Move over toast – bagels are in the house! Whether you’re a purist (plain with a smear of cream cheese, please) or an iconoclast (an “everything” with everything!), Scottsdale’s dishing up your favorite breakfast bread your way at these neighborhood bagel shops.
Schmooze Workspace & Cafe
As any hard-core bagel aficionado will tell you, it’s all about the water – and for the best bagels, it has to be New York City water. That’s why Old Town’s Schmooze flies in their bagels from the Big Apple every week. These beauties are boiled in NYC water, which is said to impart the characteristic hard, chewy exterior, then they’re par-baked and flash-frozen before shipping to Scottsdale. Schmooze finishes the baking process on site every morning for warm, fresh bagels that give you a taste of the big city in Scottsdale.
Local Tip: Treat yourself to a Bagel & Lox with smoked salmon, cream cheese, tomatoes, red onion and capers, and wash it down with an iced Americano or Lavish Lavender latee featuring velvety caramel, lavender and a hint of coconut syrup. Enjoy both on Schmooze’s spacious, flower-filled patio.
Chompie’s
Using classic family recipes imported from Queens, New York, the Borenstein family has been delighting Valley of the Sun bagel lovers since 1979. Among the 20+ bagel flavors boiled-then-baked daily, you’ll find all the usual suspects as well as rebels like the Jalapeno-Cheddar and the Cragel - half bagel, half croissant and 100% delicious. There are even plain and “everything” gluten-free friendly options for those looking to avoid gluten.
Local Tip: Show your lunch some love with a Becker's Brooklyner, featuring Hot pastrami, corned beef, and braised brisket on double-baked Jewish rye (or maybe a bagel?).
New York Bagels ‘N Bialys
The owners of NYBB trace their heritage and their recipes to Chicago and New York City – and it shows in the mouthwatering kosher bagels and bialys they make from scratch daily. Choose from more than 20 different bagels, including egg, sunflower, marble, pumpernickel, oat bran, blueberry and “everything.” And if you want to shake up your breakfast routine, try bagel’s cousin, the bialy. These chewy rounds of baked goodness have a small indentation in the center that cradles cooked onions or other tasty toppings.
Local Tip: Go full-on New York and order a traditional Egg Cream to go wash down your bagel. NYBB whips up this classic (and, ironically, eggless) Big Apple treat in classic vanilla and chocolate flavors.
