Rico Bagel — Restaurant in New York

Updating my review a few months later because it got even crazier. Today, they charged us $1 for an open faced bagel. This would make sense if they were adding anything extra, but I was already paying for the bagel and cheese and $2 for the extra cheese (no cream cheese or anything else on the bagel). They said if they closed the bagel - no other changes - they’d remove the $1 charge. I’ve never heard of anything more of a rip off.

Rico Bagel started off strong with great bagels, and we were excited to go there regularly when they first opened. While their bagels are good, they’re not the best in the city. Unfortunately, we stopped going due to their unfriendly service and sky-high prices. Charging $2 extra for simple toppings like onions or tomatoes (each!) feels excessive, and I’ll never forget being charged $16 for a single piece of grilled chicken. Not the place for a pleasant or reasonable bagel experience anymore.

I’m also surprised to see comments about the service being good. I went at least once a week for several months and not only did their staff never remember me, which is fine, but they were pretty exclusively dismissive and rude.

Not gluten-free friendly either. I have one option for gluten-free bagels and there is a ridiculous up charge.

I also pretty exclusively write good reviews so this is saying a lot...

Update: Decreased to 1 star. Owner replied with comment saying “bagels are low in gluten but not gluten free as posted in store.” What kind of a sick joke is that? My wife spent 3 hours puking in the hotel room because of false advertising. The service staff were nice enough to ask if it would bother her if it was toasted in the same toaster, so it seems they were aware of folks with allergies. This absolutely blows my mind...I wonder how many other people have gotten sick here.

Original: Gluten free bagel wasn’t gluten free, wife ate it for breakfast and is having a bad reaction now. She doesn’t get sick from cross contamination so it seems she got a bagel advertised as gluten free that wasn’t. Just avoid the GF stuff if you have celiacs, but the rest of our breakfast food was good. Friendly...

I love this spot. The food is fresh and the staff is friendly but they are killing us with these prices. I understand rents are high and inflation is hitting everyone but an extra $3 charge for gluten free bagels is insane!!! A gluten free bagel with butter at $7? And then I had the nerve to buy 1/4lb tuna salad because I try to eat “healthy”. Being GF is not a diet, it’s literally a matter of staying alive! Last week I purchase a large regular coffee and it was $4 plus tax! Come on, it’s literally water and coffee beans!!! I didn’t even go fancy and order a expresso. I think these prices should be meant for tourist and us New Yorkers need the family discount. Please work on a better price for the GF bagels because $7 for a butter bagel...