14 of the Best Bagels in Boston Right Now

These freshly baked bagels are fantastic, whether they are flavored with onion, garlic, or Cajun spice. People have very strong feelings about bagels, especially all the NYC ex-pats in your life. Not many other foods elicit such passionate opinions, but pizza is definitely a close second. So, compiling a list of the best bagels in Boston is more than most people would dare to do. However, we’ll boldly assert the following statement regarding the bakers: Their bagels are everything, whether you want a traditional onion ring topped with lox and capers or a more modern variation like Cajun spice spread with jalapeno cream cheese. So, let’s get started on our bagel journey!

Discover the Best Bagels in Boston at The Bagel Table

About six years ago, The Bagel Table began as a pop-up business. Today, the expanding mini-chain is opening new brick-and-mortar locations all around the Boston region. The company, which was previously known by the fittingly exuberant moniker OMG! Bagels had its first permanent presence at the Street, an outdoor shopping center in Chestnut Hill. Subsequent locations were opened in Brighton and several west-of-Boston communities. The “Chestnut Hill” bagel, a tribute to the mothership prepared with challah bread, is part of the bagel choices no matter which location you go to, though. Visit Boston’s on a tour of epicurean delights, and you’ll find The Bagel Table is a must-visit spot.

Location: Multiple locations
Website: mybageltable.com

Sensational Bagelsaurus – The Best Bagels in Boston

Before COVID, Mary Ting Hyatt’s Cambridge bagel shop had queues out the door due to its enormous popularity. However, these lines are now less of an issue thanks to internet orders. You can order your favorite slow-fermented bagels from Hyatt online in advance, with flavors like sea salt, cinnamon raisin, and black olive, and have them slathered in cream cheeses like honey-rosemary and spicy pepper.

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Location: 1796 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 857-285-6103
Website: bagelsaurus.com

Experience the Best Bagels in Boston Now at Be Okay Bagels

Sasha Moraski, the former baker of Jamaica Plain’s excellent tapas restaurant Tres Gatos, has launched a new bagel business due to a pandemic-era passion project. Her Be Okay Bagels, all handcrafted and freshly cooked for fans who place their pre-orders ahead of Saturday and Sunday pickups (there is limited delivery available as well), make our weekend mornings even more relaxing. The J.P. address, which once housed Little Dipper, Tres Gatos’s sibling cafe, now sells roasted leek cream cheese and other spreads and flavors of bagels, including French onion soup and rosemary sea salt. Be Okay Bagels and the equally amazing Comfort Kitchen, which serves food from the African diaspora, have set up shop in the area. Boston is an iconic city full of history and culture to explore, so a tour would definitely be worth the time.

Location: 669A Centre St., Jamaica Plain
Website: Beokaybagels.com

Indulge the Best Bagels in Boston at Better Bagels

A bagel shop had better live up to its expressive name. In fact, a few neighborhood cafes and eateries offer its New York-style bagels, notably Saltie Girl, the top eatery right now in the Back Bay, and American Provisions in Southie. But if you want freshly made bagels coated in cream cheese or used for sandwiches stuffed with pastrami, smoked turkey, and a specific New Jersey specialty: pork roll, Better Bagels’ Seaport HQ should be your regular stop.

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Location: 83a Seaport Ave., Boston, 857-317-4147
Website: betterbagelsboston.com

First things first: Black Sheep should be commended for referring to itself as a “maaa and paaa” shop within the flock of corporate chains engulfing city streets. Black Sheep has a main cafe in Harvard Square and an additional market in Cambridgeport. But more significantly, its bagels are amazing. They come in inventive variations like blueberry and Cajun spice and are coated with spreads like pesto, labne, jalapeno cream cheese, and others. Rao’s Coffee, roasted in Massachusetts, should be used to wash it down, preferably in the form of a sweetened café con leche from the Caribbean.

Location: 56 John F Kennedy St., Cambridge, 617-945-2189; 101 Magazine St., Cambridge
Website: blacksheepbagelcafe.com

This Somerville restaurant has both sweet and salty options for you. Decadent doughnuts like the Somerville Cream, made with strawberry cream cheese and marshmallow Fluff (created in Somerville more than a century ago), may be found here. The Steak Bomb, a savory sandwich with peppers and onions, is only one of the many available poppy seeds, asiago, and other bagels.

Location: 377 Summer St., Somerville
Website: davissquaredonutsandbagels.com

The Exodus to Find the Best Bagels in Boston

When you need to stock up on a bagel-based breakfast at home, get thee to Roslindale. Exodus now sells baker’s-choice bags by the dozen or half; you can pick them up from the Rozzie cooking facility on Thursdays through Sundays. Through farmer’s market appearances, Exodus first developed a cult following for its cold-fermented bagels. Don’t forget to include spreads like Sriracha cream cheese and “deli sides” like whitefish salad and cold-smoked salmon.

