For a bagel with as much puff as it has history, head to Ess-a-Bagel’s original location on 1st Ave. and 19th Street. Now at a few Manhattan outposts, this family-owned business has been churning out highly consistent, quarter plate-sized bagels since 1976. Slightly sweet, these are crisp and chewy in all the right places, and take scallion cream cheese like champions.

At the Liberty Bagels location near Penn Station, there’s a bouncer at the door to manage the line, even on weekday mornings. It’s always packed, so plan to take your food to go. Some of the options, like the birthday cake cream cheese, might seem gimmicky, but the big, glossy bagels are pleasantly chewy and packed with flavor. For a spicy, savory option, try the jalapeño everything with chipotle cream cheese. Or, if you’d rather have dessert, go for the Oreo cream cheese.

You can tell you’ve got a great Knickerbocker bagel as soon as you give it a nice squish. The crust crackles just a little as you push down, before it dutifully springs back into form like a stress ball. That’s how you know that it’s big and fluffy, but still dense enough to support the chunky home fries in their breakfast sandwich. Knickerbocker is the only shop in Bushwick that makes their own bagels–hand-rolled and boiled—so there’s always a line, but they move quickly.

Apollo, from the sourdough pizza nerds at Leo, has hipster DNA. You won’t find crates with dozens of bagels cooling up front, nor a vaguely refrigerated case of schmears and smoked fish salads here. But what you will find at their East and West Village locations are nearly oven-temperature bagels, which pop like bubble wrap when you tear into them. Almost closer to a sourdough roll, these were a little divisive during our taste taste—but everyone agreed they’re completely delicious.

Harlem’s only bagel shop (with a second location in Washington Heights) has a giant bagel hanging in the window, though the ones tumbling out of the oven are relatively demure in size—like Absolute Bagels below, somewhat closer to the smaller, denser bagels the city was known for before the 1960s. They’re still plump, and glossy with a good, dense chew and a crisp, bubbled crust. We love Bo’s range of flavors, including a three-cheese, za’atar, and an underrated pumpernickel cranberry.

Popup has three locations in NYC, but they started in a backyard in Connecticut, which helps explain why they don’t adhere to any specific regional style. Made fresh throughout the day, the bagels are fluffy on the inside, with a thin, flavorful, blistered crust, designed to be ripped and dipped. Keep in mind Popup only sells their bagels in multiples of three, and every order comes with a container of schmear, which you can get in a few different flavors like scallion and cinnamon sugar.

David’s in Gramercy is around the corner from Ess-a-Bagels—but it’s better than just a back-up plan if the Ess-a line is too long. Their BEC here alone is worth dragging yourself out of bed on a Sunday, and their bagels have the texture of memory foam, if memory foam tasted like malted yeasty goodness. We appreciate their whole wheat options for not being too sweet, and the musky pumpernickel stays soft and springy even after you toast it.

Can a place selling kosher pizza and avocado wraps also have some of the Upper West Side’s best bagels? Bagels & Co. (with another location on the UES) is up to the challenge. The shop looks and smells like a neighborhood pizza parlor, with stained glass Tiffany lamps hanging over the counter, and the smells of garlic and tomato hanging in the air. But their bagels are excellent: just as bulging as the challah loaves covering most of a window, with holes that vanish like deep belly buttons.

In 2011, someone with experience at places like Kossar’s, Zabar’s, and Eleven Madison Park opened an appetizing shop with a seafood expert who used to work at a market called Fish Tales. That’s the story of Shelsky’s, and it partly explains the time-tested technique behind these airy, caramelized bagels and their fixings. If you want to keep things simple and fishy, get the classic “Member Of The Tribe,” which comes with nova and plain or scallion cream cheese (you want scallion).

Walking into Bagel Pub in Crown Heights on a Saturday morning can be overwhelming. The folks behind the counter are simultaneously slicing bread and taking names, probably with an Ariana Grande song from 2010 blasting in the background. Once you taste the thick bagels, you’ll thank yourself for pushing through. Exceptional spread options like za’atar cream cheese aside, the airy bagels from this Brooklyn mini-chain will bring you more joy than at least two or three of your current friendships.

