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The staff at Bagel Bob's credits their trademark mix of high-gluten flour and New York water as the difference in their 14 varieties of Kosher, boiled and baked creations. But this secret house recipe doesn't explain the success of the other goodies here that attract a steady stream of NYU students, professors, and neighbors, who routinely gather at the store's windowed counter and round tables for a quick bite. Lunch sandwiches (termed "Bobwiches" on the menu) are Herculean in size, while the selection of wraps and paninis—like the roasted-pork and pickled Cuban—is equally dizzying. That is, if you're not already distracted by the display case crowned with trays of oversized muffins and crumb cakes still cooling in baking pans. — Genevieve Leon

Egg bagel with plain cream cheese, $2.99; Cuban panini, $5.95