Boston's Best Bagels

By definition, a bagel is a simple, hand rolled, ring of yeast dough, which is made by first boiling it and then finished off by baking. In reality, a bagel is a doughy, mostly breakfast, bread option that comes in many flavors and can be topped with virtually anything. Bagels can be plain, wheat, flavored with cinnamon and/or topped with a variety or seeds, sugar or salt. As the saying goes, there are bagels and then there are bagels. Boston has a wealth of bagel bakeries that offer their own twist on what a real bagel should be.

Atlantic Bagel & Coffee Co
282 Main St.
Hingham, MA 02043
(781) 740-0636
www.atlanticbagel.com

Atlantic Bagel & Coffee Co is located about 30 minutes south of Boston, in Hingham, Massachusetts. The vast variety of fresh-baked bagels and store made cream cheese offered here will please every palate, especially the delectable cinnamon sugar bagel topped with walnut raisin cream cheese. The rosemary and olive oil bagel, with its sophisticated flavor, is a great lunch choice. Boston Magazine, in its annual Best of Boston poll, awarded "Best Bagel" to Atlantic Bagel & Coffee Co.

Kupel's Bakery
421 Harvard St.
Brookline, MA 02446
(617) 566-9528
www.kupelsbakery.com

The fresh bagels at Kupel's Bakery are handmade daily and they are kosher. There are many flavors from which to choose, but the classic plain or whole-wheat bagel topped with Kupel's fresh strawberry cream cheese is a delicious treat. There are many bagel sandwich options on the menu, too. The long morning lines that form to order at Kupel's move quickly and are well worth the wait for the delicious fare.

Cafe Fresh Bagel
374 Washington St.
Dedham Square
Dedham, MA 02026
(781) 326-1222

Cafe Fresh Bagel serves over-sized, fresh made bagels that are slightly hard on the outside and soft and doughy on the inside. The cinnamon raisin and blueberry bagels are delicious as is the great assortment of cream cheeses that are available - especially popular is the walnut cream cheese. This neighborhood bagel shop has a busy morning rush, but keeps the line moving in order to get its customers in and out quickly.

Bagelsaurus
1796 Massachusetts Ave.
Porter Square
Cambridge, MA 02140
(857) 285-6103
www.bagelsaurus.com

Bagelsaurus offers handcrafted bagels made from a recipe containing five simple ingredients, plus a mature sourdough culture, which requires 24 hours of fermentation to process. The result of the arduous fermentation process is a chewy and wonderfully delicious bagel. A unique specialty bagel and cream cheese combination, which is enjoyed by many at Bagelsaurus, is a sea salt bagel with honey-rosemary cream cheese. Other uncommon bagel flavor choices at this shop include black olive, cheddar garlic and seeded wheat, and of course there are the traditional plain, poppy, sesame, onion and cinnamon raisin.

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Boston Bagel Company
753 E. Broadway
Boston, MA 02127
(857) 496-4168
www.bostonbagelcompany.com

Located in the South Boston section of the city, Boston Bagel Company offers more than 15 different homemade bagels everyday. It refers to its bagels as authentic, New York style. The bagel flavors at Boston Bagel Company range from the traditional plain to French toast, spinach, cinnamon raisin, pumpernickel and more. The fresh bagels are delicious when topped with a choice of more than 10 different cream cheese flavors, including chive bacon, lox, strawberry, jalapeño and apple cinnamon.

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Nancy is a native Bostonian. She enjoys the sights, sounds and tastes of Boston while exploring the city by day or night. Nancy is also a school nurse at an independent middle/high school. Her work can be found on a variety of websites, including Examiner.com.