Serious Eats New York - newyork.seriouseats.com

I don't understand charging more for toasting. I also wish that whenever I ordered a bagel I could get it with the cream cheese on the bagel instead of on the side. That's my bagel pet peeve. Everywhere I go they put it on the side. It's a bunch of extra packaging and work (who can spread cream cheese on a bagel on a bus or walking down the sidewalk?) for no reason except laziness. Toasting and spreading only take an extra minute. In my opinion, the customer is already paying for a product, going the extra mile is just going to get you tip money.

If I were to ever be charged for toasting, I would burn such establishment to the ground.

I wouldn't be shopping there again. There are plenty of bagel options in this city.

@gingercookie - I have never seen a place put the cream cheese on the side without asking!

The true unpardonable offense? Toasting the bagel!

Toasting for bagels was invented as a way for the burgeoning bagel shops to pass off second-rate bagels. Toasting hides deficiencies. If you have a good bagel to begin with, no toasting necessary!

Maybe I'm imagining this, but I don't ever remember seeing toasted bagels anywhere until the early 90's. I don't think my go-to bagel spot (Columbia Bagels, which used to be on 110th street) ever had a toaster, even ntil the day it closed. If you wanted your bagel hot, you just asked the guy behind the counter for one that had just come out of the oven.

@Kenji: True. Very true, with bagels that aren't second-rate. But I think Brownie makes a fair point: "It's disrespectful and totally unnecessary to toast a warm, fresh, hot out of the oven bagel. But let's be realistic here. Lenny's is not popping out their own bagels."

@Carey true enough!

I suppose toasting can be alright in an emergency. But sometimes you just gotta ask: if you've resorted to eating bagels that need toasting, shouldn't you be reconsidering your life? ;)

the TRUE offense here is toasting a ny bagel...

if it's fresh, toasting is out of the question, it just melts the cream cheese and makes it a sloppy bagel.

damn newjack new yorkers...

Yes, most bagels in the US are just big, muffin-like bready doughy things. I do miss Columbia Bagels - that was an awesome place.

true, a really good bagel shouldn't be toasted..... but when they developed the cinnamon raisin bagel -- all bets were called off. i know it's a favorite flavor of some .... but cinnamon raisin? after that -- i guess toasting a bagel was the next thing on the list to de-bagelize a bagel. it's like people asking for mayonaise on their proscuitto sandwich. but such is life!

a good bagel should not need toasting - but you can't always get a good bagel everywhere ... and there is something about the cream cheese getting a little extra gooey when the bagel is toasty hot. toasting should be free... talk about nickel & dimeing it.

i've never seen any place in nyc put cream cheese on the side automatically. that's insanity, you'd end up with not enough cream cheese!

no charge for toasting. it's a rip off plain and simple.

it may be because I have never had a truly good bagel, but I believe that you may toast a bagel for the same reason you might toast a macadamia nut, the original is very good, but toasting brings out new flavor profiles...just my .02

Glad to see I'm not the only one with serious bagel opinions. For those who believe a bagel shouldn't be toasted. I agree wholeheartedly, if you have a good, chewy bagel that's fresh out. But as the folks at Serious Eats HQ discovered, even the "good" NY bagels--you know the names--have a half life and it's a short one. After just 30 minutes, they "saw a rapid decline in texture, crust, and even taste." Unfortunately most places don't make their own bagels and once you move past that 30 minutes fresh out mark, it's on to plan B. For bagel purists that might be passing on a bagel all together, but for me it's on to the toaster. If a place can't offer me a fresh out bagel, it doesn't seem too much to ask to have my bagel toasted without incurring an extra charge.

I am SO with the non-toasters here, especially J Keni Lopez. If a bagel needs to be toasted to be good, it's not worth eating. I only eat a bagel when I know I'm getting it from a good place where it's likely hot out of the oven and if not it was within probably a half hour. It makes eating a bagel a delicious special occasion this way. Sorry if that's smug, but I openly admit that bagels are one of the few things I'm completely a food snob about.

Also, I've never seen cream cheese given on the side- weird!

It really does not matter how any of you THINK a bagel should be prepared prior to consumption. It only matters what each particular customer wants. If you are a proprietor and you have a toaster, then toast it or risk losing said customer. If you have an issue with the time it takes, don't have a toaster available. As to the, "purists," you are talking about a piece of bread. Yes, JUST bread. Don't kid yourselves.

It seems to me a real offense here is that Brownie "found that they were charging 25 cents extra to toast it" - in other words, it appears the charge wasn't posted anywhere prominently, but that Brownie discovered this when the bill was .25 more. Not good.

My very busy bagel shop doesn't charge extra to toast.

Is anything included anymore? I think if they have a toaster it should be no extra charge. There are a million that don't toast and that's fine but adding a surcharge seems sneaky - it's not a grocery store.

Let's not encourage any self-respecting bagel place charging extra for toasted bagels.

It's the old slippery slope argument.

BLT? That'll be 25 cents more for toasted bread.
Whole wheat? Another 25 cents.

If these bums get away with charging for toasted bagels it's only a matter of time before they start nickel and diming for everything.

What's next?
Charging for water. (Oops, I take that back).

I grew up eating bagels one way - fresh and untoasted.

In NYC I'm sure you could walk less than a block and find another bagel place.

Look, it's ridiculous to make the 'cost' argument, because the costs at any restaurant are going to be 'born' differently by different customers. For example, lots of times the steak is slightly underpriced, but the owner makes up the cost on overcharging for wine by the glass, the vegetarian and pasta options, and so forth.

