(212) 260-2252

359 1ST Ave
New York, NY 10010 40.7355 -73.9797

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Neighborhoods: Stuyvesant Town, Midtown

ESS-A-BAGEL.COM

Hours:

Mon-Sat 6am-9pm

Sun 6am-5pm

Price:

$

Last updated 8.07.11

Category:

Restaurants, Bakeries, Bagel Shops, Bakery Products, Grocery Stores, Catering, Delis And Delicatessens, Wholesale Bakers

Payment Methods:

American Express, Cash, Visa, Discover, MasterCard

Restaurant Special Features:

Local Favorite, Breakfast, Lunch Spot, Cheap Eats

Editor's Tips

What People Are Saying About Ess-a-bagel

Featured Review

Contributor

Contributor

The Scene – The interior of Ess-a-Bagel, which opened in 1976 near the northwestern edge of Stuyvesant Town, has all the appeal of a breakfast nook at a Howard Johnson's, with a chintzy chandelier dangling from a drop ceiling and green metal patio chairs for seating. You want to make something of it? This place is also about attitude--even little old ladies aren't immune from the scorn of the guys behind the counter. – – The Food – The bagels are big and meaty, with a fluffy interior and a good hard shell of an exterior. They're large and flavorful enough to serve as a…

Editor's Tips

The Extras:
More outstanding bagels.
ambiance
100.0% positive
  1. “Great bagels, bizarre location”
  2. “The food and atmosphere here is great.”
dessert
100.0% positive
  1. “Best Sesame Bagel I have ever had, with plenty of cream cheese and friendly staff.”
  2. “Great bagels, great cream cheese!”
  3. “From the hard crusty outside to the warm soft inside these bagels are the cream of the crop.”
  4. “great bagels, thick cream cheese, clean, cool and simple.”
  5. “It's the perfect place for a giant bagel and Dr. Brown's cream soda.”
drinks
100.0% positive
  1. “The coffee is always fresh too!”
food quality
87.5% positive
  1. “But try it with a shmear of scallion cheese and a dollop of the best whitefish salad in town”
  2. “Always fresh, tasty and chewy.”
  3. “Let me explain: The bagels are usually hot out of the oven, tasty, and they have better than average spreads and such.”
  4. “Order it fresh, NOT toasted and enjoy the texture of one of the few LEGIT bagel places, left in the city.”
  5. “The food and atmosphere here is great.”
  6. “Their whitefish salad is excellent--all whitefish with a little mayo.”
  7. “The coffee is always fresh too!”
  8. “The Whitefish salad is the best anywhere as well.”
  9. “Can't beat the best lox bagel sandwich and not just on Sunday morning.”
  10. “Ess-a-bagel is the only one in town that tastes like food and is good enuf to eat with nothing on it.”
  11. “this place consistently produces fresh bagels and the store is a lot cleaner than other bagel places.”
  12. “Sure, they have some good toppings that combine with the decent bagels for a tasty breakfast or lunch, but simply considering the quality and taste of the bagels themselves, you can do far better.”
  13. “If you're feeling aggressive order an everything bagel with a cold cut or any salad.”
  14. “They are absolutely fresh and chewy with a nice crust.”
  15. “The lox is always fresh too.”
  16. “Especially when warm - perfectly doughy on the inside - fresh and moist with a nice, slightly crusty outside.”
menu variety
100.0% positive
  1. “Great value, great selection, and if you believe it, usually great service as well!”
  2. “They have a grerat selection of bagels and spreads, not to mention great people that wprk there.”
overall
100.0% positive
  1. “The best place for bagels!”
  2. “this is a good place to eat if you don't have time for lunch or don't like eating because you won't be able to.”
  3. “This is the best place for bagels.”
return potential
100.0% positive
  1. “Will never go back here again and STRONGLY recommend you don't waste your time either!”
service
70.83000183105469% positive
  1. “Fast service!”
  2. “Great value, great selection, and if you believe it, usually great service as well!”
  3. “This place has the worst customer service I have ever seen.”
  4. “The people who work there are a little rude.”
  5. “They have a grerat selection of bagels and spreads, not to mention great people that wprk there.”
  6. “the service is always fast and friendly.”
  7. “The staff all have great personalities too.”
  8. “The workers are pleasure to see early in the morning - very friendly - a great sense of humor.”
  9. “know people like a good bagel that doesn't have to be toasted, but I'd rather go two blocks south to David's and get a toasted bagel, and know that my order will be correct without fail 100% of the time.”
  10. “There's a long line, but the employees are so great that you don't mind waiting a few minutes.”
  11. “Best Sesame Bagel I have ever had, with plenty of cream cheese and friendly staff.”
  12. “went to Ess A Bagel expecting the rude counter service written about in many of these past reviews but I was treated very nicely even though it was painfully clear I was a first time customer, and I'm a guy!”
value
91.66999816894531% positive
  1. “The bagel was huge.”
  2. “For my money, these are the best bagels in the city.”
  3. “the bagels are: big, brobdingnagian, colossal, elephantine, enormous, gargantuan, giant, gigantic, huge, humungous, jumbo, king sized, leviathan, mammoth, massive, titanic, tremendous, whopping”
  4. “Ess-a-bagels never disappoint-they're huge, soft on the inside, crunchy on the outside.”
  5. “Great value, great selection, and if you believe it, usually great service as well!”
  6. “Bagels are more expensive but are hearty.”
wait time
100.0% positive
  1. “There's a long line, but the employees are so great that you don't mind waiting a few minutes.”
1 Star Rating: Poor

