Bialys seem to be an east coast thing. Kossar's is a place my family has been going to since I was a kid and it is still here. That is a great thing. I was in the city with my dad and we were wandering around the Lower East Side which is still my favorite part of NYC. I mentioned this place (didn't know the name) and the pickle place just around the corner (review coming after this one) and he said that this place was still in business. The pickle place is still a pickle place, but not the same one from my youth. This place just smells of nostalgia. If you've never had a bialy, this should be on your list of bialy places to go. A bialy for those of you who don't know is similar to a bagel, but more of a roll. Instead of a hole it has a depression with onions and sometimes garlic in it and it is simply baked. They don't make bialys like they make them here. I tried one where I currently live and it just made me cry. Not in a good way though. read more

Kossar's Bagels & Bialys - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

Had my first bialys ever with the best dill cream cheese and it was very tasty! This place is a must see according to the Tour Guy and I'm pleased to visit it all the way from California. Highly recommend! read more

3.5 stars rounded up No seating except for two benches outside & a counter for four inside. I'm trying to find a happy medium here because the (garlic) bialys are too small & the (onion) bagels are too big for my appetite. I ordered both with onion cream cheese; when you ask for a little extra, they called it "blessed cream cheese," which I thought was clever. Both were nicely toasted and had the flavor profiles I was looking for. My group came here twice within a couple weeks (& yes the lovely staff remembered us & treated us like we were already regulars), but I'm partial to a garlic bagel. Kossar's, do a girl a solid & serve garlic bagels, why dontcha?! read more

Small bagel with smoked salmon/lox. More than $15 plus tax Threfore more than $16 Mediocre quality. Stingy quantity. Lousy attitude. Tired store. Should not be charging "Russ and Daughter's" price without the service or quality. Take a 8 min. walk to Russ and Daughters around the corner. read more

So, the Onion Bagel was roaming the streets of the Lower East Side when he happened upon a sexy little English Muffin in some bakery that was popping. Their must have been a lot of baking powder in the atmosphere because the two got it on and English Muffin had a bun in her oven. The Onion Bagel wanted nothing to do with her illegitamate bun and left her, knocked up and alone. She couldnt go home to her father at the Bakery, for she would surely be toast. Not wanting shame the family name, she carried to full term, unbeknownst to her family and left her beloved baby, whom she named Bialy at Kossar's. She smothered her warm baby bialy in butter and never saw it again. These happen to my my favorite Bialys in the city. My boss every now and again places a large order and brings them in with all the fixings. For those who have never had a bialy, it is remniscent of an onion bagel and an english muffin, Hence the story above. Everything you want in your bialy, is here at Kossar's. They are best warmed with butter and have a slight onion flavor to it, but some go for the cream cheese. I cant knock it because sometimes, i feel a bit cheesey myself. read more

Cheap, no-frills bagel place with lots of spread and bagel options! I ordered two eggs with tomatoes and dill cream cheese on an onion bialy (first time ordering a bialy!) The bakery also sells babka, rugelach, bagels and coffee. Lots of the sandwiches on the list had fish in it, but there were 2 that were egg based. I really liked my order.. the bialy tasted fresh and was not too heavy. Additionally, the dill cream cheese was so good; perfectly dill-ish! My sandwich was less than $5 (unheard of!) and it kept me satisfied until lunch. I definitely will stop by to try the other offerings -- I already know that it will be good and cheap breakfast! My only complaint is that the actual ordering/paying process was not efficient ( there was not a way for the people at the register to know what the customer had ordered and thus had to ask the person preparing the order), which resulted in a bit of a wait for the order. However, the staff was nice and their are bagels/babkas/rugelah/coffee you can purchase to take hoe. read more

Kossar's Bagels & Bialys - Onion biamy w dill cream cheese - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

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I didn't have a good experience here. First of all, they took two other orders when I was there first. They were about to take another person's order when the gentleman who they were going to take the order from asked me if I ordered yet which is the only reason they did not skip me a third time. Second, I asked for a toasted bagel, but they did not toast it for me. Third, staff was talking about calling out of work, not that I care, but really I've experienced better service somewhere else. Fourth, my untoasted bagel was very hard. I ended up throwing it out because I just could not eat it. Not sure if I want to come back here, but I guess I will give it one more shot and change my review accordingly. Hopefully they prove me wrong. read more

