Palm Beach County's best bagels from Jupiter to Boca Raton
Does living behind the original Upper West Side H&H in New York City for 20 years make this reporter a bagel expert?
I’d argue yes.
I could always smell what was just coming out of the oven, preferring the sweet scents of cinnamon raisin wafting through the alleyway over pungent onion.
On weekend mornings, lines sprawled along Broadway between 79th and 80th streets for hours on end.
But was H&H my favorite?
It was convenient, a spot for picking up bagels for brunch at a friend’s home or before traveling because a few dozen make a fun and inexpensive host gift.
From 1992 through 2011 when H&H was my on-the-block neighbor, you couldn’t get bagel sandwiches there, but you could buy bars and small tubs of commercial cream cheese and packages of smoked salmon onsite to make your own.
Bagel flavors included the two mentioned above plus salt, everything, poppy, sesame and plain. Bialys, a flatter cousin to the bagel, always sold out fast. Occasionally, pumpernickel might be offered.
And there was no such thing as a chocolate chip bagel, which I encountered in Jupiter.
My go-to? Whatever was steaming the bins and hot to the touch.
When craving a bagel sandwich, I’d hit Zabar’s Cafe across West 80th Street for what was then a $4.95 daily special comprising a small orange juice, regular-sized coffee and a pre-wrapped bagel with lox and cream cheese, scallion or plain.
If scallion wasn't sold out, that was always my choice.
The bagels were also a tad smaller than H&H’s, which I liked.
And back in the day, counter-tipping wasn’t a thing. You pay, you go. But that's another story to be tackled soon.
At this point, you might be thinking, "Where is she going with this? Get on with it lady."
When moving to Naples in 2015, I discovered that town was the Sahara of bagels.
Sure, there was an Einstein’s outpost plus a few indie shops around town, but the best one was 40 minutes away and often failed health inspection, making it a risky visit. Elsewhere, ample toasting was a must to make the bagels edible even when fresh.
So, my heart skipped a beat when reading my colleague Eddie Ritz's story about H&H opening in Boca, and I took it as a sign that moving to this coast was in the cards.
With the perfect bagel: You can't always get what you want
Researching this story required eating a lot of carby-caloric bagels, which isn't a habit of mine and more like a special treat.
The main discovery?
You can either get a good bagel or a good sandwich fillings, but finding satisfaction with both doesn’t often happen.
And it’s not just me: I interviewed customers at every spot who echoed that sentiment.
Another thing: Like pizza, people tend to prefer the style they grew up eating. It's an emotional connection.
With that in mind, here’s a recap of where I'd return, listed geographically from Tequesta south to Boca Raton, where I visited a 2.0 version of my old stomping ground, plus points in between.
You’ll also see the terms BEC and HEC peppering the story. For you non-former New Yorkers and New Jerseyans, that’s short for bacon, egg, melted cheese (usually American, but I prefer Swiss) and ham, egg and cheese.
Bagel Bistro, Tequesta
Bagel Bistro's garlic bagel with cucumber-dill cream cheese that was more like tzatziki because the bagel softened the already soft cream cheese. It was still good.
How many bagel cafes have customers asking for counter staff by name? I witnessed this a few times and that’s pretty impressive. So too: friendly service and cleanliness.
As for the bagels? Quite good. I wanted cucumber dill cream cheese and asked the gal behind the counter which flavor she thought would be a good pairing. Garlic was her spot-on recommendation.
Since the bagel was hot, the cream cheese was more like tzatziki sauce, but I can live with that and go back. One gent’s bagels and nova looked great, as did a BEC on an everything.
Of note, I visited on a Sunday about an hour before closing time, and the kitchen was still bringing fresh bagels out to restock the baskets.
Bagel Boyz, Jupiter
The Supernova on onion with cream cheese and salmon that was really more like lox was quite good at Bagel Boyz.
As one of my last stops and after nibbles of what I thought was the overall best bagel (that’s coming up) I initially wasn’t going to go to Bagel Boyz after hearing it’s a hangout for the under-25 set from my cousin’s 16-year-old daughter — understandable given the name.
But my curiosity was piqued when interviewing The Salty Zebra’s executive chef/managing partner David Chapman, who said it was a place he’d eat with his good friend Chef Pushkar Marathe years before going to work for the bagel joint’s owners Seamus and Stephanie O’Brien.
Bagel Boyz was jamming on a Sunday morning and yes, it’s popular with students, but there were people of all ages there. The ordering line moves fairly fast, but sandwiches with cooked components can take time when the store is busy.
I ordered a signature Supernova composed of sliced salmon, onion, cream cheese on onion, not toasted and without sliced tomato, because this time of year, it’s unlikely you’ll find good ones at a deli.
Bagel Boyz was one of three places where I was asked if I wanted it toasted (no because it's fresh) and it was ready in a few minutes.
Despite having eaten the better part of another bagel before going there, I finished the entire thing, it was that good.
Chapman, an alumnus of several Michelin restaurants in Chicago who also worked for Paul Bartolotta, said he’ll be zhuzhing the menu in the next few months adding new sandwich ideas.