At Best Bagel on 35th Street, you’ll see a hanging sign advertising a Texas beef sandwich with melted mozzarella and barbecue sauce. Not exactly what comes to mind when you hear “classic NY,” but don’t sell the place short. Their bagels are puffy and chewy, with a touch of sweetness. Big, semi-glossy, and on the flatter side, they always taste fresh even when they aren’t piping hot.

You can’t come to Utopia in Whitestone and not get an everything with cream cheese and lox. The place has been around since 1980, with a carousel oven from 1947. Their Midtown sequel is just as good—with the bagels at both locations an exercise in balance. They’re slightly chewy but not too dense, well-inflated but not huge, and the seasoning on the everything doesn’t completely overpower the surface area. Their sandwiches also have the perfect cream cheese ratio, so there’s no spill-over.

Greenberg’s is more than just an excellent bagel shop. It’s the place to be on a weekend morning in Bed-Stuy (or in the West Village, where they have a second location). Other than to people-watch, come to Greenberg’s for thin and soft bagels that taste like they were baked a few moments before they reached your mouth. Come too for their sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich with an added hash brown: the combination crunch of carby crust and fried potato is brilliant.

Absolute, which opened in 1990, dominated the top of our chart for years. And we’ll always have a special soft spot for the springy dough globes at this cash-only West 108th Street institution with its weekend lines and familiar staff. Their smaller bagels are subtly malty, which works especially well with the salty garlicky everything seasoning. Take their perfect nova sandwich, oozing with scallion cream cheese and topped with crunchy red onion, to Straus Park across the street.

This narrow shop on the Upper West is crowded with folks ordering elaborate sandwiches with things like avocado and microgreens, or Carnegie Deli pastrami, or even a french toast bagel with mango cream cheese. All good options, but even just a simple slather of scallion cream cheese is great on their chewy, flavorful, browner-than-average bagels, which are easily identifiable by the notable swirling cracks in the crust.

Bagel Hole refuses to toast, and we respect them immensely for it. This tiny Park Slope shop keeps things plain and simple. They’ve been baking the same 11 flavors of hot kneaded bread since opening in 1985, and our all-time favorite is the everything with cream cheese. It’s the textbook example with a golden brown shell, chewy white center, and crunchy edges that give you a satisfying cracking sound with every bite.

At Bergen Bagels in Prospect Heights, you don't need to toast your bagel unless you really want to. Especially in the morning, you’ll find them warm and chewy, the perfect canvas for lox, cream cheese, and red onion, or whitefish salad and tomato. (Or, eat one plain as you make your way to a brunch with a dozen more in hand.) This neighborhood spot is frequented by policemen, commuters who come here every morning before hopping on the train, and people who don't bother changing out of their PJs.

At this East Village spot (with three locations), chances are you’re getting a sandwich. And you’re on the right track—these springy, air pocket-laden, kettle-boiled bagels are ideal for toppings, which is why this is one of the few places on this list where we recommend ordering a BEC. Cream cheese purists, avert your eyes, because the chocolate chip cookie and chipotle avocado options might upset you.

This shop in Windsor Terrace makes the kind of fluffy, flavorful bagel that New York ex-pats dream about after they’ve moved away. There’s nothing too cool or overly fussy about it, and that’s exactly what makes them special. The flavors here are pretty traditional and our favorite pairings are the blueberry with strawberry cream cheese, which tastes like eating a bag of Starburst candy for breakfast, and the pumpernickel with olive pimento cream cheese when we’re in a more savory mood.

These bagels may not taste remarkable at first, but that’s kind of the point. They’re supposed to blend in. Modern Bread and Bagel is entirely gluten free, and their baked goods do a fantastic job of simulating a full-on gluten experience. In order to fully appreciate the dense, chewy bagels with big pockets of air, it helps to understand how truly not-great some gluten-free options can be.