Their bagels and bialy's are on point. My go to order is the bacon egg and cheese on a everything bagel, toasted. They get the order always on point. You also have to try the Challah French Toast, just delicious and fulfilling. My fav spread is the Dill cream cheese. They are always courteous and nice. read more

What happened to the delicious bialys that you had. You get better ones at the local supermarket. I had made a trip from Westchester just to get them and was incredibly disappointed. read more

The dude working there gave me a helpful talk on the differences between bialys and bagels and I tried both and I have to say that while I believe they're probably super authentic and the recipe is supposed to be over 100 years old but I thought they tasted kinda plain? I like a little bit of flavor in my bagels. It's hard to describe that flavor besides bagely and Kossar's are't bagely. Vague review ftw! read more

How disappointing!!! After relocating to Florida 30 years ago, everyone's one ask when returning to NY is to bring back Kossar's bialys.... well not anymore! Our once light and fluffy favorite "bread" in the world is now thin, dense, hard and without any flavor. They don' even look the same! I went to the website where they claim the recipe has not changed and where they show pictures of the fluffy, yummy bialy we all once knew. After everyone in the family had one, sadly the rest of the 2 dozen miniature frisbees I lugged back to Florida had to be thrown away because they're not worth the calories or carbs! SO SO SAD! :( read more

I had my first bialy experience at Kossar's and ordered an onion one with cream cheese. It was pretty good--not too much onion in the middle, though, and to me, tasted pretty equivalent to a bagel. After reading more of the Yelp reviews here, it's clear that Kossar's used to be more of a LES staple & institution and has rapidly changed under new management. I can see it. Overall, it was still pretty good, but it admittedly has me curious to try to find another bialy sometime soon to compare. read more

Visited NY from Cali... and by far the best thing ive eaten during our trip. all those other "must try" joints dont even compare to these bagels and bialys... we came here about 4 times during our trip they were that good lol. the everything bagel with everything cream cheese was seriously the best bagel ive ever had. they add nice coarse sea salt to their everything mix to give a big pop of salty goodness, my mouth is watering just thinking about these things read more

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great bagels....I ordered the classic (everything bagel, tomato, cream cheese, dill, capers, and lox) and my wife had an egg bagel with whitefish salad. Both very good but definitely not the best bagels in NY. There's only 4 seats in the place so if you plan to stay it may be tough to get a spot. read more

Kossar's Bagels & Bialys - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

They advertise the French toast as coming with real maple syrup and all they have is crappy Kraft pancake syrup. Not good. Service is awful as well. I wanted challah french toast and they gave me the babka. Never again. read more

The bagels are sooooo good especially the everything bagel. Best in the city. I had a hot bialy this morning and it's just so damn good! The staff is super nice and the lox and scallion cream cheese is really good and extremely fresh. Highly recommended! read more

Ordered through Goldbelly, bialys were almost $4 each, underbaked and disappointing. Not even close to what they used to be. Ripoff

The inside is minimal. One register, some bins with the breads, I think a small counter to sit at, and mostly trays of freshly baked breads. I tried a garlic bialy and an everything bagel. They were decent. Forget about toasting, specialty cream cheese, scooping out, etc. Ain't nobody got time for dat. I did like that they were only 90 cents. You don't see that price these days. I would come here to grab a dozen bagels if you're in the area, but not for a single bagel gal like me. read more

Kossar's was one of the final stops on my walking tour of the Lower East Side. Kossar's was rather busy especially considering it was New Year's day! I can only imagine how busy they are on a non-holiday. They had a wide variety of bagels/bialys, and they smelled fresh and delicious. They also had a vast selection of unique sandwiches. If I hadn't recently eaten a Knish from Yonah Schimmel's earlier in the tour, I would have tried one of their sandwiches, no doubt. To say I was full at that point would be an understatement! However, I knew I had to try something! Our fabulous tour guide recommended I get the garlic bialy with double onion Schmear. Our bialy was fresh, delicious, and contained an almost overwhelming amount of Schmear on top! My wife and I split the bialy and enjoyed it. With the combination of garlic and onion, it's safe to say we didn't kiss until we had a chance to thoroughly brush our teeth! This is a great spot! Highly recommended. read more

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A casually excellent bagel place with surprisingly good coffee. Quite a find for a Bostonian on a quick visit.