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Location: 2 McCraw St., Roslindale
Website: exodusbagels.com

Best Bagels in Boston at Goldilox

The crunch-to-chew ratio is definitely one of the most crucial aspects to consider while grading bagels. Fortunately, Goldilox achieves the ideal balance with its homemade masterpieces, as you could anticipate. Pre-orders for the rosemary salt, cinnamon raisin, and numerous other items are accepted weekly for collection on Friday through Sunday; walk-ups are also welcomed. Additionally, you can always give a few extra dollars to the Lox Love programme, which delivers gifts to NGOs that change every week, like Rosie’s Place, a trailblazing women’s refuge in Boston’s South End. Finally, for individuals with allergies, there are vegan cream cheese and gluten-free bagels available.

Location: 186 Winthrop St., Medford
Website: goldiloxbagels.com

Best Bagels in Boston at Katz Bagel Bakery

Katz is known for a few things. For starters, it claims to be the birthplace of the pizza bagel, even though there is a dispute between the East and West Coasts on the snack’s ancestry. Additionally, the proprietor Richard Katz claims to have trained the baker who started the first bagel business in China (you can read about that incident here). Finally, despite the location’s large boasts, we can attest to the following quite modest fact: Katz, a local institution established in 1938, is renowned for its wonderful, plain bagels and schmears.

Location: 139 Park St., Chelsea
Website: katzbagelbakery.com

Best Bagels in Boston at Kupel’s Bakery

Even though it was founded in 1978, this historic landmark is still considered somewhat modern compared to Katz. The well-liked, family-run Brookline bagel shop Kupel’s is renowned for consistently producing all-Kosher parve masterpieces. Although the sissel rye, garlic, and pumpernickel variants are all excellent, the ideal plain bagel may be Kupel’s best canvas for combining chive, green olive, and lox-and-scallion cream cheeses.

Location: 421 Harvard St., Brookline
Website: kupelsbakery.com

Best Bagels in Boston at Levend Bagelry

Levend’s stall at the Boston Public Market is where baker Alex Jong sells his sourdough creations, which take exactly 48 hours to make. His crunchy-chewy bagels come with spreads like maple walnut, house-made pesto, and honey butter made with sweets from market neighbor Boston Honey Co. He also offers flavors like poppy and herb cheddar. The best part is that they are always available as both pizza bagels and egg sandwiches. For those of us who enjoy a mini-pizza before noon, that’s fantastic news.

Location: 100 Hanover St. (Boston Public Market), Boston
Website: levendbagelry.com

Best Bagels in Boston at Local 338 Bagels & Coffee

Anyone who claims that an NYC bagel is unavailable in Boston is lying. Because the bagels used by this West Roxbury establishment, which bears the name of the former bagel-bakers union in the Big Apple, are essentially created in New York, they are simply frozen and completed here in the Hub.

Whether you can tell the difference in flavor, they are delicious—especially when spread with cream cheese with flavors like bacon, horseradish, honey, and walnuts or when used to make sandwiches like the Mona Lisa. This breakfast treat will make you smile with its tomato, pesto, and balsamic reduction.

Location: 1727 Centre St., West Roxbury
Website: local338bagelsandcoffee.com

Best Bagels in Boston at Rosenfeld’s Bagels

Since its creator, Rosenfeld, decided to go from a legal career to one in bagel baking, Rosenfeld’s has been a Newton landmark for more than 45 years. We are beyond happy that he did. With a hint of malt syrup for signature sweetness, Mark Rosenfeld continues to create some of the greatest old-fashioned renditions, including everything, onion and garlic. Also available for an in-store purchase or kerbside pickup are other house-baked bread like bialy, delectable spreads, and smoked fish.

Location: 1280 Centre St., Newton
Website: rosenfeldsbagels.com

Best Bagels in Boston at Turenne Bagels

The idea that “New York-style bagels” are the ultimate standard is one that many people strongly hold. But if you’ll switch your focus north, think about the Montreal-style bagel currently available at Turenne Bagels in Somerville. Chef Tim Wiechmann came up with the French-Canadian concept and used the same oven at his restaurant T&B Wood-Fired where he bakes pizzas at night to complete it. From Wednesday through Sunday, you can place a pickup order for Turenne’s small-batch bagels, which are available in flavors including poppy and pretzel Everything and with toppings like kielbasa, smoked gouda, and maple syrup with bacon cream cheese. Compared to bagels made in New York City, these are a little slimmer, crunchier, and sweeter (honey added).

Location: 251 Washington St., Somerville
Website: turennebagels.com

From classic New York-style bagels to sweet French-Canadian versions, the variety of bagel choices in Boston is sure to satisfy any craving. Whether you’re looking for a plain or Everything bagel with lox and cream cheese or something more inventive, plenty of great local spots have exactly what you need. So grab a bagel and get ready to enjoy all Boston bagels offer.

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