Jk Bakery

This place has been my family's go to for decades. I've had bagels all over the city and you just can't find a better one. Freshly baked, soft and chewy while being still being crisp on the outside... the stuff bagel dreams are made of. I remember going with my dad as a little kid and now that I don't live in NYC anymore, it's always one of my first stops when I'm home. The owner is lovely and always asks about my family - this place is a real neighborhood gem!

I came on a weekday afternoon around 3PM and the place was pretty bare bones, just a few bagels sitting on their self. I asked for a sesame bagel with scallion cream cheese. To my surprise, the bagel tasted fresh and had a great consistency, mildly crispy outside and chewy interior. One of the better bagels I’ve had in years! The cream cheese came from a tub of Philadelphia cream cheese container, nothing special but the smear was generous. They don’t toast bagels. Service was ok.

My son recently moved in down the street from JK Bakery and said "Dad. You have to try this place. They have the best bagels". Now, I grew up around Tuckahoe, Yonkers and NYC. I've had a lot of great bagels in my life. I never thought.. "you know where great bagels are made? Flushing." But it turns out that is exactly where they're made. I live in upstate NY now - near Albany - and it's tough to find a good bagel here. But the ones from JK in Flushing... Hearty but not super crisp and overdone on the crust. Chewy on the inside. Not really big, and not small. And the flavors - you know a good bagel when you don't have to toast it. And these definitely didn't have to be toasted. I asked for a dozen. Six sesame and six onion. You get three more said the lady behind the counter. Cinnamon raisin I said. Oh, those are the best, replied the lady. Water bagels, she said. Look back there - those are the ones we're prepping today for tomorrow. Fresh every day. I threw in a few extra for you. I got home and found 17 bagels in my bag. I think I had three of them the first hour after I got home. You don't go here for sandwiches or lox or whitefish salad. They don't have any of that. You go here for great bagels with great flavor. Anyway, if you can't tell - I highly recommend this place. I'll definitely be going back there many times.

This is the best plain bagel you will ever eat, bar none. Yes, the shop is small and there is no seating....no, there aren't 25 different varieties of fancy cream cheeses and salted fish spreads...no, you can't get bagel sandwiches here or get your bagel toasted. HOWEVER, the bagels are perfection. Crusty on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside, deeply, satisfyingly chewy...and when you are lucky enough to come in when the bagels are fresh out of the oven, and that Philadelphia cream cheese gets melty and oozes out just a little when you bite down? It will be the best plain bagel you will have ever tasted. Period.

This is the best bagel place, by far, in the State of NY, period! Crispy outside & soft and chewy inside, and it also tastes good after put it in a freeze & warm it up! Be advised that, though, you should be ready to have cash, as this place is cash-only, and the lady working there might be bit curt and not too friendly, especially if you hit that place in busy hours (morning around 7-9).