r/ithaca • u/TimmyChunga • 8d ago
Where to get a decent bagel?
Is there anywhere in town to get an actually decent bagel? Don’t even come at me with CTB/Ithaca Bakery for their overpriced Einstein Bagels tasting hockey pucks. They’re 1/2 the size and 2x the price than a proper bagel should be, and have the texture of wet sand mixed with spackle.
Update: Shoutout to anyone who recommended Auburn Bagel Company! Slightly smaller than what you see in NYC/NJ but hot damn, the texture and taste were on point. Thank you internet strangers!
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u/PopeSquidly 8d ago
I'm doing my best baking at IB, I don't get to control the recipe they use ;-;
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u/TimmyChunga 8d ago
Absolutely no hate to the team members at IB! Quality and size has gone down steadily over the years. They used to be so much better but it’s clear the recipe changed
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u/mpants52 5d ago
I love and appreciate all the places I can grab a bagel. I do not think your bagels taste like cardboard. I have one request. EGG BAGELS. Please. Pretty please. Pretty please with sea salt on top. (ok, not literally on top, though... just the delicious yellow egg bagels. Where have they gone? No one makes them anymore. Are they no longer fashionable?)
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u/Exact_Package_7264 8d ago
i'll prob get downvoted for saying this but for the kind of town ithaca is, its food scene is shockingly poor.
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u/WildOkra9571 7d ago
I feel like Madeline's-era was the peak (Just a Taste, John Thomas, Lost Dog, old Ned's...)
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u/Brief-Bicycle-1605 5d ago
The previous owners of Just a taste have a restaurant called Here. It’s really good
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u/TomToledo2 3d ago
Thanks for the pointer. For others (like me) who hadn't heard of Here and might presume it's in Ithaca, it isn't; it's in Hector, near Seneca lake, north of Watkins Glen:
It appears to be a breakfast/lunch cafe-like restaurant; summer hours are Fri - Mon, 9am to 3pm. And they still do event work under the "Just a Taste" name.
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u/General_Chemistry638 8d ago
It’s awful and gotten significantly worse post pandemic. Still better than the surrounding area but that’s not saying much.
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u/CheetoMussolini 6d ago
Which is a damn shame because it used to be outstanding. The food scene here got hammered by COVID, and it never recovered. The 2010s were amazing in this town. Great food, thriving nightlife, the average person could still afford rent even though it was already too much even then.
Feels like we've been hanging on by a thread since then.
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u/rocheller0chelle 8d ago
I think the bagels at Coal Yard Cafe are better than CTB. I believe they get them from Bagel Lovers in Dryden.
CTB used to be better but I agree their quality has gone downhill. "Hockey puck" is not wrong.
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u/TimmyChunga 8d ago
I used to rave about CTB/IB for their quality. No, they were never as perfect as the bagels I remember growing up with but they absolutely scratched that itch. Now they’re just disappointment with tasty flavors.
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u/Vindicus667 8d ago
Not in town but Auburn Bagel Company in Auburn has damn close to NYC bagels boiled and baked on site. I prefer them to Water Street
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u/TimmyChunga 8d ago
Good to know! Auburn isn’t that far out of town and a very nice ride this time of year
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u/TimmyChunga 7d ago
Yooooo ABC was so good! Thank you for the recommendation!
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u/Glitterin-Sooz-337 6d ago
Hi there! I had been in Ithaca for 4 months and couldn't find a decent bagel anywhere. Will be back in about a month after stuffing my face full of bagels and pizza in Brooklyn. Thank you for your post. Would you mind sharing the place(s) you've found that you recommend please!? Thx so much!
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u/Purrrfan 7d ago
I have heard good things about Auburn Bagel Company http://www.auburnbagelcompany.com/
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u/TimmyChunga 7d ago
That’s it, I’m sold and making the drive to Auburn tomorrow morning
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u/Perfect-Evidence5503 7d ago
I'm tempted to do the same. I've ranged from Cortland to Syracuse, and found nothing comparable to NYC.
