The recent opening of Space City Bagels — and the drama over the swift departure of Brazos Bagels' founder Zac Wilson from the space — has put a spotlight on Houston’s bagel offerings. By any measure, now is the best time to be a bagel-loving Houstonian.
Before diving in to the current bagel moment, let's look back. From the '90s until relatively recently (roughly the last five years), Houston bagel enthusiasts had three choices for a high quality, well-made product.
They are:
- Bagel Shop Bakery: Formerly New York Bagels, this shop in the Meyerland area is a staple of Houston’s Jewish community.
- Hot Bagel Shop: Located on Shepherd Drive, it’s been feeding inner looper bagels, sandwiches, and bagel kolaches since 1984.
- Bagel Express: Sugar Land residents count on this bakery and cafe for bagels, breakfast items, and the signature coffee cake.
In the past few years, they’ve been joined by two relative newcomers — Jersey Bagels in Cypress and Bagel Bob’s in the Memorial/Energy Corridor area. Most recently, Brazos Bagel became a darling of Facebook foodie groups by selling hand-rolled bagels at various markets and coffee shops. Opened this month, Space City Bagels expedited the bagel making process by working with the Bagel Shop Bakery to supply it with bagels that use a modified version of BSB's recipe.
With the opening of Space City Bagels and Brazos Bagels establishing a presence at coffee shops and markets, Houstonians might have as many as seven bagel makers worth getting excited about.
To sort through the available options, I sat down with Ben Berg, founder of Berg Hospitality Group, for a taste test. Never shy about sharing an opinion, the native New Yorker knows what qualities he prefers in a bagel.
“I like the really hard crust on the outside that gets nice and soft on the inside. And a good chew, that real crack when you bite into it,” Berg says.
With those criteria in mind, we met at Annabelle Cafe to taste through various bagels, as well as egg sandwiches and a classic bagel and lox from each of the five established shops. Separately, CultureMap visited both Brazos Bagel at Henderson & Kane, the modern cafe and store in the Old Sixth Ward, and Space City Bagels in the Heights, to evaluate their bagels.
In the interest of fairness, let’s consider the results alphabetically.
Bagel Bob’s
The Memorial-area bakery’s biggest strengths are its texture and flavor. The bagels have a pleasantly chewy interior and noticeable malt tanginess. Berg also rated it as serving the best egg sandwich, calling it “beautifully greasy.”
Bagel Express
The Sugar Land staple brings a serious reputation, as it supplies bagels to Jewish deli staple Kenny & Ziggy’s. The bagel has an almost roasted sheen from baking and the best contrast between its crunchy exterior and chewy interior, although its flavor is relatively mild. Bagel Express also makes a well-balanced lox sandwich with a bright, fresh tomato.
Bagel Shop Bakery
The Meyerland favorite has good color with a little malt sweetness, but has a relatively small contrast between the interior and exterior. Its companion deli makes a solid lox sandwich that comes with its crispy home fries.
Brazos Bagel
The social media sensation shows its pop-up roots with an appealing, handmade quality. A Brazos bagel has a generous layer of toppings that adhere well to its crust. At the same time, the bagels tend to be dense, with little interior/exterior contrast and a flavor that’s more bread than bagel.
Hot Bagel Shop
The always-bustling River Oaks-area bakery’s strengths include its mild malt flavor and good color, but it lacks contrast between the interior and exterior. Its bagel and lox sandwich comes with a thick layer of cream cheese that can overwhelm the fish’s flavor.
We would also be remiss not to acknowledge the recent passing of Hot Bagel Shop owner Mark Stephen Wicks. Our condolences to his friends, family, and colleagues.
Jersey Bagels
The Cypress bakery’s everything bagel emerged as the consensus favorite bite of the day. Credit for the win goes to its appealing color and noticeable contrast between the interior and exterior. Of course, some of its more unusual cream cheese flavors surprised Berg.
“Birthday cake cream cheese wouldn’t stand up in New York; that would get you laughed out,” he said with a chuckle.
Space City Bagels
Outsourcing bagel production to Bagel Shop Bakery ensures the Heights shop has a steady supply that won’t sell out. As for the bagels themselves, they have a noticeable malt sweetness and good interior/exterior contrast. The presence of locally roasted Little Dreamer Coffee adds to the bakery's appeal.
Photo by Eric Sandler
Hot Bagel Shop is a River Oaks staple.