Best Bialy in the city. The garlic / thyme and the everything cream cheese are both amazing. For under $4 and 1/5 of the wait of Russ and Daughters this place will not let you down. The chocolate babka is also crazy and you should try it if you get the chance. Head next door for a pickle after. read more

This place absolutely sucks. I'm currently trying to get money back from an order that never showed after 2 hours. I called and person kept hanging up on me. Will never give this place my business again, especially with the thousands of other bagel places in NYC. We ordered one bagel sandwich and one plain bagel. How it took over 2 hours at 1 pm?? Not even the rush time, I'll never know?? read more

Oh yeah! It's bagels and bialy beyond your dreams and cream cheeses and smoked fish and lots of delectable Jewish style foods. Take a dozen bagels home take some of the chive cream cheese with it and you will not be disappointed in any of the bagels at the shop.And again if you can't make it to lower Manhattan you can always get these bagels shipped to you . They are larger than most bagels they are well done and tasty don't miss this place it's an iconic lower Eastside establishment. read more

This is the worst experience I've ever had . They made my order wrong twice,and when they made it right it was very bad sandwich. No recommend stay away!!! read more

Kossar's is solid! I've never been disappointed by any bagel or bialy there. They have nice sandwich options and will also create whatever for you; eg once I had a tomato, avocado, and egg sandwich that wasn't on the menu. It's good stuff! Just not too many spaces to sit inside. read more

Kossar's Bagels & Bialys - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

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I gave the one star to the workers because they were really sweet. The second start is for the outside dining it was social distanced and at the time I went was during a hard time during covid. The daily I ordered was to much like a bagel for me. The bialy was more thick instead of thinner and there wasn't much flavor in the middle at all. It staled like a plain bagel. The service was great and quick but I was expecting more from such an appraised place. read more

Such good tasting bagels. Fresh and fluffy and delicious! Tried sandwiches for the first time and amazing ingredients

Pretty decent bagels! The spreads are good too! It can get a little crowded but there is more personnel now so it moves quickly!!! read more

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I'm writing about the Kossar's Challah bread that is kept behind the counter. Since loaves are behind the counter, customers are provided with a loaf upon request, and therefore must depend on Kossar's standard of quality. When you receive a good Kossar's challah loaf, it is THE BEST. I was obsessed with the loaves that had a golden shiny crust and this uniquely addictive dense, spongy, and chewy texture. However, I receive a good loaf maybe 35% of the time. When the Kossar's challah is not good, it is no better than store bought challah bread; no shine on the outer crust, and the inner part doesn't have that dense chewy texture that keeps you coming back. Today was a particularly very bad day for Kossar's challah bread; small size, dull and pruned outer crust, and the texture was not dense, nor chewy, and even a bit dry. Today's loaf tastes exactly like the loaves (Gertel's or Miami Bakery) sold around the corner at Metro Acres Grocers on Grand. Those loaves are around $5 (and a bigger size than today's Kossar's challah) while Kossar's loaf is $7.25. Also, today's challah came in a Kossar's plastic bag with a fastener that was labeled 'sell by 2/21'; today is 2/27. It's disappointing to say the least since the whole point of buying from a bakery is for fresh baked goods. Selling over-a-week old baked goods at full price is really messed up. I've seen a few bakeries that sell day-old baked goods at half off. But, I've never seen a bakery that has the balls to sell over-a-week old baked goods at full price. This major lack of quality control at Kossar's reflects a fundamental problem within their business, and leads me question the overall quality and freshness of all of their baked goods and spreads. Kossar's needs a consistent and much higher standard of quality control in order to maintain customers. I cannot recommend this bakery, best to avoid. read more

Kossar's Bagels & Bialys - Purchased on 2/27. SELL BY 2/21. NOT OK. - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

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Best bagels on earth! These melt in your mouth. Totally worth the hype, you must visit this place before you die! I love to get a plain bagel with cream cheese and salmon here. It's super quick, they are very friendly, and their bagels are fresh out of the oven. It's a small place with no room to sit down but honestly their bagels are so delicious it'll be gone in a hot minute! I'm craving one right now just thinking about their bagels. I love it here! read more

