Click Here for Hi-Res Slide Show!
H & H Midtown Bagels East
1551 2nd Ave, New York, NY
(212) 734-7441
Web Site: http://www.hhmidtownbagels.com
On my way back from Rectangles last night I wanted to pick up some bagels, so I punched in “bagels” into my Garmin GPS, and up came “H&H Midtown Bagels East”, only half a mile away. “Cool! an H&H right by where I am!” I thought, and floored the gas pedal.
As it turns out, H&H Midtown Bagels East is not directly related to the better known H&H Bagels on the West Side Highway at 46th Street (and their other store on 2239 Broadway) . The owners of the original bakery parted ways some 25 years ago, and the Midtown store is a “rogue” operation that’s been baking excellent bagels and providing great appetizing ever since. That sits perfectly well with me, as I identify quite well with rogue operations!
The H&H Midtown Bagels East store on 81st and 2nd Ave. Like its more famous cousin, It’s open 24 hours per day, seven days a week.
I like a good rogue New York bagel. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry link” below for more.
Unlike its estranged cousin, H&H Midtown Bagels East has a number of tables where you can sit down, relax and stay a while while you eat your bagel.
The countermen are nice and friendly and are eager to pose for the camera.
Unlike some of the more gargantuan sized bagels in the city, these are smaller and tighter. While not as dense as the ones from the more famous cousin, they are excellent bagels and they are always being baked fresh. When I got there at 9:30 at night a whole bunch of Everythings and Plains were just being dumped into the bins, nice and piping hot straight from the oven, so that’s what I got. I will also note that these bagels are 80 cents apiece, whereas its more famous cousin sells bagels for $1.10 each.
The appetizing section is very well stocked and they have 18 varieties of cream cheese spreads .
You can also get your bagel with any deli meat that you want, as man cannot live on cream cheese alone.
H&H doesn’t just do bagels, appetizing and deli — they also bake cookies too.
And cheesecakes and pastries.
Off The Broiler 
The original H&H bagels are kosher, these are not.
I didn’t say it was :) The fact that they have a deli pretty much eliminates anything in the shop being Kosher, even if they used Kosher cold cuts,which they don’t — they use Boar’s Head. A true Kosher bagel place is strictly a “dairy” operation. You can’t have a Bagel place stock anything other than fish and dairy items and be Kosher from a strictly kashruth perspective. You can have a bagel with lox or nova, whitefish and cheese, or Eggs, and vegetables and tomato, but nothing else.
Also being open seven days a week, 24 hours per day would negate the place being Shomer Shabbos, which is important to Orthodox Jews.
This is a conundrum I face here in New Jersey on Sunday mornings, when I want a bagel sandwich with eggs and bacon on it. I can’t go to the Kosher bagel place, which arguably has better bagels than the much closer non-Kosher one that WILL make me and egg and bacon bagel sandwich.
The photos you took were very creative and gave a very good perspective of the H&H East bagel store. I passed there a few times myself and always thought they were associated with H&H Bagel store. Maybe you could write another entry about the food itself?
I go there whenever I’m in the city because I love their hours and green olive cream cheese!
As a Montrealer, I love New York bagels better because a NY bagel gives u something to chew…our bagels melt in your mouth and always leave me wanting more….
Like “Buy Fresh Seafood Online”, I too found this blog entry well-documented — I felt like I was there! I especially appreciated the shot of the employees working behind the counter and the shot of the tables.
80 cents for a bagel? Pinch me.
[…] NYC Dining: H&H Midtown Bagels East Click Here for Hi-Res Slide Show! H & H Midtown Bagels East 1551 2nd […]
I think Murray’s, on Sixth Avenue between 12th and 13th, makes a superior bagel.
H& H Midtown Bagels East actually is Kosher!! There bagels and baked goods are Kosher!!!