The 24 Best Restaurants On The Upper West Side

"If we had to pick one bagel to reign supreme, it would be the untoasted everything bagel with scallion cream cheese from Absolute Bagels. Tiny and round like a softball, each springy dough globe you’ll find here has a blistered bottom. The dough itself tastes malty and sweet, like it had a daydream years ago about being a dessert. Absolute Bagels also makes fantastic Thai iced tea. (The place was founded by Sam Thongkrieng, who moved from Bangkok to NYC in the ’80s and worked at Ess-A-Bagel for years)." - bryan kim, willa moore, neha talreja, hannah albertine, will hartman