H&H Bagels

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A New York institution since 1972, H&H boils and bakes its bagels so often that you’re likely to get yours oven-warm, day or night. Plastic bins filled with the yeasty, chewy-crusted rolls line the wall behind the counter; fresh batches are unceremoniously dumped in between orders. H&H's legendary freshness has inspired near-cultish devotion by UWS regulars and fans as far afield as Morocco, Taiwan, and Australia, to whom H&H ships overnight. The small counter takes individual orders, but H&H’s core business is wholesale—the bagel-boiling vats are plainly visible—and retail peons can't rightly expect tables, chairs, or any superfluous ambiance. Regulation brunch staples like cream cheese, packaged lox, and OJ are for sale in the shop's refrigerated cases; for tonier fare, head across 80th St to Zabar's or down Broadway to Fairway . To-go customers, take note: The shop doesn't toast, shmear, or butter—it's bagel business only, nothing extra. Modern inroads are evident in whole-wheat and (dubious) blueberry bagels, but tradition holds fast with garlic, pumpernickel, and mouth-puckering salt bagels, along with crusty, onion- and poppy-flecked bialys. — Kim Steckler

Extra

H&H also makes mini-bagels by special order; two dozen is the minimum quantity.

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Best of New York Awards

• Best Neighborhood Bagels: Upper West Side (2007)