Best Bagels in Queens?

[ngdowney]

I'm seaching for the best & freshest bagel in Queens. I've read about a lot of places that have good or decent bagels, but haven't found many posts about bagels that people LOVE. My personal favorite is Ess A Bagel in Manhattan because of their freshness and doughiness to crispness ratio. Any suggestions would be great!

[jenday]

Brooklyn Bagels - there are a few locations in Astoria. I've also tried Bakers Dozen in Kew Gardens - if you like bagels on the chewy side (I do) you should try them!

[janie]

I didn't realize this was an old thread...i have a post further on up in this thread...but, having tried every bagel place in Queens..without a doubt best bagels are at Utopia. Excellent bialys, too. The spreads can vary in quality sometimes. Don't care for any of their baked goods--just get bagels and spreads. For onion board though, Walls in LI is the place, and for the best b/w cookies these days, and just about every other sweet you can imagine..Malverne Bakery in LI--can't go to any other bakery anymore..they are just too good.

[rosie17]

Agreed re: Utopia. Happily I live nearby and can enjoy an everything flagel whenever the mood strikes (unless they run out and I have to get a regular non-flat everything), usually witth eggs/bacon or one of the cream cheeses. love the staff. Not too crazy about the tuna salad, but then again I'm not a fan of mayo so I don't care for too many tunas I don't make myself. Baked goods always look amazing but the ones I've tried have been just ok, so I don't bother.

[ajs42548]

Bagel Club in the Baybridge Shopping Center in Bay Terrace has good bagels.

[SuzyP]

Mini bagels at Gotta Getta Bagel in FH. But only the minis. The regular sized ones are tennequoits.

[BigV]

As a bagel lover, trust me when I say- try Utopia Bagels. I would recommend going earlier in the am than later as the bagels will likely be a bit fresher since there's more turnover. The line is usually up to and sometimes out the door but it moves quick and parking is not hard to find on the side streets or in the back parking lot. I, too, love Ess-A-Bagel so I think you'll love Utopia.

[grisaille]

How does Whitestone Bagel Factory (Willets Point Boulevard and 149th Street) stack up? I've had their bagels a few times and have liked them, but it's always been just after they opened, so the bagels were still warm and there was no line running almost out the door...

[cshell]

Stopped in Hot Bagels in Middle Vilage this morning. Sorry, not so great.
We are talking best bagel not best bagel store right?
The bagels at Hot Bagels in Middle Village have nice texture but had no flavor. The store is clean and resembles more of a deli that sells bagels. I prefer Bakers Dozen though I will try Utopia next Saturday just to make sure. ;D
Most good bagel places should look run down. They should just sell hot baked dough and maybe have a case of milk and cream cheese in case your out.
You want a sandwich, go to a deli.

[chefjellynow]

utopia bagels on utopia tpk in whitestone around 21st st

lotta ppl on the boards love it...they rock

[alice1derland]

Utopia blows away Hot Bialys. The one on Lefferts in KG is ok in a pinch but the service sucks. Nothing like Essa- which is probably my #1 bagel. Hot Bialys is better but I am in love with the bialys at Utopia. Toasted with butter- amazing.

[daveyj]

Forgot about Utopia Bagels...they are very good!

[stuartlafonda]

Chefjellynow: Utopia Bagels is located on Utopia Parkway just south of the corner of 19 th ave. There is no problem spotting it as there is usually a line out the door. I think they are good, not great and never got the love others have for ther place. A good local choice but not worth a long trek, but then, the OP never wrote where they would be comming from.

[chefjellynow]

yes i go there several times a week, i live around the corner

[stuartlafonda]

Sorry, didn't mean to be pedantic, but having grown up on 201 between 17th and 19 th I was just clearing it up for those reading along. I enjoy your input on the Bayside/Whitestone chow scene.

[cshell]

I'm not sure of the name because I just know it as the bagel store around the corner. Its in Kew Gardens on Lefferts, next to the movie theater and across from LIRR. Just as good as Ess A Bagel or H& H and MUCH bigger in size.

[bluerain]

Bakers' Dozen. Run by an Irish Guy, incidentally :)

I like the doughy hot bagels from this place.

http://www.chow.com/places/52357

[FoxieLoxie]

Bakers Dozen on Lefferts in Kew Gardens is a testament to how people who have never had a good bagel end up with ruined taste. The bagels at Bakers Dozen are stricktly goyisha. In short, they are soft, wrong- tasting, puffy horrors. Strictly for fans of Einstein's Bagels and those who think Pastrami should be eaten on white with mayo.

[janie]

agreed, and the place looks filthy too..

[Greg]

Hot Bialys is good only by Forest Hills' standards which isn't saying much. The bagel consistency is too dry and the flavor lacks. As far as I'm concerned, you can't get a good bagel in Forest Hills - you can't even get a hot one on a Sunday morning which is saying quite a bit. Hot Bagels in Middle Village is much closer to what you're looking for. The consistency is quite good, but the flavor of the bagels are a bit off. I haven't found a bagel in Queens that compares with the better bagels in Brooklyn and Manhattan, but I'd love for someone to prove me wrong.

[janie]

Bagelette in Rego Park on 63rd Rd used to be great and high quality kosher, and then he sold it several years ago. Haven't been there since I saw and tasted lots of things I didn't like since the changeover, but I would imagine the bagels themselves are probably pretty much the same. They're not dense and gooey like Ess a Bagel's, but they're not dry either, if memory serves me right.

There's also Bagelicious, small little place, not sure if they're good anymore--don't really eat this kind of stuff anymore--they are at 6401 108th St in Rego Park..There used to be a fairly good place on 64th ave on corner next to Blimipie's--was a bank once-- when it opened and then it went downhill and then eventually was sold and moved further towards Forest Hills on QB--they were Russian owned...blanking on the name at the moment..the new place isn't very good--

And yes, there really isn't a killer appetizing place anymore, too bad, because Bagelette used to have super fresh salmon salad, herring salads, cream cheeses etc...don't like the places in Forest Hills, either...gotta get a bagel is disgusting, -----will check out the middle village place, never been there....how are their spreads, salads? Is the place clean?

Oh, also, some people like the place in Kew Gardens, on Lefferts for bagels. I personally don't, but others do. Terrible confusing service there, and it's a bit run down looking...

[mshpook]

unfortunately the quality of the bagels at bagelette has also suffered since the changeover.

[Greg]

Janie, don't bother trying the Middle Village spot for appetizing, as they didn't really have much. There is a steam table for eggs, with sausage patties, etc. I didn't eat anything beyond the bagel, so I couldn't really say, but I suspect that the place's name, "Hot Bagels," is what their known for and that's what I'd stick with.

[daveyj]

I agree with Greg. I get a dozen to go, then freeze em. Their vegetable cream cheese is good

[Anne]

Bagelette is still pretty good for bagels---if you get the mini ones. I agree the regular sized ones are not as good as they used to be. But for some reason, the minis are better.

[daveyj]

Hot Bagels on Metropolitan Ave in Middle Village.

[pellegrino31]

I haven't been to Ess A Bagel in a long time so I can't make a strict comparison, but for bagels in Queens - I am a big fan of Hot Bialys on Queens Blvd (kind of on the FH-Kew Gardens border). The texture of their bagels is great - chewy with some crispness but not too much.

[bigjeff]

second, pellegrino; love that place.

thought there was a similar long-running thread but I can't seem to find it.