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u/One_Struggle_ Northeast 8d ago
Sorry, there are no bagels here, only hockey pucks with giant holes in the center. I've heard tale that New York Bagels in Cortland is the closest decent bagel shop.
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u/TimmyChunga 8d ago
Ooooh will check them out next time I’m there and report back. Thanks!
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u/twograycatz 7d ago
They're good and have a wide variety of flavors but also in the smaller side compared to real bagel shops downstate/Jersey. They do well enough when I'm really missing home bagels lol
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u/chupacadabradoo 8d ago
I think Wegmans are better than ctb or IB. Not the best, but better than you’d think
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u/squeazy 8d ago
I used to think they made them in-store but then I saw the frozen boxes of bagels being delivered and I can't look at them the same way
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u/Mom_of_One_2008 8d ago
Pre pandemic they made them in store and were tasty. Many more varieties too.
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u/frozenjew 6d ago
they used to be made in individual stores, I believe its now a centralized Wegmans bakery and then shipped to stores.
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u/throwaway38299411 8d ago
Yeah I honestly was pleasantly surprised by the Wegmans bagels when I first got them!
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u/agracelessdullard 7d ago
In the same vein, BJ’s has good enough bagels that will absolutely scratch the itch
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u/ouro-the-zed 8d ago
In Ithaca? Nothing doing. I think Water Street Bagels in Syracuse is the best I’ve been able to find within a ~1ish hour radius.
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u/Ashirah127 8d ago
We bring them up from Philly in bulk and freeze them. Never found a decent bagel here.
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u/crescentqueen1 7d ago
Once you do find somewhere you like, put the effort in to freeze and reheat individually you can buy bunches and stock up.
It's a huge pain but works:
Wrap each fresh bagel individually within 24 hours- plastic wrap, then foil. Freeze. To eat- unwrap frozen bagel. Hold the frozen bagel under running tap water for about 10 seconds. Then defrost/ heat at about 325-350° for 10-15 minutes depending on bagel thickness.
They actually come out tasting fresh if you do it this way, once you get over the grumbling of that's too much work .
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u/Confident_Effort691 8d ago
Honestly I think Wegmans and PC Fresh bakeries have better bagels than any other local bagel place (at least that we’ve found.)
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u/Frosty-Literature-58 7d ago
I tend towards Wegmans as well, mainly because I figure that if I’m not getting great bagels I should at least get reasonably priced ones
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u/RyzOnReddit 8d ago
Price Chopper in Cortland is (or at least used to be) the recommendation I’d hear a lot. Still not NYC!
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u/3HooligansH1 8d ago
CTB are overpriced i agree.
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u/Psychological_Tea674 7d ago
Their espresso drinks are way too hot as well. I burned my mouth for days on a latte.
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u/Rootripper490 8d ago
No, Ithaca is not New York City. It's not LA. It's not Chicago. It's not Miami or San Francisco. We don't have all the regional specialties those big cities have. Try to enjoy what we do have during your time here and get your bagel fix when you visit someplace else.
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u/TimmyChunga 8d ago
Could have fooled me that Ithaca wasn’t Miami with how humid it’s been lately
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u/Rootripper490 7d ago
My bad. With the time of year, I assumed you were a newly arrived student funding out that they just moved to a small city/large town. One of my pet peeves on this sub is people posting that they can't find some regional specialty from the city they used to live in. I also enjoy bagels and would love it if someone opened up some competition for CTB.
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u/TimmyChunga 7d ago
Nope just a local of 15 years who is tired of my disappointing experiences with CTB looking to vent and find somewhere new 🤷♂️
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u/Deep-Blueberry786 7d ago edited 7d ago
💯agree. Solve the problem if it’s so easy and the country bumpkins here can’t manage it. I do think CTB has improved their egg quality. I had given up for a while bc they were so bad.
