Justin Prince

Pretty good bagels and decent cream cheese. Service is hard to understand. I asked for a smoked salmon bagel (aka NY salmon bagel…very common) and they seemed confused. I later discovered they call it a Nova Scotia Bagel. In the end, the veggie tofu cream cheese was delicious. Strawberry cream cheese was ok, their everything bagel and cinnamon bagel was delicious. So definitely a spot to check out.

Marina Brad

Gosh, the Nova special was absolutely fantastic: delicious salmon, warm huge bagel, best cream cheese… it was absolutely satisfying to finish the whole thing! But placing my order, paying for it, finding my server back, waiting… was pretty chaotic. They have a system that is not very intuitive and English was not well understood. I almost walked out without one of my orders, glad I checked my bag first. Now that I have been there once, I feel that I will be more prepared for next time. I will definitely try to stop by next time we are in NY.

Jazmin

Elisa is amazing and has such great customer service! Her kindness is why I love this place. Got about 7 sandwiches total during my stay nearby and they were all delicious. Fresh bagels made there is exactly what I was looking for. I will come back every time I visit! Also the fresh orange juice tastes just like the kind I squeeze at home. Delicious!

M L

Okay the only huge disappointing thing about this place is there is none in Ireland 😤 we absolutely LOVED THIS PLACE. Two weeks in NY we must have came here easily like 9 times 🤣 every morning we’d get a lovely bagel and go to Central Park and start our day. Freshly pressed orange juice was so good. The coffees here too are really good and for the price it’s incredible. Cheapest coffee around I thought. Anything bagel 🥯 you can get soooo many things it was unreal. Sausage, egg, bacon, salmon, pancakes, muffins, protein shakes …. Ahhhh I’m driving myself crazy here 🤤. Place is so good. The first morning was out the door - we were gonna skip past it, but so glad we didn’t. It’s a high fast paced environment, I can imagine the staff pressure behind the counter but it’s like a well oiled machine. Highly recommend. Loved it. 👌✨✨✨ ps’ still reminiscing on my last order 🥹 when I go back to NYC I’ll be heading here first thing.

+1

X

2404 Unexpected bagel delight. Solid 4.5. The place wasn’t on my list, but N*sh had a long line overflowing onto the street on Sunday morning. Thank lord for this place as I who motivated the whole Central Park run with bagel walk back with sadness: voila. The bagel is decent, with a nicely toasted crust and chewy dense center. The imperfect details (air holes and irregular shape) add a cute charm. It is also my first time trying tofu spread, and I might prefer tofu to normal cream cheese (tofu is also more spreadable than the lightest Philadelphia I use at home:). There is a short and fast moving line indoor. Everyone is efficient, friendly despite the busy morning. Though my whole wheat was mistaken as seven grain in the noisy environment, I chose to go with the pick and liked it nonetheless. And I do have a more grainy pumpernickel already. Follow the sign to the far end, (decide what you need before joining the line because it’s quick), order, and pay at the till. Interesting to see the trust as they have no record and can’t see what’s in your paper bag :3 Pumpernickel is still my favorite :3 Dark rye. Beautiful as it is. I also appreciate that the shop doesn’t follow the trend of weird colorful bagels.

+4

A. Nelson

This place was awesome. The bagels are what you expect a classic NYC bagel to be. Soft and slightly chewy. They had a variety of bagels and cream cheeses to select from, and their sandwiches are no joke. I got the bacon egg and cheese on an everything bagel, and a regular bagel with green onion cream cheese. Only thing I might suggest is putting less cream cheese on it. It was probably spread on 1.5 inches high. Harder to taste the bagel with it at that point. Affordable and tastes good, would definitely recommend.