And this is the spot with chocolate chip bagels.
Brooklyn Water Bagels, multiple locations in Palm Beach County
At Brooklyn Water Bagel, whitefish salad on a onion bagel.
My order: Whitefish salad on an onion bagel, topped with red onion, tomato and lettuce.
Surprisingly, the sad tomato slices and soggy lettuce didn’t mar what was otherwise a terrific sandwich. Good coffee to boot.
My only regret? Not asking for an extra pickle.
I ate alone at the Palm Beach Gardens location and entertained myself with the enormous wall art listing famous folks hailing from Brooklyn. It's sad but fun looking for typos (it’s Neil Sedaka, not Sadaka, and Pat Benatar, not Benetar.) Fun fact: Connie Stevens is listed twice.
Starz Bakery
The best overall bagel is from Starz, which closed its West Palm Beach store, and now sells at two weekend farmers markets in Palm Beach Gardens and Delray Beach.
Swapping its West Palm Beach storefront for a farmers market — "because no one wants to work 100 hours a week," said the gent running the tent whose name I didn't get because he was busy attending to others — Starz is best for bulk-buying bagels and bialys and my overall winner for best bagel.
I discovered this spot when visiting Palm Beach Gardens' Sunday greenmarket on Military Trail. Poppy pastries, rugelach and babkas looked amazing.
Parking is a big PITA if you go, but so worth it. You’ll find the tent at Delray Beach Greenmarket at Old School Square on Saturdays.
Details: Two farmers market locations and private orders via 561-640-0803
These bagels remind me of 'Seinfeld' TV episode about the airport car rental:
The last two bagel joints listed below remind me of Seinfeld's epic line, “You know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to hold the reservation. And that's really the most important part of the reservation: the holding. Anybody can just take them.”
That sums up stops in Delray and Boca when it came to taking our orders and what we got.
Bagels with Deli
At Bagels with Deli, my garlic bagel was missing its cream cheese.
My cousins Eric (the ultimate HEC connoisseur) and his wife, Natalie (one of the best cooks I know), also former New Yorkers, weighed in on this spot, noting that the bright and cheery space is a “real restaurant” with ample seating inside and out.
It reminded Natalie of the original Bruce’s in Great Neck, New York (not the Boca location that closed and she didn't like) where you could eat lunch and then go home with deli items and baked goods.
A tantalizing appetizing (defined as food you eat with bagels) display case made everything look tempting.
Bagels with Deli's fantastic appetizing counter.
I so wanted to love it, but I didn't get what I thought I ordered: a garlic bagel with cream cheese with add-on cucumber, which the menu listed as $.79.
The check listed it as a quarter-pound side container of cucumbers priced $2.38.
What was delivered to the table?
A bagel with no cream cheese and that tub of pickled sliced cucumber.
Eric's HEC (over hard) on a kaiser roll disappointed him on several fronts, namely the egg-to-ham-to-cheese ratio (what appeared to be a single slice) and that the cheese wasn’t fully melted. He thought the ham was dried out, the roll too.
Bagel with Deli's "Delray Deluxe" is HEC on a kaiser-ish roll.
Natalie’s delicious “perfect” egg salad on a “crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside” (as it should be) whole wheat bagel came with a side of “sweet and fresh” cole slaw. She also loved the snappy pickle.
She regretted not ordering the cuke as a side for my sandwich.
While they were digging into their sandwiches, I waited for cream cheese to arrive.
Once it did, I started constructing the sandwich I thought I had ordered.
You can't always get what you want: at Delray Beach's Bagels with Deli, I made this with a bagel and a separate container of sliced cucumbers. The menu description wasn't what was delivered to the table.
The flimsy plastic knife made schmearing a bit tough; the kitchen would have done a better job. I then layered the cuke slices atop each half of the bagel, making what I envisioned after reading the menu description.
Yet, next time I'm in that part of the county, I'd gladly revisit. The bagels were great, and that appetizing display is impressive, though I will ask them to read back my order because it’s very loud inside.
H&H Bagels
More than bagels: H&H's HEC on a roll. Though asked how the eggs should be cooked, the order wasn't correct.
Like a bagel circle of life, we start and end with H&H, which is also planning a storefront in West Palm Beach for 2025.
Eric liked how his everything was crunchy from the seeds and relatively soft even toasted. Natalie tasted a sweetness to the bread, likening it to a challah.
“The crunch from the poppy seeds makes me happy,” she added.
We’ll forgive the counter confusion, because while several staff members were eager to take and make our order, paying the correct amount took some figuring out at the register.
When seeing the rare hard roll in Florida, it prompted an HEC order. Eric was asked if he wanted it toasted and said no, “because I thought we should taste the quality of the hard roll as it is.”
He asked for eggs “over hard” and wound up with scrambled. It was served piping hot, a good thing.
Would I go back?
Yes. Service kinks will likely smooth out over time. Though the bagels are just as big but sweeter than I remember, the quality is good. Bonus points for great coffee and easy parking. If I had to cater a brunch event, this would be an easy call.
