There’s no end of bagel stores across New York but for bialys, one name stands out: Kossar’s Bagels & Bialys. It’s been a fixture on the Lower East Side since 1936, first as Mirsky and Kossar’s Bakery, then, as of 1953, just Kossar’s. Now the company is branching into other neighborhoods, first with a store on the edge of Hudson Yards this week and on the Upper East Side in the fall. The bialy, named for the town of Bialystok, Poland, is not ring-shaped like a bagel, but round and chewy with more of an English muffin texture. They are made with a central depression typically filled with onions and, these days, you-name-it, like everything spices, olives and sun-dried tomatoes. The new store has no seating but also sells pletzels, a type of onion and poppy seed flatbread; bagels; and bagel and bialy sandwiches.
Kossar’s Bagels & Bialys, 536 West 30th Street (Eleventh Avenue), 212-901-3593, kossars.com.
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