New Jersey and New York are known worldwide for their bagels. It’s true, bagels just do not hit the same anywhere else. That’s not to say that there aren’t great bagels across the country, but from a sheer per-capita standpoint, the NYC Metro reigns supreme.
So, it would only make sense that the best bagel in the country comes from New Jersey or New York, right? Right?
Wrong!
BagelFest was recently held at Citi Field in Queens, where bagel makers from two dozen states and three countries put their bagels up against one another. In a huge blow to our rigorous Garden State egos, Starship Bagel out of the Dallas/Fort Worth area walked away with the top honors.
The James Beard-nominated bakery is run by Brooklyn-born baker Oren Salomon. Starship Bagel has become known for their classic, NY-style bagels—served best with assorted schmears of cream cheese and smoked lox. Bagel varieties include timeless options like plain, salt, everything, poppy seed and cinnamon raisin—alongside innovative flavors like pretzel and Italian. They even served a mushroom shawarma-topped bagel at the event.
This was the sixth annual BagelFest. The unapologetically New York competition was started by bagel connoisseur and NY-native, Sam Silverman. Starship Bagel took home first place for Best Bagel and Showmanship. They placed second in the Most Creative and Schmear of the Year categories.
Now, surely if a Texas bagel shop won the judged portion of the competition, a New York or New Jersey shop had to win the People’s Choice Award, right? Right?
Wrong again!
That honor goes to Baltik Bagel out of Richmond, Virginia.
New Jersey and New York will have to try again next year. And while I’m still partial to my metro area bagels, I cannot deny the bagel excellence that is coming from all over the country. Now that we know this, can we finally dispel the myth once and for all that its the tap water that makes for a good bagel?
Peter Candia is the Food + Drink Editor at New Jersey Digest. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, Peter found a passion for writing midway through school and never looked back. He is a former line cook, server and bartender at top-rated restaurants in the tri-state area. In addition to food, Peter enjoys politics, music, sports and anything New Jersey.
