Newly Open Vic’s Bagel Bar Is Like The Cold Stone Creamery Of Bagel Shops

Vic's Bagel Bar

I just grabbed breakfast from the Dag Hammarskjold farmers market this morning (on 47th and 2nd) when I passed by the newly opened Vic’s Bagel Bar (on 3rd Ave. btw. 36+37th). I love bagels, and can’t walk past a “Grand Opening” banner without wondering what I’m missing, so I snuck into the Pinkberry’ish looking space to grab a menu. It turns out they will freshly smash strawberries or olives or scallions, etc. into cream cheese right in front of you! (Cold Stone creamery anybody?) I’ll be heading back later to try their signatures, like the $6.50 (eek.) “Backyard BBQ bagel” which includes corn, cheddar, BBQ sauce, and red onion in cream cheese on whatever bagel you want. I”m pretty sure Zach would have hated this flavored cream cheese crap (he’s a bagel purist), but if it tastes awesome then I say long live Vic’s!

Check out the menu of mix-in monstrosities, after the jump.

Club Med $6.95
Roasted red pepper, olive, zaatar and fresh basil (recommended: hummus on whole wheat everything)

Backyard BBQ $6.50
Corn, cheddar, BBQ sauce and red onion (recommended: cream cheese on poppy)

Tokyo Tel Aviv Express $7.50
Lox, wasabi, pinch of scallion and edamame (recommended: cream cheese on plain)

Vermonter $6.25
Kosher bacon bits, maple syrup and cinnamon (recommended: cream cheese on egg)

Garden Delight $6.25
Carrots, green peppers and scallions (recommended: cream cheese on sesame)

Tutti Frutti $6.50
Strawberries, raspberries and blueberries (recommended: cream cheese on cinnamon sugar)

The Smashed Potato $6.25
Potato chips, kosher bacon bits and scallions (recommended: cream cheese on everything)

The Dutchess $6.50
Capers, sundried tomatoes and touch of pesto (recommended: cream cheese on salt)

PBJ $5.75
Peanut butter and jelly swirl with bananas (recommended: strawberry jelly on cinnamon bagel)

The Traditionalist $9.50
Cream cheese, sliced lox, sliced tomato and sliced onion

Early adopters, let us know what you think.

Vic’s Bagel Bar, 544 3rd Avenue (btw. 36+37th), 212-213-3900

26 Comments

  • My local bagel place smashes olives into my cream cheese for me! eh-oooo!

  • Fancy places like tend to make me believe that product that’s really important here (the bagel), SUCKS!

  • Wow. Just… wow. (Although there is a small part of me that would want to try that smashed potato craziness.)

    prices might kill this place. unlike ice cream, I don’t think people are falling all over themselves to make their own crazy cream cheese concoctions… so why would they pay and extra $3-4 for the privilege.

  • The Traditionalist 9.50
    Cream cheese, sliced lox, sliced tomato and sliced onion

    9.50 for cream cheese and lox?? fuck that!

  • Fresh ingredients in their cream cheese? Okay. But do they sing and flip the scoops onto the bagel? If I am going to pay an extra money for service, I want that service to come with some pizazz.

  • I give this place a month with those prices.

    • You never know… if Kolache Mama and Danku can survive, anything is possible!

      What’s that? Gone? Both of them? Oh… nevermind.

    • User has not uploaded an avatar

      Keep in mind it’s Murray Hill too. In this neighborhood branding is as important as quality of food, and it’ll often help overcome high prices. Their only real competition in the area is David’s bagels, and as much as I love their bagels, the service there is horrible. I could see this place surviving.

  • kolache also sucked and they chose the worst space possible

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    kosher bacon bits? what is that?

  • $6.50 bagel and no meat? No thanks! The concept isn’t clever enough for them to survive.

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    I live a block away from this place, I would like to know who sourced their crack-cocaine, because +$6 for a bagel is utter insanity. Daniel’s Bagels is half a block away, is incredibly popular and the bagel w/ cream cheese runs something like $2.50.

    That being said, I’ll check it out Friday morning and report back to ML (can’t do it tomorrow morning, it’s not-grossly-expense-bagel-Thursday at my office).

  • before you know it, this place is going to be closing for re-training.

  • When I saw above that they had whole wheat everything bagels, I had to stop in. It was $2.72 for a bagel w/cream cheese…very reasonable…

  • *whole wheat everything

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    Vic’s actually has an entire menu, for those of you ONLY reading “midtown lunch.” Refer to menu pages: http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/vics-bagel-bar/menu.

    You don’t HAVE to get the $6.oo+ “specials” they offer, it’s an option. And a great one, I think.

    Aren’t New Yorkers always looking for something more? Here’s your answer.

    And don’t act like $9.50 is a lot for the Traditionalist (cream cheese, lox, tomato and onion) – That same bagel combo costs over $10 at Ess-a-Bagel. Sliced lox, cream cheese PLUS tomato and onion is ALWAYS a ridiculous price in NYC.

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    So I decided to check this place out early Sunday morning before I had to go to work. Already not so happy to be working the entire weekend shift you better believe I was risking my sanity trying this new place, considering I also live 2 minutes away from Ess-A-Bagel. Anyyyyways, I decided to splurge, and got the backyard bbq mix on a sesame seed bagel. The bagel was good, nothing too special. Good size, but could have been toasted a little more, which I saw them do for someone else when asked, but I didn’t have time for that. The cream cheese was interesting. It was tasty, and they give give you an insane amount!!! It was seriously squirting out of the sides of the bagel as I bit into it, and I scraped off enough to dress a whole ‘nother bagel! But some people enjoy extreme amounts of cream cheese, so I guess that’s fine, and expected. I also purchased an iced coffee, and when I went to pay I was told there was a $7 minimum! Really, in this day and age? I can expect it with some small convenience stores or restaurants, but I didn’t really think that was necessary. So I had to buy a bottle of soda that I really didn’t care for to meet the minimum. Overall I would give it a B.

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    Walked out before trying the bagel. Saw a tall goofy looking fella working behind the counter with his pants way down past his ass, fully revealing his red shorts. While waiting for a few minutes to be served, another person on line seemed annoyed as well and walked out. I decided to follow her, knowing that I can get a pretty good bagel somewhere else with respectable service.

    I dont plan on visiting Vics again.

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