By the same argument with the toasting, every flavor of bagel should have a different price, to take into consideration seeds, flavoring, extra time to make certain varieties and so forth. Do they charge extra for add-ons that take extra time to make, like a fried egg versus a hard-boiled egg? Sheesh.

I've had both toasted and untoasted, and it depends on the bagel and what you want from the bagel, and the flavor of the bagel. It's silly to say never about something like a bagel, unless you're one of those people who ONLY eats ONE type of bagel with ONE type of topping.

What's next? Charge $.50 if I want my coffee hot?!?! This is ridiculous... I agree if it is fresh you should not have it toasted, but to each his own... charging extra to toast a bagel is not just stupid it is greedy.

What if it were a 25 cent discount for NOT toasting your bagel? Would that make everyone feel better?
I agree with the general undercurrent here though...if you are already paying 2.50 for a bagel with cream cheese, an extra 25 cents is pretty insulting.

Yea, also, let's charge more for adding milk to coffee cos it takes longer. Jerks.

I agree that toasting isn't necessarily a good idea, but sometimes I want the sesame or everything coating a lil' browner.

I wonder, if I paid an extra 25 cents, would my local shop cut the bagel all the way through for me so I don't have to tear it apart?

Would they put a tolerable amount of cream cheese on it so I don't have to bite into a cream cheese hockey puck?

Would they start to decipher "half the usual amount of cream cheese, please" to mean "half the usual amount spread over the whole bagel", or would they continue to interpret that as "Same thickness of cream cheese, but only on one half of the bagel."?

Would they put the lid on the coffee cup so that the tab isn't over the cup seam?

On another note, there is a difference between the typical mass market doughy "bagel" and a real, true bagel - what we call Montreal style, probably similar to your NY style. I don't consider them to be the same food item. One is a bagel, and the other is a "bagel". I still enjoy them both, but for different reasons! Same name, different food. Kind of like how there's curry, and then there's what you get in England. I still enjoy English curry though :)

"Charging for toasting is like charging more for a well-done burger, since it takes up more time on the griddle—a real affront to the customer."

Considering bagel shops don't usually serve burgers, I think it's safe to say this comparison is.. moot.

If you want the bagel toasted, they have to run it through a toaster, which uses electricity they have to pay for. If they want to pass the fee on to you- they have that right, and frankly it makes sense.

Hah, the customer is not always right. Besides, what does that have to do with what an establishment charges?

Seriously? A real bagel shop will take the time to turn out a good bagel. That means toasted or untoasted...so if the customer wants the bagel toasted, toast the bagel and don't charge. Really...how much time and effort does it take to toast a bagel? And I agree with a previous commenter...take the time to spread the cream cheese on the bagel.

No! Charging extra is lame

Ok all of the "cost to run/repair/buy a toaster" arguments are moot. The point is, there is a cost to run a business, period, and those costs should be reflected in cost of ALL sandwiches. Added a 25 cent surcharge doesn't say "we're covering costs", it says "we want to discourage toasting". Let's suppose 1 in 5 people want it toasted, you can charge 25 cents and risk losing half of those people, or 10% of all business, or you can charge everyone 5 cent more. The latter makes more sense - no hurt feelings, customers return. OR you can man up, and eat the 5 cents per bagel from profit so you can put out an attractive product and service that is considered standard.

I can tell you that I have definitely on several occasions opted to walk a block past Murray's to Brooklyn Bagel because of the no-toasting policy at Murray's. Maybe if Murray's was my favorite bagel, I'd tolerate that shit, but it's not.

And czken, I am sorry you're not from New York, but not all of us have time or desire to buy a bagel and fresh cream cheese and tomato and cut it up and assemble our own sandwich wherever it is we will end up eating it.

The current daughter of Russ and Daughters has been recorded as saying that no fresh bagel should ever be toasted: toasting is only for day-old bagels.

But that's not he point. The point is, if you ask for a toasted bagel, should there be a charge for it? And the answer, unequivocally, is NO. That is offensive to the point of insanity.

I'm a fan of Lenny's sandwiches, but this is definitely not cool. I totally agree with others above, it really doesn't take that much time to toast a bagel and there's nothing keeping them from helping the next customer. They do that anyway when they're making sandwiches. Goodness. I definitely won't be buying a bagel at Lenny's anytime soon.

As a business owner, I understand that you have to do what you have to do to make a living these days. With that said I find it quite unconscionable to charge to toast your bagel... Guess you could just take your own blowtorch with you in the morning and get your toast on for free...

charging extra for toasting is insane.
but more important is that a toasted bagel should not be shmeared until it is room temperature cream chees should never be melted it is just too gross
also the biggest pet peeve is the fact that the jokers behind the counter put the butter or crean cheese on one side only and then close the bagel and cut it
everybody should know that it does not taste the same as being spread on both sides.
to alweays get it done i have to demand it mostly at murray's
gosh this old fart hates the way bagels have gone downhill
but in flatbush in the 50s and 60s the bagel shop just sold the bagels
you had to go to appetizing stores for everything else
what do you expect from a country where dunkin donuts are the biggest sellers of bagels.
go to maple glen bagels in fair lawn new jersey for the best bagel and lox sandwich in the world
lox from acme on a non toasted flagel with scallion cream chees and very thin red onions and the kicker is hot peppers sliced very thin
sheer bilss
go late morning eat have a cup of coffeeand then walk a few feet to johnny and hanges for the best texas weiners and slaw/sweet relish wash it down with a boylan's birch beer

oh the humanity and sheer joy