+1

Josh Martin

I’ve been visiting Pick A Bagel for years now, and every time I’m back in New York, it’s one of those places that feels non-negotiable. You know the kind — not fancy, not trying to impress, just consistently there — part of the rhythm of the city. After so many visits, it felt overdue to finally write a proper review. The shop is almost always busy, which in many ways is part of its charm. It feels like real New York: people coming and going, locals grabbing their usual, tourists trying to figure out what’s happening, and staff moving at full pace. That said, the layout does make things a bit confusing. With two entrances, a slightly messy queuing system, signs pointing in different directions, and tables scattered about, it’s not immediately clear where you’re meant to stand or wait — especially if you’re new. You sort of just… absorb the chaos and hope you’re doing it right. This morning I came in around 10:30am, right in the thick of the breakfast rush. I ordered my go-to: a bacon, egg, and cheese on a garlic bagel. And honestly — this is why I keep coming back. The bagel was exactly as it should be: chewy with a proper bite, not soft and bready like so many imitators. The bacon was cooked perfectly, crispy but not burnt, and everything came together in that comforting, no-nonsense way that only a proper New York bagel shop can deliver. Food-wise, Pick A Bagel still absolutely delivers. However, this visit wasn’t perfect. Despite how busy the store was, the seating area was noticeably messy. Tables were covered in rubbish, the floor could have used attention, and during my entire visit I didn’t see anyone cleaning or tidying up. It’s not the end of the world, but it does take away slightly from the experience — especially when you’re sitting in rather than grabbing and going. Still, even with the clutter, confusion, and chaos, Pick A Bagel remains a staple of my New York visits. It’s familiar, reliable, and deeply woven into my personal New York routine. I’ll absolutely be back — because when the bagels are that good, you forgive a lot.

Dr. Jose Bronet

Very typical bagel place. Service is very nice, limited to the counter and sitting is on a first to see it first to take it; we managed to get a table and the food was ok but the bagel, the bagel was very good.

Jane Illario

Great bagel taste and texture, but topping weren’t arranged evenly though so slid apart too much and was tough to eat. Generous amount of smoked salmon even if it is a little expensive. Super chaotic environment so not great for sit down — they don’t take your name when you order and just yell out what bagels everyone ordered so it’s hard to tell who’s is whose. Pretty busy and took a while to get our order.

Amber Lee

Out of all the bagel spots in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood we believe Pick A Bagel reigns supreme. Always packed in the morning for good reason, they just have good bagels, light but filling and always incredibly generous on the cream cheese. The inside is clean but sometimes it can get messy due to the constant flow of people coming in. Seating here is always an issue as it’s very busy and tourists tend to take up large swaths of the place but again, it’s worth it. They have an extensive menu and pastries as well as drinks. The line moves quickly, usually doing a lap around the store. You can place orders for pickup if you don’t want to wait, which we’ve done before and will admit is much more time efficient. Our go to orders from here are a plain bagel with plain cream cheese and an everything bagel with egg salad. The plain bagel is thick but light, piling with cream cheese and leaving you with a monster of a bagel in the process. The everything bagel there is phenomenal, all the right seasoning and all the right crunch from everything on top. The egg salad is also great, filling and savory and they also pile it on with that too. Whenever we eat here we go “that’s a NY bagel” and for good reason. While on the pricier side for bagels, we think you get what you pay for and to us you’re paying for the best bagel around, which will always be worth it (at least to us).

Cassie Diep

I really wanted to like this place. But the service was horrible. I had a mobile pick up order, but I realized I needed an extra quarter tub of cream cheese. There was hardly anybody at the store when I placed an order of the cream cheese. At least six people have passed behind me who’ve ordered a bagel with cream cheese or a bagel sandwich and I still did not get my cream cheese. They keep saying it’s coming. How hard it is it or how long is it to get me the cream cheese. What other sandwiches take longer to prepare.

Erica kim

I stopped by around 3:20 PM today, and the cashier was surprisingly rude and unprofessional. No greeting, no eye contact, and an overall dismissive attitude. I hope management is aware of this behavior.

Kent Naicker

Ordered 3 simple items off the menu on UberEats and all 3 were wrong. A chicken salad sandwich on Sourdough (was delivered on a Sesame bagel), ordered an egg salad sandwich (a tuna salad sandwich was delivered) and 2 eggs and 2 pancakes (this was the worst - they delivered a crush up half eaten muffin with bits of bacon under it - we threw the whole thing away because that’s just disgusting). Really disappointed at how the staff just don’t seem to give a damn.