New York Bagel & Bialy [Jewish bakery]

Ok, now that we’ve thrown the GNR' parameters for nominations wide open, why not? And let me state at the beginning of this thread, NYBB is a bakery, not a restaurant.

I admit, upfront, my bias and ignorance. I grew up eating NYBB. I’ve never been to NYC for any comparison. I’m not even Jewish.

As a young adult, off to college, and traveling around, I was shocked that every neighborhood didn’t have its own NYBB. Yeah, I know, these days even Booger King has “bagels,” but you know what I’m saying.

Yet I feel quite strongly that NYBB is deserving of GNR status. Simply put, if it were gone, our culinary scene would have a gaping whole.

Further, I state boldly, brashly, even rashly, that if I were forced to make the hypothetical choice of a current GNR closing or the loss of NYBB, I’d choose the former.

Here I would insert some relevant Yiddish phrase, but I can’t think of one off the top of my head, and googling it seems goofy for a goyem.

Obligatory but necessary LTH links:

main thread that gets derailed

The Great Bagel-Off (which actually could be used against this nomination as well as for).

There are scattered mentions across a wide range of threads including best chicago sandwich to best thing you’ve eaten lately. I believe that for many of us, New York Bagel and Bialy is too ubiquitous to mention often, but no less deserving.

Would typing "talk amongst yourselves" here, be pandering, insulting, or just stupid?

New York Bagel & Bialy
4714 W. Touhy
Lincolnwood, IL
(847) 677-9388
(I’ve never seen it closed.)

-ramon

Very interesting choice, and one I certainly agree with, since almost any time I find myself on Touhy anywhere near there, I go there and grab a few bagels and some housemade cream cheese.

Great choice! This is the definitive shop in Chicagoland to get bagels and the related accoutrements. My car will not drive past the Touhy Avenue exit of the Edens without stopping at NYB&B. They're open 24 hours (as far as I know), which makes them especially wonderful in my book. I've been known to even stop in after 2 a.m., on my way home from Alinea

=R=

I think this is a great nomination. The best bagels in the area available 24/7. And they do serve food. They have a full menu of sandwiches that they make to order.

Definitely the best bagels I've tried in Chicago. I'm happy to support this nomination.

I don't think I've ever been in the bakery - - these are the bagels of choice at family gatherings, so I've enjoyed them countless times over the years. I'm glad to know about the extended hours, though - - I'm frequently passing the Touhy exit on the Edens and somehow didn't know that I could stop and grab bagels day or night.

The problem with this website is that it makes me quite hungry quite often. I could really go for a toasted NYBB sesame bagel with cream cheese and a big slice from one of the Cherokee purples sitting on my counter at home. Wow, that would be so much better than the mediocre lunch I'm likely to have here in the South Loop.

Since I was, it seems, the one who first wrote this place up and have continued to visit it and enjoy very much their fine products, I am most happy to write in support of the nomination by Ramon: NYBB is a deserving choice.

Antonius

When I was in high school, my parents actually encouraged me to stay out well after curfew on Saturday nights so I'd be that much more likely to be out and about and be able to pick up warm bagels at dawn on Sunday.

NYB&B is as tightly woven into the fabric of it's community as Myron & Phil's. The only thing that would make it better is if it was re-named Chicago Bagel & Bialy.

Excellent nomination.

Best,
Michael

LTH,

For years, decades actually, whenever I visited my maternal grandmother in Milwaukee I would stop for 4-dozen bagels at New York Bagel and Bialy, always. As she got older she was unable to consume 4-dozen in the space between visits, but I was incapable of bringing less than 4-dozen. At one point 4-5 years ago both her refrigerator freezer and basement stand freezer were packed tight as sardines, which she also loved, with bagels. Still, I could not help but bring 4-dozen bagels, 3-dozen plain, 1-dozen raisin or, as she called them, sweet.

I support this nomination and, I'm guessing, so would my grandmother.

Enjoy,
Gary

I moved to Wisconsin in 1990. While great lox is available, there are no great bagels to be found in southeastern Wisconsin, with the exception of Benji's Deli in Milwaukee. When living in Lincolnwood on Kedvale and Lincoln, the trip was only minutes. Today, it's regular a regular stop on the way back to Racine.

I concur.

I think NYB&B is a fantastic nomination. When you're lucky enough to get a still-warm bagel, it's enough to weaken your knees. (Warning, though: when I ask "which ones are warm," I often get a grumpy reaction "they're all fresh!" as if I were insulting them. But if it's warm, I'll take any kind, except maybe a raisin, and I think it's worth risking the grump. Sometimes they don't even blink and just point. And sometimes you see them pass a basket to the counter from the kitchen and you don't have to ask...)

