagel to be my favorite bagel joint in NYC.
Ess-a-Bagel (“esse” is the German word for “eat”) was founded by an Austrian family about 30 years ago. They have two locations in Manhattan – one at 831 3rd Avenue (51st and 3rd) and the original shop at 359 1st Avenue (21st and 1st). Their hand rolled bagels are baked onsite daily. In addition to more than a dozen bagel options to choose from, they also have a variety of spreads and toppings to meet your bagel eating needs.
I like a variety of bagel/topping combinations, but one of my favorite breakfast combos is definitely (and obviously) bacon, egg, and cheese on a toasted sesame bagel. So when I stopped by Ess-a-Bagel the other morning, naturally that is what I ordered. I ordered my bagel to-go because there is (or rather, used to be) a small courtyard public area just around the corner from Ess-a-Bagel where I used to enjoy eating outdoors. However, upon leaving the bagel shop and walking around the corner, I discovered this park is currently closed. So despite the cold, windy weather, I decided to hike the 10 blocks to Central Park to find a place to sit outdoors and enjoy my breakfast bagel.
By the time I got to the outdoor plaza in front of FAO Schwartz, which has several tables and chairs, I was getting so cold (and hungry) that I decided to stop there and begin eating. I was the only person taking advantage of the table seating on this chilly winter morning (not surprisingly). I actually didn’t think it was that cold at first, but admittedly after about 10 minutes I couldn’t feel my fingers and eating was becoming a challenge. I like to think I was suffering for my art…but in the interest of not losing fingers to frostbite, I inhaled my bagel sandwich and found a taxi to take me to my next location. I’ve never been so happy to be in a taxi as I was then, to the point that I didn’t care when my taxi driver blew past my destination by a couple blocks.
But despite the uncomfortable cold, that breakfast bagel sure was delicious. Ess-a-Bagel never fails to impress.
Ess-a-Bagel
359 1st Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Phone: 212-260-2252
831 3rd Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Phone: 212-980-1010