Saturday, April 2, 2016

Opening day at Bagel Belly


[Photo from Thursday because someone forgot to take a photo this morning]

As announced, Bagel Belly opened for bagelness business this morning at 6 at 114 Third Ave between East 13th Street and East 14th Street.

Decent-size crowd inside given the earlyish hour (8:30 a.m.). A Bagel Belly worker was standing outside handing out menus and telling people bagels were 50-percent off the first week.

Anyway! Inside...









...haven't seen one of these in awhile (since that time at a Holiday Inn Express)...



The menu is quite extensive... they offer eight salad wraps, 13 tossed salad varieties, eight kinds of panini, eight daily soups, plus burgers, sandwiches ...


[Click to go big]


[Ditto]

As for the basics, a bagel with butter is $1.50; $2.75 with plain cream cheese... and you can see the varieties available...



And as you might expect, there was a little confusion given that they were just 2.5 hours into their opening. For instance, people tried to order from the cashiers when you need place your order with one of the workers behind the counter ... (seems kinda obvious to me)... and there was a whispered conversation about what to charge me for avocado (yeah, yeah).

I liked my plain bagel. Probably not as much as ones that I've had at Tompkins Square Bagels or Ess-A-Bagel. But solid. (This is why I never write about food. I can't think of anything to say aside from solid.)

Given the proximity to, say, Con Ed office workers, Mount Sinai Beth Israel staffers, NYU students, Union Square straphangers... Bagel Belly should do a good business.

Oh, and they will toast your bagel.

Bagel Belly has a website here.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have to admit I rarely eat bagels but damn those look good.

Anonymous said...

It's a perfectly good food review, bubby.

Anonymous said...

EVG, I hope they give you a free bagel for all the free publicity.

Anonymous said...

Whoa, I had my doubts but they look pretty serious about bagels.

Giovanni said...

Did you say they toast bagels? I'll be right there!

Anonymous said...

Is the rainbow cream cheese just cream cheese with rainbow sprinkles???

marjorie said...

Thanks for this important piece of investigative journalism! We are excited to check it out, though chocolate bagels and Nutella-peanut-butter cream are an abomination unto the lord.

BTW, a report from Kosser's, which I know is not yr purview since it's below Houston -- super-sweet service, superb bagels (on the small side, which I prefer) and bialys, smoked fish is of course not as good as Russ & Daughters b/c nothing is, but shockingly the whitefish spread is BETTER than Russ & Daughters -- it has ig chunks of delicious smoked whitefish in it, as opposed to the smoother and wetter Russ & Daughter's version. It also has fresh dill, which I usually think is vile but is good in this context.

COLLECTIVE BAGEL JOURNALISM FTW

Gojira said...

And still no sign of the 2nd Avenue TSP Bagels? Seriously?

Anonymous said...

My faves Tompkins and Murrays (west side) but seeing they have spinach bagels which I miss so much since Murrays stopped making I will have to check it out! Thanks for all the dets.

Anonymous said...

More importantly, do they accept Campus Cash and have limited edition and designer bagels and a full liquor license?

Bagel Boy said...

Just had a Bagel Belly bagel, pretty good bagel, nice staff and the bagels are half price this week. This place should do well, its largest led with NYU kids getting breakfast and the menu is huge. And they toast.

I passed by Empire Biscuit and they are still closed. What's the situation over there?

Anonymous said...

Can we talk particulars here? How's the bagels? Are the exteriors chewy, and the interiors dense and fluffy? Flavor? How are the schmears?

Scuba Diva said...

Note: This was the Grace and Hope Mission (Christ Died For Your Sins) for many years.

cmarrtyy said...

The bagels are slightly crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside. Pretty close to very good. I bought 2 plain: salt and whole wheat. Will go back. Best bagel in the area.. so far.

Anonymous said...

Who doesn't toast bagels? Really...

Anonymous said...

@Scuba Diva...

Years before "Christ died for your sins", they boldly proclaimed "Jesus comes quickly!"

CULTured said...

Was excited to try and happy to see there was a long line of customers in support! Sadly, though, when I got home not only was there hair in my food, but a few baked into the bagel as well. Hopefully the kinks get worked out but I won't be back for a bit.

Scuba Diva said...

olympiasepiriot said...

Years before "Christ died for your sins", they boldly proclaimed "Jesus comes quickly!"

That's just ripe for a "That's what she said!" joke, but I'm not falling for it!

Brian said...

Organic bagels? Gluten free bagels? Burgers at a bagel place? What the heck is an organic bagel? It would have to be made of 100% certified organic wheat.

Anonymous said...

I get a toasted bagel with butter and small split pea soup. The place was crowded, and the food i ordered was horrible. I am not sure what the hype is about. Seriousely, i think it is the worst bagel i ever had in the east village.

Edmund Dunn said...

#Suba Diva, #olympiasepiriot

As always: "Jesus saves, but Espo scores on the rebound."

Anonymous said...

Did CULTured bring it back? Or is this just a post to slam into a new shop that might be in competition with one more favored? It's all right to complain about lines, the quality of the product, the prices, the staff, etc. But if you make charges about cleanliness or hair in your food that takes the conversation to another level.

Anonymous said...

Wow talk about mixed reviews. I'm gonna go ahead and assume that anonymous blog comments aren't the most trustworthy source for food reviews. I dunno but part of me suspects some of these reviews might have ulterior agendas.

Scuba Diva said...

At 4:42 AM, Donnie Moder said...

Organic bagels? Gluten free bagels? Burgers at a bagel place? What the heck is an organic bagel? It would have to be made of 100% certified organic wheat.

Certified organic flour costs more, so they don't use it for all their bagels. I have no idea of their hygiene practices, so can't comment.

Gluten-free bagels are trickier, since by definition a bagel is a big ring of chewy gluten, but if I was jonesing for a gluten-free bagel, I'd head over to Erin McKenna's Bakery—formerly called Babycakes™. That bakery is a dedicated gluten-free facility, meaning it isn't subject to gluten contamination—a serious concern to those who have celiac disease.

CULTured said...

I actually called and they apologized-- no agenda here. I was actually excited to see them pop up in the neighborhood. Simply addressing my singular experience.

Anonymous said...

The bagels are very dense, doughy, and perceptibly sweet - got a bit of a sugar-shock from a basic sesame bagel.

Not my thing, won't be returning.