09/07/11

Never Again !!!!!!!!!!!

by skinnamirink at Citysearch

Bagels were good------but several of the staff behind the counter were absolute jerks. Rude and abrasive-------have no concept of waiting on a customer.

Too many other great bagels in this great city to put up with these miserable people.

Never Again !!!!!!!

5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

03/27/11

Very Busy For a Reason

by lelomagnifico at Citysearch

You know the old saying "never eat in an empty restaurant"

Well the opposite is true too... if you have to wait 15-20 min on line to get a bagel they are doing something right.

I think these are the best bagels in the city... and what they do that is different than everyone else is they load you up with cream cheese or whatever else you choose...

When I send bagels from NYC to other places in the country or when I visit and my friends ask me to bring them NYC bagels... this is where I go

1 Star Rating: Poor

02/06/10

Careless Service + Lackluster Food = Go to David's Instead

by 75believers at Citysearch

This place has good bagels 1) If you get them when they're still hot and 2) if they somehow don't screw up your order.

I've been there several times. The line is always a disaster and no one seems to care. There are a lot of employees standing around, but god knows what they're doing. Today the guy literally asked me to repeat my order FOUR TIMES (and asked every customer several times...not just me). I watched more than one employee screw up order after order--and customers coming back for corrections. PAY ATTENTION. THIS ISN'T BRAIN SURGERY. They charge a lot, and I got home today and once again my order was wrong, missing all the ingredients i paid for. The bagels were bland because they weren't fresh out of the oven...I know people like a good bagel that doesn't have to be toasted, but I'd rather go two blocks south to David's and get a toasted bagel, and know that my order will be correct without fail 100% of the time.

Ess-a-NotThatHard.

  • Pros: Good bagels, when they get your order right
  • Cons: Service, prices, intelligence level
5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

12/08/08

Best bagels in NYC

by OgerpJr at Citysearch

Bagels are more expensive but are hearty.

You know a bagel is good when toasting it does it no justice.

Order it fresh, NOT toasted and enjoy the texture of one of the few LEGIT bagel places, left in the city.

If you're feeling aggressive order an everything bagel with a cold cut or any salad.

  • Pros: Bagels and Spreads
  • Cons: Price
4 Star Rating: Recommended

06/02/08

Outstanding New York Bagel

by huskyduck at Citysearch

I went to Ess A Bagel expecting the rude counter service written about in many of these past reviews but I was treated very nicely even though it was painfully clear I was a first time customer, and I'm a guy! I had a basic bagel with lox and creamcheese which was quite frankly, the best bagel I have ever eaten. Sure, it is a bit pricey but they do use top quality ingredients. The lox had a deliciously smokey taste and was of Russ & Daughter's quality. The creamcheese was smooth and rich, the perfect accompaniment to their substantial and crusty bagel. I can't wait to go back and try some of their other bagel sandwich offerings. From what I could see from what others were eating, they all looked great.

  • Pros: Best Bagel In New York?
  • Cons: Others say rude counter service but I didn't encounter this

The Details on Ess-a-bagel

Place Categories:

  • best great bagels
  • great thick cream cheese
  • great service
  • fresh always
  • great essabagels
  • nice soft doughy inside
  • best whitefish salad
  • unbeliavably good bagles
  • rude people
  • not best lox bagel sandwich
  • stale bagels
  • great toppings
  • best everything bagle
  • great personalities
  • friendly staff
  • especially recommend grain
  • best ess
  • always fresh coffee
  • fresh store
  • great atmosphere
  • still warm enormous bagels
  • great value
  • best place
  • big sized
  • favorite everything bagel