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

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

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