Kossar’s
Kossar’s
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$ Price range Inexpensive
8 reviews
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Grabbed a loaf of Babka cinnamon bread for the cost of about $10 which was quite expensive. I didn't get a chance to try the bagel but I will return for that!
I was in Chinatown to take care of some errands and wanted a quick snack.
Being right by Grand St. I weighed my options and decided on Kossar's to try out their famous bialys. I recall Kossar's of old (prior to renovation) where sometimes you couldn't see into the place due to the steam generated from making all those fresh bagels and bialys. Equally, inside was like a time warp into the early 1900's.
However post renovation, the store is really bright and the whole bagel & bialy cooking process is prominently on display behind a plexiglass screen once you walk in. A bit chintzy, but I guess it would play well to the tourist crowd.
Service was quick and very efficient (make sure you grab a ticket!) as my order of a toasted whole wheat bialy with jam and regular bialy with butter was quickly processed and ready to go.
The bialy's were yummy, as obviously they were very fresh with a nice slightly chewy texture and a light crisp exterior.
Praises aside, one thing really threw me off, as while I was adding sugar and cream to my coffee (which was pretty good), my sister saw a mouse scampering across the floor.
I'm not sure if the staff noticed it but it's a worry-some indicator and makes me a bit leery of how hygienic the facility is, and considering that Doughnut Plant is right next door…….well that concerns me even more.
It was worth a try and chances are I won't be back just of the mouse incident.
Really bummed out after wanting to come here for a while. Being open since the 1930's and seemingly of good quality I had my hopes set high.
The shop itself is very clean and the workers have good pace and service so no points off on that.
The bagels seem pretty good with a selection that is comparable to any good bagel shop. However, the whole wheat bagel wasn't as big nor as soft as the others. Also, toasted here = lukewarm with burned ends. I don't even know how that happened.
Where this place starts to really lag is the cream cheese options. The total number of options you can put on your bagel was less than ten. No olive cream cheese?
The price was another factor. 15 bucks for 3 bagels. My favorite bagel spot in midtown goes for that price and they have well over a dozen cream cheese spreads.
All in all, for a bagel shop that's been open for the better of 80 years, I expected more.
Wouldn't recommend honestly :/
Location:
Lower east side is where you can spend a dime and get great food!
Kissar's a great example of cheap and delicious quick breakfast spot. They are pretty obviously to be found, since their sign is too red to be noticed! Inside, the left side is for bagels , the right side is for frozen stuff.
And they have an open kitchen for you to watch how they bake stuff.
I had to have a quick breakfast, so I ended up with poppy seed bagel with cream cheese.
The bagel is light, compared to other places. Cream cheese is just average cream cheese.
Why I love it?
Because it's cheap.
However, they have chocolate babka for free the other day. I tried it, too artificial chocolate sauce inside the babka…
I prefer bread bakery's outstanding babka..
Cheap, no-frills bagel place with lots of spread and bagel options!
I ordered two eggs with tomatoes and dill cream cheese on an onion bialy (first time ordering a bialy!) The bakery also sells babka, rugelach, bagels and coffee. Lots of the sandwiches on the list had fish in it, but there were 2 that were egg based. I really liked my order.. the bialy tasted fresh and was not too heavy. Additionally, the dill cream cheese was so good; perfectly dill-ish! My sandwich was less than $5 (unheard of!) and it kept me satisfied until lunch.
I definitely will stop by to try the other offerings — I already know that it will be good and cheap breakfast! My only complaint is that the actual ordering/paying process was not efficient ( there was not a way for the people at the register to know what the customer had ordered and thus had to ask the person preparing the order), which resulted in a bit of a wait for the order. However, the staff was nice and their are bagels/babkas/rugelah/coffee you can purchase to take hoe.
This place was recommended by our airbnb host, and honestly, it was alright. The bagel wasn't really a traditional bagel you would be expecting, but a flat bread type of bagel. We ordered the one with egg salad, and smoked salmon. I think we did a terrible job putting stuff together because it wasn't as good as I thought. I am sure the other ones would have been better if we had stuck with something more traditional or simple, but being a tourist, I wanted to be exotic and try something crazy. Service was quick, and staff was friendly. Recommend if you like to try new things!
Just stopped in here this past weekend….with a wicked hang over. Reasonably priced bagels, especially for NYC. The service is quick & nice. Cream cheese is delicious, although the everything bagel was a bit too heavy on the salt for me. If I come back next time I'm in the city I'd likely go with a different flavor bagel. Pop in & give them a try, they also serve kick ass pickles from the Pickle Guys. Yum! Hangover slightly cured.
Decent bagels. They have a wide selection and very reasonable prices. I'd say pretty standard for NYC but not at all exceptional