Yiddish for "eat a bagel," this East Side mainstay has baked and boiled its own since 1976.
Scores of Big Apple eateries are evaporating amid the coronavirus crisis. So each week, Help Our Neighborhood Restaurants will highlight top neighborhood spots fighting to stay afloat while adhering to strict safety standards: the HONoR Roll. Thanks to Kyrie Irving and Beyond Meat, a New Yorker in need will get a plant-based burger whenever you order.
Nothing says “New York” like a bagel hand-rolled in the Big Apple—quickly becoming an endangered delicacy in the coronavirus era.
“My entire catering business is null and void,” says Melanie Frost, second-generation owner of Ess-A-Bagel. “I see so many of my peers out of business.”
Frost’s family is no stranger to adversity. When her uncle lost the lease on his Brooklyn doughnut shop in 1976—with three kids at home to feed—her aunt looked to the other side of the East River and founded Ess-A-Bagel (Yiddish for “eat a bagel”). Baked and boiled on the premises, its unusually plump bagels soon became a Manhattan mainstay (“They’re yooj,” she explains. “Chewy in the inside, crusty on the outside.”)
The shop’s downtown location proved insufficient to meet demand, and Frost opened a new spot on 51st Street in 1992, catering to an eclectic mix of midtown office workers, members of the United Nations’ diplomatic corps and neighborhood locals. Ess-A-Bagel’s legend grew beyond the five boroughs: Today, Frost delivers to all 50 states including Hawaii via overnight airmail.
Fans from Kelly Ripa to Goldie Hawn don’t just go for the baked goods: Ess-A-Bagel boasts 25 different spreads including avocado garlic, apple cinnamon and chocolate chip. “People come in and they’re like, ‘Oh my god, it looks like ice cream,’” she says. “It tastes like heaven.”
But in the era of quarantine, they’re not coming in, so Frost has reconfigured her business to focus on distancing-friendly pickup and delivery. She recently struck a deal with a particularly generous customer: For every bagel he purchases for healthcare workers, Ess-A-Bagel adds one for free and delivers them to emergency rooms around the city, hand-rolled and individually wrapped.
Ess-A-Bagel
Address: 831 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022 (between 50th & 51st streets)
Suggested Dishes: The Signature Sandwich (bagel with scallion cream cheese, nova, lettuce, tomato and capers)
Price Range: Bagels are $1.50, sandwiches up to $18
Phone Number: (212) 980-1010
Website: www.ess-a-bagel.com
Courtesy of Ess-A-Bagel
