New Absolute Bagels — Restaurant in New York

TL;DR: it's 2024 and this is a thriving business; there's ZERO reason this place should be cash-only. Great bagels and staff, terrible customer flow, outdated space. There's no question that the bagels here are EXCELLENT. They are fresh, warm, with a perfectly crisp shell surrounding a impossibly soft core. A plethora of tasty homemade cream cheeses and spreads adds to the many options of bagels available.

But what drives this review all the way down to 2 stars--despite a 5-star product and 5-star staff--is the experience. The atmosphere. Because of the aforementioned quality, Absolute Bagels draws a crowd. A BIG crowd. Come here on a Sunday morning and you could spend 45min or more, easily, standing in line.

The sad part? The issues with Absolute Bagels could EASILY be fixed.

Everyone who enters here will ask themselves the same question...why, in 2024, is a place like this cash-only?? A simple point-of-sale system, which Absolute could easily afford given their commercial success, would not only increase the convenience for customers in a meaningful way (as carrying cash becomes less and less commonplace), but it would also improve the flow of customers. Transaction speed would increase, so time in line would decrease...which also would mean a less intimidating line for passersby, who might otherwise stop to grab a bagel--or a dozen--before settling instead for the undoubtedly inferior (but far more efficient) Dunkin Donuts a block away.

Of course, Absolute's answer to "why not accept credit cards" would be "because we don't need to" 🤷🏻‍♂️. And it's true--as mentioned before, there are times you could spend up to an hour in line to get a bagel, so this hasn't stopped business, and it hasn't stopped me, either, after all. However, I would frequent Absolute Bagels much more often if the line were shorter; accepting credit cards would be one simple way to fix that. I can't be the only one in that boat. Whatever they'd lose in cc fees would easily be gained by sales to new customers that would otherwise skip a morning bagel run.

On one recent visit I forgot about the cash only policy, and had to ask someone to save my space in line in order to run to the ATM. That same person told me "no worries, this has happened to me multiple times too; I even had to borrow money once from someone in line to make my purchase!" The stress of asking to borrow money from strangers could be easily prevented if cards were accepted.

In addition to the frustration of Absolute being "cash-only," the place itself has looked the exact same since I first moved to NYC and tried them out, 14yrs ago in 2010--and it already looked decades old then. Perhaps the only thing that changed is their food safety rating, which back then was a "B" but is now an "A." The decor is dated, the lighted panel menu has bulbs missing and is hard to read, the art has faded after years (decades) in the sun: it is sorely in need of some renovations. Some might call the outdated look "charming"...but it could equally be called "neglected."

Perhaps if/when these renovations take place, a second check out station could be added as well, to further improve flow. One cashier for that many customers just feels...irresponsible.

The saving grace are the helpful, smiling, motivated staff, and the quality of the bagels themselves. But it really could be so, so much better, if the customer experience were...

I was visiting New York from Toronto. I had heard that New York bagels are something special but come on now, it's just a bagel. What could be so special about a bagel, so of course it was on my list of places to try. Not only was I not disappointed, I was very surprised. I'm making sure this will be one of my stops next time I'm in town.

Now I've thought I'd eaten a good bagel before but I was wrong. I've also had fresh bagels before but not like these. The bagels are constantly being baked. It's hard to explain, they're crunchy on the outside, dense like how bagel is supposed to be yet somehow light and fluffy. I could have easily eaten them plain but with all the topping options I'd be crazy to do so. Apparently they make the cream cheese as well.

The first day I got two. The first was topped with egg and sausage, which was ok. There bagel was the star of the show, the egg and sausage was nothing special. If you need a breakfast sandwich it's a good option. The second was topped with herbs cream cheese and wow! You could really taste the herbs. The next day as we were driving out we needed a bite for the road so he went back. I got two more. There first was chives and garlic cream cheese and this was my favorite. It has a really strong garlic taste which I love. The second was the bacon and cheddar cheese. This was good, I'm glad I tried it because I would have been kicking myself if I hadn't but I would try something else.

I'll be in New York again and I will be visiting Absolute Bagels. I'll always get two. One will always be the chives and garlic. I'll try a different cream cheese...

Got here at about 10.30 and the queue was already super long up to the end of the street near the red lights. 10 minutes later Adam Sandler showed up with his wife, chatted with his friends, took pics with several people (not me which I, a foreigner, still REGRET), got his bagels and said good bye to the crowd.

The line took about 30 mins until I got to the counter and ordered 2 everything bagels, one with loxspread creamcheese and one with chives and garlic creamcheese, and when I got to the cashier, I realized I only got Los (Peruvian money). Since they didnt accept card, they let me go out and go to the nearby ATM, and come back directly to the cashier. I came back about 20 mins later and decided I wanted to add another bagel (my sister requested it), and they very kindly let me add another everything with blueberry cream cheese, and I didn't have to wait in line.

The bagel is super chewy. Now, the creamcheese is something else. All of their creamcheeses are super light. The loxspread was somehow pretty smokey. Their chives and garlic is very strong in flavor, which I, as a garlic fan, absolutely love (beware of garlic breath). And the blueberry cream cheese were also great, but maybe I'd rather pair it with a basic bagel or something neutral and not savory (obviously). They add a VERY generous amount of cream cheese in each bagels, so I think if you want to share with many people just to try, you...