New York City is known for its bagels, and it’s no secret that Russ & Daughters makes the very best. The shop has been open since 1914, and is famous for its caviar, signature sweets, and smoked fish served on fresh bagels.

We headed there one Sunday for our fix of bagels with lox and cream cheese.

The place gets very busy (this was actually the least crowded that I’ve seen it) so be sure to take a number or you will be sad!

There’s fresh bread everywhere, and I’m always tempted to take a few loaves home in addition to my bagel.

The desserts are tempting too.

And I keep meaning to try the caviar, but never seem to remember to order some. Next time!

When your number is called, be ready to choose your bagel type: plain, poppy, sesame, onion, everything, pumpernickel, egg, raisin, whole wheat or bialy.

Then choose a cream cheese: plain, scallion, vegetable, horseradish-dill, tofu plain, tofu scallion, tofu vegetable, caviar, lox or goat cheese.

Then finally, choose your salmon: Gaspe Nova, Scottish, Irish or Norwegian smoked salmon. There’s also belly lox salt-cured salmon, GravLox or pastrami-cured salmon, loin-cut smoked salmon, and wild western nova or New Zealand king salmon.

We all made fabulous choices, if I do say so myself!

This is Irish smoked salmon on a plain bagel with plain cream cheese, topped with capers and onions.

And this is Scottish smoked salmon on a whole wheat bagel with plain cream cheese and topped with capers and onions.

I picked the Irish smoked salmon on a plain bagel with plain cream cheese, and it was so good!

If you don’t want to wait until you’re home to eat, there is a park right across the street. The first time that I ate here, I was with my family and it was the middle of December. Leave it to us to have a picnic in the freezing cold!

Going in summer is much nicer, trust me.

For more information on Russ & Daughters, click here.

Enjoy your bagels New York City!

~A