Kossar's is right around the corner from my LES apartment, which makes it an easy option when Saturday/Sunday morning rolls around. After several mediocre experiences, this past Saturday took the cake. I ordered a sesame bagel with butter and asked for it to be extra toasted - they barely toast their bagels, so I thought this would solve for that. WRONG. I should have known when I smelled something burning, but was too hungover to understand that it was MY poor simple bagel that was on fire. After about 15 minutes* with my body feeling like I was on death's door, I paid for my bagel and shuffled back to my apartment. I unwrapped my bagel and found a completely burnt disc of dough that brought a single silent tear to my eye. And I had PAID for it. It was flat, burnt to a crisp and, though I so badly wanted to find a way to salvage it, completely inedible. If I'd had the strength (a bagel would have helped) I would've gone back and demanded my $3 refund, but alas, I did not. TL;DR: Had a traumatic bagel experience at Kossar's that made me trust the world a little less. *The past five times I've been here on the weekend, the line is long, which is not odd in and of itself, but the inefficiency is MADDENING. Every. Single. Time. I am blown away with how long it takes to get a damn bagel. If you're going to give me a flat, burnt dough disc in the end, at least be quick about it? read more

Kossar's Bagels & Bialys - Sesame bagel "extra toasted" with butter - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

Kossar's I want to love you. But you continue to further descend into chaos. If you are in a rush, skip this place altogether. Even if there is no line, the likelihood you'll get what you ordered is slim. Their bagels are amazing but sometimes the hassle of their disorganization isn't worth it. If you decide to stick it out, take a deep breath and inspect your bagel before you leave. And pray for the best. read more

Trekked down for the best bialy in the city. And boy was it. Ratio of bialy/bagel to toppings is perfection. Missed it the instant it was gone. Will definitely be back. read more

Kossar's Bagels & Bialys - Bialy+ Sesame bagel/lox - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

Kossar's is a famous name in the Lower East Side, but are they just riding their legacy wave? They're still producing a high volume of bialys, as they're usually an afterthought for most other bread-based breakfast spots. They do bagels also, but the bialys are what made them famous. While still good, should you come here instead of Russ & Daughters? Probably not. Though their addition of Sriracha cream cheese is a welcome sight. If there's a singular reason I come here, it's for their smoked salmon salad. It's very good, and worth every bit of the $7 they charge for it. read more

We have been to the latest version of Kossar's several times and on most occasions they are out of bialeys. We don't go at the end of the day, but after lunch time. However even when we get bialeys they are pretty mediocre. Oh and the staff ranges from nasty to dysfunctional. How I yearn for the Kossar's of old. Of all the iterations of Kossar's this is by far the worst. read more

We were in NYC for a day and decided to hit-up Kossar's for a bag of bialys for the trip home. We used to shop there fairly frequently when we lived in the NY area and the bakery was under different ownership and a lot less "fancy." It is clearly not the same product. We are skilled amateur bread bakers and I can say that something has changed and not for the better. Would I go back? Yes, but only because there are few bialy bakeries left in the NY area. read more

I came here midday on a Sunday. The place wasn't packed at all, but it took the staff a few minutes to acknowledge me (yes, I did say excuse me a few times). I ordered an Essex Street w/ everything bagel ($14). I saw the man tendered cash with his gloves on, then proceeded to make my bagel with the same set of gloves. Maybe I'm a little paranoid about a little bit of germs but I'm paying a little too much for that bs :). I brought the issue to his attention but he just laughed at my remark. At this point I just wanted to leave, so I took the bagel and my friend ate it. She said it was okay, just a little hard. It can just be me, maybe I'm the issue here. But I really don't want to get sick, you feel me? :) read more

This place can't get an order right to save their lives. Used to love ordering from here but over the last year or two their order accuracy has dropped significantly. 3 of the last 4 orders I've placed in the past couple months were delivered with missing or wrong items, and these were simple orders too, just a couple poppyseed bagels with jalapeno cream cheese, a couple iced coffees and a couple OJs. They can't even handle that. I'd get plain bagels with plain cream cheese, or two drinks but only one bagel. Think for one second, why would I order drinks for two people but only one bagel? Hello??? And then when I call to get my order fixed they are often clueless until I explain the entire situation twice and then they are short and snippy with their attitude. Today I had to call twice to get my missing bagel delivered because it took longer for them to do that then it took to receive the original order! I don't know what is going on over at this place but they need to put a new system or training in place because whatever they're doing isn't working. Get it together Kossars! read more

This place has been here for as long as I can remember. So 30 or 40 years. I asked the girl behind the counter if it's the same owner and she said if the second owner. So the original guy was able to sell the business because it was so in bedded in the community. Crazy the place is still here. read more

Kossar's Bagels & Bialys - Front - Bakeries Near Me - New York, New York

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Tried the Classic, small amount of lox and they forgot the tomato. Try Tal's on 20th & 1st so much better.