New York Bagel Cafe & Deli
“For the past several months, I have been getting weekend breakfast deliveries from one place.”
“I work nights and I overslept until after Wonder Bagel had already closed, so I gave it a try.”
“The food was really very good quality for being so cheap and from a deli that delivers to the jsq area.”
New York Bagel Cafe & Deli
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$ Price range Under $10
8 reviews
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I've never dined in, I've only ordered through Seamless. The real stand out for me, weirdly enough, are the corn muffins as they're easily among the best I've had in the Jersey City area. The rest of the food that I've had from them, namely breakfast options like sausage and egg on a bagel, were average. Then again, Jersey City isn't exactly bustling with awesome bagel spots.
Delivery has always been quick and there has never been a problem. However, on one occasion, our delivery guy asked to use our bathroom because (in his own words) was going to piss himself and was basically already nudging his way into the apartment before we answered. Other than that experience, New York Bagel Cafe is decent enough.
As a native New Yorker I'm extremely snobby and picky about two things, bagels and pizza (okay, probably some other things as well).
While wonderbagels is great, they are only open until 3, so I was super excited to have another bagel place that would not only be open later hours, but on my way to the PATH (wonderbagels is a little out of the way).
My boyfriend ended up trying out New York Bagel before I did. He's a little bit of a human garbage disposal, so if HE warns me something's terrible, I know it's not good. But, I had to see for myself.
As we are across the river from the city, you would think a bagel place would be smart enough to bake their own bagels on the premises (which is the reason wonderbagels closes at 3 – they DO!), but no, NY Bagel does not realize this. The bagels might as well come from the the frozen section of the supermarket – even DD tastes better, and those are atrocious.
My mistake was thinking maybe it was opening week and this place could be redeemed, if not by bagels, by sandwiches. I got a sandwich on "Italian" bread. As a deli or even a bagel place, I expect the bread to be fresh… stale, dry bread – which wasn't even italian bread! It was white bread! There's a fresh bakery down the block, they could even GET fresh bread if they wanted. The tomato looked like it was over ripe and the lettuce VERY wilted. Since this was early in the day, I would expect the ingredients to be a little fresher, not last week's throw backs.
I did think it was an interesting (and good) concept to serve bagel chips instead of potato chips with the sandwich. However, my boyfriend wanted his potato chips.
The one good thing, was the staff was smiling and polite. But I didn't see why it took 50 minutes for us to get sandwiches when we were the only ones in there, and there was a staff of at least five people.
Will most definitely not be going back. Wonderbagels or hunger.
It's a basic bagel / cafe.
Nothing extraordinary.
Their burgers, pancakes, etc, aren't bad… I prefer it to the bagels. That's if you decide to dine in which can be a little difficult.
People who work there are really nice, so + for that. Prices are right too.
Under-toasted average bagels with a sloppy presentation. It's kinda messy in there too. They could really do a lot more with the space they have. It's conveniently located though!
Next time I'll skip the visit to the store and just get it delivery.
i came here for a bagel hanker'n 6 months ago and haven't stopped coming. this place is perfect for late morning bagels and lox. when every other fancy place in grove st. is filled, this place is always open, always affordable, always fresh, and always fast.
this place is a hidden gem of masterful mastication! i can't say enough good things about the food and the service. i wonder if it is family run because the staff has always been generous, kind, and courteous. and that says a lot for people who probably start their day at 5 am, working a tough job, dealing with cranky commuters…
i am sad this place doesn't have a better review. i haven't had lunch but since this place has bagel in the title, i can firmly say every single bagel lox treat has been lovingly crafted and a pleasure to enjoy.
Eh, not in love.
Downtown JC has slim pickings when it comes to bagel joints and the options are even slimmer when wonder bagel just isn't an option. A 30 person line and an immediate Saturday morning bagel craving just don't really mix sometimes.
When Wonder Bagel's line is just too much to handle, NY Bagel Cafe presents itself as a solution. They are about 2 minutes away and also have bagels. Seems simple enough, but they really just can't compare to WB's soft, chewy and massive heaps of dough. Here, the bagels are small and tough to chew, the cream cheese selection is lackluster and the egg and cheese sandwiches don't have nearly enough cheese on them.
A bagel craving is a bagel craving, and I'm definitely not against returning here again. The bagels aren't the best, but they certainly aren't terrible either — a solid three stars.
I wasn't expecting anything from this place, but it was conveniently by me as I was waiting around the area at 11AM on a Saturday and needed some serious caffeine and a quick bite. I'm not entirely sure why it's called New York Bagel and Deli because their bagels are not really NY style. If anything, this deli really has nothing to do with NY. The bagels are decent at best, and the coffee is self-serve.
Checking out the bagel selections, they barely had anything left — a lot of cinnamon raisins, 1 wheat, 2 onions, 1 pumpernickel, 3 sesame, etc. They were all nearly empty baskets, so perhaps this place gets business really early in the day, but it was only 11AM, still early. Nonetheless, I order an onion bagel toasted with cream cheese plus a coffee. The bagel wasn't terrible, but it was definitely nowhere near NY style and quite small. Although I asked for toasted, it was barely toasted on the inside and burnt along the edges. I hardly tasted the onion flavor. The coffee tasted fine, but again, it's self-serve. They had no more dark roast left and creamer in the dispensers. There were 3 guys manning the counter, and it was far from busy that time, yet everything was pretty much almost wiped out and neglected. My intuition says it's most busy in the mornings, but business seems pretty slow from the afternoon, hence, their supply is low and so is their attention to the supply.
Overall, an average deli that has a limited attention to details, but it's convenient for locals in the area and those who just are passing by. For bagels, I would rather go to Wonder Bagels or Dunkin Donuts. The coffee was disappointingly self-serve which just doesn't feel the same as when they serve it to you from a fresh pot. Nonetheless, the staff is friendly and nice, but it would be great if they could pay more attention to their supply even when business is just starting to run slow that time of the day. Otherwise, service felt a little sloppy.
I want to give this place 4 stars, but I just can't. They have a good selection, but even at the $5 special price, the sandwich didn't seem worth it. Don't get me wrong, the sandwich was good, but it was very small. I was still pretty hungry after eating. I got the Avocado Chicken sandwich on wheat. I asked for no onions on the sandwich and I still ended up with onions, not a good start. When I went to take out the onions, I noticed there were only two pieces of avocado. Two pieces?? Ridiculous.
I may or may not be back to try the other selections on the menu. They have a really good breakfast selection, which might redeem them. We'll see.