As a kid, we had the frozen bagels in a bag from the grocery store. I didn’t experience the real thing, a bakery fresh bagel, until I was a young adult. When I was a poor, college student attending Buffalo State College, every now and then I would treat myself to Manhattan Bagel after class. At the time, this blessed bagel destination was in the now Marshalls plaza on Delaware. My treat of choice was a tuna melt with provolone on a spinach bagel which came served with a crisp pickle spear. Heaven.
Present day, the old Manhattan Bagel location at 2130 Delaware Avenue, is inhabited by Bagel Jays. For a brief time, I lived in that area and any time I told someone where I lived they expressed jealousy over my close proximately to Buffalo’s long-standing best bagel stop. Indeed, during my stay in North Buffalo, I spent some time here enjoying breakfast sandwiches or bagels with smear. And I’ve have logged some hours at the Bagel Jay’s location at 4498 Main Street in Snyder as well. Here, I stopped for lunch before attending improv classes across the street during the summer of 2019. Typically I’d enjoy either a tuna or chicken salad sandwich, although the spinach bagel is no longer an option.
It’s funny, as I think back, how the bagel has been a simple treat for me over time. While Bagel Jay’s will always have a special place in my heart, some newer bagel options have presented themselves locally in resent times and I am always about seeking them out.
Back in February, when I wrote about the Chandler Street Market, I mentioned one of these new bagel purveyors, Logan’s Bagel’s. Here, the bagels are boiled and baked fresh Friday through Sunday. You may purchase them fresh, individually, by the half or whole dozen, or you can purchase a frozen bagel six-pack. You stop in for a grab-n-go bagel but you can also order online at their website.
The other two bagel destinations on my list take us out of the city, one north to Lockport, and the other, south to Derby.
A little more than two years ago, B & D's Bagels and Locks opened in the Lockview Plaza at 21 Main Street in the city of Lockport. Here, the bagels are boiled and baked on location but the dough is imported from Manhattan. Enjoy a breakfast bagel or a bagel sandwich for lunch with your choices of meats, cheeses, and toppings. Or you may choose to indulge in your fresh bagel with a choice of spreads including flavored cream chesses. My favorite is the spinach & artichoke. Additionally, they offer a hot beverage menu complete with coffee, espresso drinks, hot cocoa, and tea. If you’re looking for a cooler beverage, the also offer fruit smoothies with or without yogurt. Tables are available inside and during good weather, there’s a nice area outside too.
For the final stop on our list, we traveled down to 6940 Erie Road in Derby to check out the newest bagel in town at The Bagel Jar. We visited the 2nd day they were open and we made it just in time. While we waited for our breakfast sandwiches, we heard them inform a customer that they were sold out of everything but sea salt & rosemary and before we left, they were completely sold out. These bagels are hand rolled, boiled, and baked on site. What makes them unique from the others is that they are seeded on both sides. They also offer a variety of creative spreads. I enjoyed “The Tater”- egg, bacon, and scallion cream cheese topped with a hash brown on an everything bagel. Tables are available to dine-in as well.
Am I missing out on an excellent bagel somewhere? Tell me in the comments!
Jamie. I will Always point out that Your Command of Prose is fantastic. As Always this column weaves a Hidden Autobiography of You that is Timeless and Touching.
As a kid from South Buffalo, I vouch for Bagel Jay's and will try those You mention that I've missed. It is excellent that You point out that a Real Bagel MUST Be boiled! It is just a ring of bread otherwise.
Alas...As a Kid from South Buffalo? I can recommend great bagels, but (and I hate saying this) the best are in NYC; especially the Hasidic Neighborhoods in Brooklyn.
But that's a long drive for breakfast.
Can't wait especially to try the Derby one, which is nearest to Us...
Love this column. XOXO