Borough Vegetarian

Behold - The Bagel Hole Bagel!

I love bagels.  All kinds of bagels.  Grocery store bagels, frozen bagels, bagels that are functionally thick bread.  Well, I don’t like sweet bagels.  But all savory bagels are winners in my book.

As such, it’s a huge problem to live in New York, where bagels are not only plentiful, but decent-to-excellent bagels also abound.  Ever since I moved to New York, I have been on a bagel expedition throughout the boroughs.

The great thing is that I haven’t yet exhausted all of the “good” bagel places that you read/hear about AND I have already found very tasty bagels from Utopia Bagels in eastern Queens to Terrace Bagels in central Brooklyn.

My favorite bagel place to date is indisputably the Bagel Hole in Park Slope (I’m sorry my other bagel friends).  The Bagel Hole bagel is shockingly good - such that I would regularly also buy the bags of 6 day-old bagels for my freezer when I’d pop in for fresh bagels during a weekend (granted, I did say I will eat ANY bagel, but these day-old ones are still SO good). 

The Bagel Hole bagel is great because it is decently sized (i.e., not insanely huge), has a crisp/firm exterior, and the interior is chewy.  The Bagel Hole bagel is also great because these firm no-toasters churn out fresh bagels throughout the day, and when you get a fresh bagel (ask for what has just been baked), the cream cheese will slightly melt inside leading to that much more of an amazing bagel experience.

Gosh, I miss living within a mile of the Bagel Hole.

The Bagel Hole

400 7th Avenue (btwn. 12th and 13th Streets)

Park Slope, Brooklyn

Easily accessible via the F/G stop at 7th Avenue

I Love Pizza - and Am So Lucky to Live Near a Great Neighborhood Pizza Place, Luigi’s in Brooklyn

As I’ve described in posts past, good pizza can be shockingly hard to find in NYC.  Although pizza places dot almost every commercial strip in the city, you’re more likely to find completely sub-standard pizza than actually good, you-want-to-go-back-anytime pizza restaurants.  

That’s even more reason why I feel so lucky to live relatively near Luigi’s Pizza in Sunset Park/South Slope/Park Slope, Brooklyn.  Luigi’s pizzas are consistently well made, no matter which type you try - regular, fresh mozzarella, square, etc.  Their square/Sicilian slices in particular have a wonderfully flavored dough, and their fresh mozzarella slices feature house-made basil sauce, which is a fantastic touch as well.  (And as someone allergic to nuts, thankfully the basil sauce is not a nut-based pesto!).  

I would highly recommend a trip to Luigi’s if you find yourself anywhere near the Park Slope, South Slope, Sunset Park, Gowanus, or Windsor Terrace neighborhoods.  Or frankly anywhere in Brooklyn and you don’t want to hazard a potential multi-hour wait at DiFara or Totonno’s.  

Luigi's Pizza

686 5th Avenue (btwn. 20th and 21st Street)

South Slope/Sunset Park/Park Slope, Brooklyn

Easily accessible from the D/N/R at 25th Street, or further walk (15 - 20 min.) from the 7th Avenue/9th Street F/G stop.