Tal Bagels

Ah Tal's, you and I go way back don't we? I remember being a young kid at grandma's house on 50th and first, and on a Sunday walking up to get a few bagels and bialys from you guys and thinking "man this place rules". It's still very much true, you make my favorite bagel in the city, and that's saying something in this town. Maybe its nostalgia? Maybe it's the cream cheese and lox? Either way, you still have it going on, don't change a single thing (even the nickel and diming over a bagel with butter vs cream cheese is ok by me, honest).

Tbh I was intrigued at the "best bagel in NYC" sign outside lol. Came by after picking up some Swedish candy at BonBon next door and was craving a good bagel

Service was quick and friendly - we got an everything bagel with scallion cream cheese and a hot pastrami.

Bagel was simple but great! Soft but still the right amount of crispy on the outside. Even the everything bagel was not too salty but balanced. Coming from someone who loves a lot of cream cheese, I really appreciate the generous amount of schmearrrr they gave.

The hot pastrami was great as well - one of the best my husband ever had, says he. In addition to being very filling with a generous amount of pastrami, it was moist and delicious.

Also their orange juice was great! lol

I have been to Tal Bagels countless times, and I am a fan. They do have good bagels and a positive assortment of drinks and desserts for the customer. The layout of the store is actually very nice and I like it. There are definitely some negatives, though.

They have gotten my order wrong countless times. Pretty much every single time that I say I don't want my bagel toasted, they toast it anyway. The assortment kind of grossed me out to, I do not want my strawberry cream cheese inches away from the fish guts and rotten onions! There is a language barrier between the staff and customer and there is always a wait when I am in there. It is tricky to find seating.

I also feel like they always either put way too much or too little cream cheese, there is never an in between. They do not go light on the Mayo!

I'm giving it 2 stars because the bagels themselves are the great. But I'll go back to H&H from now on.
First, the guys here can't ever, not once on any visit, keep two simple bagel orders in their heads. You have to always remind them, e.g., a sesame bagel with peanut butter and jelly and an everything bagel with lox spread. How hard is that?
Second, the service sucks in general as others have noted. Today the tall guy took my order then walked away to the back--to get a bagel? Nope. Who knows. But if he's not ready why ask what I want. Let the next guy do it. Bottom lines is that they're not just dim bulbs, they don't care about customers.
Third, for the prices they charge you're supposed to get a substantial product. And typically I've been satisfied. But the bagel my wife got today was so pathetic. I've had enough.

Girls working here are nice but slow and a little chatty with each other. My sandwich was generous with meat portion but not fresh, the bread, meat, and cheese was dry and they forgot the mayo. Too expensive for the quality. Won't go back, too many other choices.

Walked into place an order. Waited for the guys making food. No one acknowledged. Waited on the cashier line and they people making the food started taking orders from people who came in after me.

OMG fantastic!
Everything bagel with cream cheese was amazing, but the options are endless. The service was fast even thought it was busy, would 100% come back in the future.

There are several of these around the city. They are all related but they are not all the same. Best of the group? 88th & Lexington. Crunchy, fluffy and well seeded. East 86th Street runs close but too often the line is too long.

The bagels themselves were pretty good. But the people burning the bagels when they are supposed to be toasting them? It's a bit pricey for what they are. Especially when the staff are generally unhelpful. Clearly there were many first timers in the store who don't know where to stand or the sequence of things. Why not either post some signs or tell folks nicely? Instead, they chose to let people bumble around. There were customers but the staff were moving slowly anyways.

Here it is:
Coffee is self serve. Order your bagel before you get to the cashier to pay. There are some indoors and outdoor seats.

The food is great but the service is incredibly slow and unprofessional. Yesterday, customers waited in line for over 20 minutes for service. No one placed a large order. But the five people working behind the counter were more interested in making jokes and goofing off. They clearly didn't care. The person who took my very basic order for two bagels and cream cheese had to ask me 3 times what I ordered.

Save yourself lots of time and aggravation and walk north just a few blocks to the branch on Lexington and 88th Street. Staff there is always friendly, fast and considerate.

I would have contacted management directly but it's not clear how to do that on the website.

Stopped by here because I had heard great things about their bagel sandwiches. The services was a bit slow and disorganized and they weren't slammed. We ordered a bacon egg cheese bagel but they only had turkey bacon which I was excited about but it was burnt and not edible. Sucks because that's typically my favorite bagel order. I did try lox with scallion cream cheese for the first time and it was pretty good. The place is really cute inside and has fresh squeezed orange juice which I didn't get to try. They tend to be on the pricey side we spent $51 on 2 lox bagels and 1 bacon egg and cheese. I prefer other places in the city for the best bagels.