Reboots rarely live up to the original, but the second coming of Absolute Bagels—the Upper West Side bagel shop that’s been around since the ’90s—is just as good as the original, which closed after failed health inspections in late 2024. It’s the same old shop with new management, a sort of new name, and a new skin: fake plants along one wall, shiny tiles, a basket of decorative rainbow bagels on a window counter, and—finally—a credit card reader. As fans of the cobwebby, cash-only charm of the original, we’d be more put off by the spruce-up if it weren’t for the fact that a lot of the faces behind the counter are familiar. They all seem thrilled to be back as they take orders, pour thai iced tea, and pull warm bagels from their baskets. Those bagels, still made fresh throughout the day, are unchanged. They’re still smaller and denser than a lot of the puffy, pillowy numbers around town, while remaining craggy, covered in small blisters, chewy, and a little sweet. If you’ve been coming here for years, expect a blissful flashback when you bite into the garlicky everything bagel with scallion cream cheese.