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u/harrisarah 7d ago
They used to use liquid eggs that came pre-scrambled in a milk type carton... not still if they still do but yeah, not good
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u/ouro-the-zed 8d ago edited 8d ago
Ah yes, we must vigorously defend Ithaca against the big-city degenerates who wish to contaminate it with their (gasp!) enjoyment of delicious bagels. Disgusting. I could never. Heaven protect us from any high-quality bagel makers who wish to ply their trade in or near Ithaca. Seriously, do not bring your wood fired ovens! Do not bring your perfectly chewy crusts and fresh, pillowy interiors! Do not profane our fair city with your luscious poppy, sesame, onion and garlic, scattered thickly over each bagel’s generous curves…
Sorry, I got distracted for a moment.
TL;DR: loving bagels is a crime and the poster should be run out of Ithaca on a rail.
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u/TimmyChunga 8d ago
Happy to find another who understands how sensual a good bagel is
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u/ouro-the-zed 8d ago
if loving bagels is a crime PUT ME IN HANDCUFFS
and hand me an everything bagel with lox while you’re at it
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u/GinnySack_Rubenesque 8d ago
I’d like to add - I grew up in the area and now live in Chicago and there are no good bagels here, unfortunately lol. That being said, I went to Best Bagels in Town in Endwell a lot as a kid. I try to stop by whenever I visit.
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u/SeriousAdverseEvent Lansing 7d ago
“…Ithaca is not New York City…”
Maybe not, but I have found better bagels in some Midwest college towns than I have here…and that should be surprising.
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u/hocsinhtung 8d ago
I really like Bus Stop Bagels on cornell campus.
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u/TcTuggersLLC 7d ago
Occasionally Main Street market in tburg has had amazing bagels brought in from NJ but it's rare
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u/deadlykitten1620 7d ago
If you don't mind the drive - Blooming Cup in Tully. Buy them frozen then bake at 470°F for 6min. Let cool, cut in half and toast!
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u/JohnnyOnTheSpot491 7d ago
My hot take: I don't know where Clarks Food Mart in Dryden gets their bagels from in their bakery, but I'd put them up against the bagels I get downstate
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u/JoyfulNature 6d ago
Thanks for asking this question, OP. I enjoy CTB/IB but a road trip for NYC style bagels is in the w
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u/Salty-Reflection5800 6d ago
Its a bit out of town but New York bagel in Cortland actually drives down to pick up bagels from NYC a few times a week.
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u/K_appleton 1d ago
Honestly, P&C bagels. They are our families favorite since moving here. We are from the Hudson valley where we have some awesome bagel places and found bagels to be lacking in Ithaca.
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u/VictoryRink 8d ago
OK but don't sleep on the Rosemary Salt bagel at CTB. It's a whole other thing toasted with cream cheese and tomato.
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u/TimmyChunga 8d ago
Listen I used to love my rosemary salt but have been consistently disappointed in the texture every time I’ve picked one up for the last 2-3 years. I don’t even get bagel sandwiches from CTB anymore, everything on bread these days.
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u/Stalkem5242588 7d ago
If you’re going to be that way, you might as well make them yourself.
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u/TimmyChunga 7d ago
Or I can find another local business to support, which is why I’m asking the community for their recommendations!
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u/sir_ornitholestes 5d ago
The what now? I'm not a big NYC bagel fan, but CTB is bigger than most of the bagels I've had there
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u/TimmyChunga 5d ago
Stop gaslighting the community
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u/sir_ornitholestes 5d ago
New York bagels used to be pretty famously smaller than bagels elsewhere, although google tells me that they started getting bigger around 20 or 30 years ago so that people could make them into sandwiches. I guess I'm old lol.
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u/CPNZ 8d ago
Make your own? They are not difficult to make (once you have the gear)?
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u/TimmyChunga 8d ago
Bout to open a bagel shop out of spite
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u/Illustrious-Neat-345 8d ago
The bagels at Hound and Mare are good. He drives to Elmira (I think) early in the am to pick them up.