Gluten-Free Bagels Exist Even In So-Called ‘Bagel Desert’

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY – Absolute excepted, some consider the state of the Upper West Side’s bagels a “shanda,” going so far as to characterize the neighborhood as a “bagel desert.”

For gluten-free food hounds, however, the neighborhood is nothing short of a miracle, with at least three purveyors offering bagels made, somehow, without any gluten whatsoever, according to a report in Tasting Table.

In fact, the gluten-free bagels at Broad Nosh Bagels – at 2350 Broadway near West 86th Street – “really [feel] like a completely normal bagel.” Both fluffy and crunchy (how is it possible?), Broad Nosh is said to stand with the best in the city, insofar as its gluten-free bagels are concerned, and if you live on the Upper West Side, there's a good chance that 86th and Broadway is right around the corner.

Meanwhile, Modern Bread & Bagel – only a few blocks away at 472 Columbus Avenue near West 83rd Street – is a fully gluten-free bakery. Bagels at Modern are praised for their texture – crispy and chewy – so much so that they’re “almost exactly like a regular bagel.” However, the size isn’t quite right and the bagels are a bit “flat.” Does that matter if the texture is as described? You’ll have to decide for yourselves, West Siders.

Finally, although Zucker's Bagels & Smoked Fish – at 273 Columbus Avenue near West 73rd Street – serves a fine bagel that contains gluten, its gluten-free option is “completely unpleasant,” according to Tasting Table.

“It was flat, had zero shine to the exterior (while every other bagel at Zucker's has the telltale shiny crust), and it looked completely dry,” the reviewer notes. “As I took my first bite, I was taken aback by the texture. At first, I noticed that it was a bit airy. After a bigger bite, I felt like I was actually chewing on a piece of a sponge.”

A spongy-bagel? Now that's a shanda.