Alejandro R.
Yelp
Has the same energy and most similar flavor to a NYC bagel shop that I've had in Houston so far! Line on a Saturday morning was out the door but the line moved pretty quickly. Seating is a bit competitive and cramped, but turnover is pretty fast and I feel like it adds to the energy. In addition to the bagels, they've got some good looking pastries including enormous black and white cookies and fluffy cheesecake. Looked like they also had freshly squeezed lemonades and fruit juices which looked good. Bon Orzo, the owner, was in the middle of the action behind the counte coordinating everything and handing out a few orders at the tables while we were there. Seeing a framed newspaper listing of his bagel shop in NYC made me feel like this was going to the a legit spot, andi wasn't disappointed.
Full disclosure, I'm a bit of a bagel snob and have around 3-4 bagels each time I'm in NYC (around 2X per year). We got a lox sandwhich with sesame bagel and scallion cream cheese, and a sesame bagel with plain cream cheese. Sesame bagel itself was the highlight and had a good textured chew/bite to it with some fluffiness in the center, similar to a NYC bagel, though slightly drier and less "stretchy" (ifykyk). Cream cheese had good flavor and felt fresh, but felt more buttery than creamy and fluffy which is what I prefer, and it felt like it diluted the flavor a little bit (like 1/2 intensity of flavor?). Salmon was great, and especially at a price point of $12 with a good portion (compared to $20+ in NYC), I can complain here though I would say it doesn't have as much depth and flavor. Even so, It's definitely the closest I've had to a NYC bagel (Russ and daughters, Essa bagel) in Houston so far so I will be coming back for more.