For years now, I stopped at NYB&B for fresh bagels and bialys on my way home to the southern suburbs whenever I was on the north side. I also have stopped at crazy hours for fresh, warm bagels and even got extra for my freezer, since trips north were not that frequent. We could never resist waiting until we got home to open the bag and always started tearing into them in the car. This would be a great addition to the GNR list!

Suzy

germuska wrote:(Warning, though: when I ask "which ones are warm," I often get a grumpy reaction "they're all fresh!" as if I were insulting them. But if it's warm, I'll take any kind, except maybe a raisin, and I think it's worth risking the grump. Sometimes they don't even blink and just point. And sometimes you see them pass a basket to the counter from the kitchen and you don't have to ask...)

For years, NYBB had a sign up that said: "NOTHING'S hot; EVERYTHING'S fresh." This did not stop customers from asking, of course.

I will happily endorse this nomination. My family has been eating NYBB's bagels, and sometimes bialys, breads, and desserts, for, gulp, nearly two decades. I have toasted and eaten one of their bagels for weekday breakfasts for years. My sometime-picky-eater daughter could live--and has--on their sesame bagels and chive (really green onion) cream cheese. The same families who own (Jewish) and work there (Hispanic) and have been there for years and know what they are doing. We love NYBB being close and being open 24 hours--a real neighborhood institution!

LTH,

Spurred by the terrific looking sandwiches in Mhays Whistle-stop tour I was determined to get something aside from my regular, but the lure of lox, cream cheese, tomato, red onion and pickled jalapeno on a toasted onion bialy was too strong to resist.

I brought it home to enjoy with a few corn curls (baked) and daikon radish.





I also picked up a dozen mixed bagel and bialy, but that's pretty much a given.

Enjoy,
Gary

I wistfully discovered the lox sandwich was a no-go at dinnertime, (at least with that particular counterman, who seemed to be a stickler for rules) that's my go-to bagel sandwich. However, the two sandwiches we got were delicious - the corned beef in particular being extremely beefy; it was closer to an excellent roast beef sandwich than being particularly like corned beef.

Great choice for a GNR.

For those of us fressers who consider the puffy bicycle tires sold by other would-be bagel shops to be nothing but shlak, NYB&B is the ONLY place to buy the good stuff.

And if you like the bialy dough, with lots of poppy seeds and a touch of onion, don't forget the pletzels -- the round, flat breads -- and the bialy shtiks. Same great taste in different shapes.

i agree with Gwiv; this is the best place for bagels in the city. i don't know why my jewish friend prefers great american bagel; bagel and bialy is the best... i go with the poppyseed

Touhy is a street we traverse frequently. More times than not, we pull in and pick up a bagel or three to sustain us to our destination. Once or twice a year, I pick up five or six dozen bagels to take to the office to contrast great bagels against the soft ones that are usually brought in. Coworkers almost hug me for this.

I heartily support this nomination.

MBK wrote:i don't know why my jewish friend prefers great american bagel

For the same reason that you can walk into a Taco Bell and see Mexican people in line. Heritage does not imply good taste. (My Jewish sister's favorite bagels come from Einstein Brothers)

I can't believe this place hasn't been nominated already. I can't count how many times I have veered off of the Edens going home from a gig at 1:00 am to pick up a dozen or so bagels and some cream cheese. As close to NY as you'll find in Chicago land. Heartily seconded.

More NYB&B
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=43684#p43684
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=124740#p124740
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=21416#p21416
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=215913#p215913
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=108847#p108847

Still the gold standard for bagels and bialys in Chicagoland, IMO. This is an entirely worthy GNR that should definitely be renewed.

=R=

One of the bonuses I get from the Lovely Dining Companion's place of employment is precisely that: its place (meaning its location). She can and does stop by on a regular basis to bring up goodes from NYBB. I will rue the day when she moves up in the publishing world. A vigorous, enthusiastic, and yummy endorsement!

ronnie_suburban wrote:Still the gold standard for bagels and bialys in Chicagoland, IMO. This is an entirely worthy GNR that should definitely be renewed.

NYBB is probably the GNR I have patronized the longest, long before the existence of the Interwebs! Still the best we have--absolutely a GNR that should be renewed.

ronnie_suburban wrote:Still the gold standard for bagels and bialys in Chicagoland, IMO. This is an entirely worthy GNR that should definitely be renewed.

=R=

My thoughts exactly. There aren't any other bagels in town that are even close.

LTH,

New York B & B's bialy is a regular on my table, always a dozen or more cut in half and frozen for easy toasting. I am enthusiasticly for GNR renewal.

New York Bagel & Bialy, count me a fan!

Enjoy,
Gary

Whenever The Wife and I are in that neighborhood, we stop by NYB&B for a dozen or so -- the most consistently satisfying bagel I've found in a city that seems like it should have more good bagel places. Renew, most definitely.