Eastside Bagel

Go here if you want rude service and an $ 8 bagel with no explanation. I ordered an everything bagel with scallion/​bacon cream cheese and when the guy at the register run me up and it came out to $ 8 I was surprised. I proceeded to pay but simply asked how much the bagel and cream cheese was separately because it seemed high. He immediately became defensive and said each cream cheese is a different price and I asked «ok what is the price of this one that I just got?» (price is not listed on the menu — FIRST RED FLAG) to which he became even angrier and just said louder «THEY ARE ALL DIFFERENT» and muttered some angry foreign words. I asked again and he would not give me a straight answer. Since he had already taken my money at that point and I was starving, I ate half of it (could not finish because it was the worst bagel I ever had) and left. I knew I shouldn’t have strayed from my regular Pick-​a-​Bagel on 2^nd Avenue which is clean, friendly and reasonable.

Stale Bagels.
Got an Everything bagel with Scallion cream cheese and it costs $ 5.17 with tax, absurd pricing scheme. I took my first bite and realized that they definitely gave me a day old bagel. What a shame, so close to where I live but so stingy.
I won’t be returning and neither should you.

At one point, I would have given this place three stars. Now, honestly, it’s lucky to get two.
I’ve been going to East Side Bagel for several years, since moving to the UES. In that time, I’ve watched it slowly go down the tubes. Not that this was ever on a level with Zabar’s or anything like that — but it was competent. Since changing management sometime last year, it’s really deteriorated. The food is acceptable but nothing special. And the ‘ambience’ is awful. I’m not sure how many art fans will read this… But are you familiar with Van Gogh’s painting «The Night Café?» Well… This place is The Night Café.
The only reason I go there at all anymore (and I rarely do) is because it’s close to where I live. Avoid this place if you can.

Best bagel place in the neighborhood in my opinion. I don’t get bagels often but when I do, this is the place I go despite out of the way– over any of the more convenient locations.
They also have great yogurt parfait, fruit salad, a number of pastries — fresh squeezed orange juice … And my latest find today–
Fresh squeezed juices made to order– the delicious carrot juice is what I had and it was great .
Highly recommend for bagels, fresh juices and other breakfast options !

The everything bagel had far from everything. A couple of poppy and sesame seeds with no flavor to it. Also, the bagel was very chewy. I would not want to come here again.

My husband and I go here all the time because we live down the street. Bagels are quite good. They have a great selection of all different kinds of cream cheeses. They have lox, but I think they bring it in from somewhere else. Lox sandwich on a bagel which consists of cream cheese, lox, tomato, onion, and sometimes capers, with a pickle is around $ 10 – 11 which I think is overpriced. Bagel with cream cheese and lox (no other fixings) is $ 6 which is ok. Sometimes I really dislike the service here and other times it’s ok. I feel it’s a bit overpriced in general, but that’s New York for you…

Close by with good bagels– but it seems that can never get toasting right. Asking for toasted dark doesn’t even guarantee it will make it through the toaster. Will stay committed to going elsewhere

When I looked up this place after I ate the 3 star rating is what I expected. I would do 2.5. Not bad, not great in my opinion. The best way to tell if a bagel place is really good is look at the cream cheese offerings when you walk in. If they are all almost gone that means the place is great (assuming your not one of the early birds in the AM). Lets just say they had almost full cream cheeses. I saw a complaint about prices in another review, I don’t agree with that. A toasted everything bagel with a large coffee was 3.50 I think. That didn’t strike me as terribly high especially for UES. If your willing to walk a little the absolute best bagel place is on 1^st Btwn 66^th and 67^th I think it’s called the bagel king or something. Of all the things I miss when I moved downtown from 67^th n 1^st it was THAT place.

I’m having second thoughts about Eastside Bagels. I still like the bagels, and the location is still convenient, but their prices seem pretty high, and they could be less cranky. If the bagels were better and/​or cheaper I would put up with cranky, but not so much here.

The man that makes the sandwiches during the lunch shift (10 – 2?) during the week is genius! He listens to your preferences & makes a masterpiece! He is so happy to be making your lunch I have actually eaten here multiple days in a row! This is not your average deli, and certainly not your typical one size fits all service. Lunch here will improve your day!

Has there been a change in ownership? The bagels used to be among the best, now (last month) they or very average.
Gene

Maybe I’m not looking hard enough, but to date this is the only place I can find that has near perfect chopped herring salad. I’d suggest ordering delivery over actually going though, because even though the food is good, the store is kind of dingy looking.

Fantastic bagels and service. I enjoy their choices of bagels/​cream cheese and all sorts of other sandwiches. Not too crowded and a great way to start your morning! I say go on in or order from seamlessweb!

Bagels are fresh, spreads are tasty… always get GREAT SERVICE & FOOD when I make my visits.

True the area has about 7 other choices for bagels, but this place is actually really good. There is a big selection, plenty of seating, and because it’s pretty far east it’s usually not too crowded (less crowded than ess-​a-​bagel and pick-​a-​bagel anyway).