Whether you're looking for a quick breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you can always rely on a good bagel to make you feel satisfied. But what makes a truly great bagel?
For starters, the crust should give a bit of a crunch, but the dough should be easy enough to bite through and chew.
There's also a certain ratio of toppings to bagel that makes the sandwich great. For example, how much cream cheese is too much? For me, if it starts to ooze, I would typically order half the amount on my next visit.
Also, if you can't take one bite out of it with all the layers being crunched, I'd remove a topping or two.
If you're craving a bagel in Canada, people typically say Montreal is the best place to get them, but I'm here to tell you that's not entirely true. Toronto is filled with bagel spots that not only serve Montreal-style bagels but may even taste better than our French-Canadian counterparts.
For those who don't know, Montreal-style bagels have a sweeter taste compared to New York-style bagels because they are boiled in honey and water. Also, they're smaller, thinner, and have a larger hole. But the most important part about a Montreal-style bagel is that they are always baked in a wood-fire oven.
Here's a list of seven restaurants where you can find some of the best bagels in Toronto — and it's proof that you don't need to drive to Montreal or New York to experience a truly great one.
Kettlemans Bagel
Price: 💸
Address: 33 Bathurst St., Toronto
Why You Need To Go: This bagel spot is owned by Craig Buckley, who was born and raised in Montreal. The first Kettlemans opened in Ottawa in the 90's and since then, it has kept its reputation for sharing authentically made bagels throughout Ontario.
They sell "hand-rolled Montréal bagels" and a whole bunch of unique spreads to choose from.
In 2022, Kettlemans Bagel opened its first downtown Toronto location and has been busy since then. It's open 24/7, so you can even get a freshly made poppyseed bagel with cream cheese at 3 a.m. after a night out in King West.
Kettlemans Bagel also serves other freshly baked goods like apple fritters, danishes, and Nanaimo bars.
What A Bagel
Price: 💸💸
Address: Various locations
Why You Need To Go: What A Bagel is a staple in downtown Toronto. Its loaded menu includes bagels, omelettes, sandwiches, french toast, and more, they've become one of Spadina Avenue's most popular brunch spots on the weekend.
But when you pull all of that apart, you'll find their core to be delicious, too.
"For three generations, we've been making bagels the only way we know how – from scratch, using the best natural ingredients, served fresh from our ovens to your hands!" they state on their website.
You can fill your bagel with more than just cream cheese and cold cuts. Instead, this spot has many breakfast bagel options ranging from Steak Breakfast Bagel to BELT Breakfast Bagel and Big New Yorker Breakfast Bagel.
Bagels On Fire
Price: 💸
Address: Various locations
Why You Need To Go: If you live downtown Toronto and want to grab a bagel from this spot on the weekend, you better arrive early, because you can guarantee to find a line out the door.
I ordered from Bagels On Fire recently and had my Uber Eats cancelled because the items I wanted were sold out!
Bagels On Fire specializes in bagels that taste amazing and have a perfect crunch. They have all your traditional kinds of bagels like Everything, Onion, Whole Wheat, Pumpernickel, and more but also have special ones like Salted Rosemary-Wheat Vegan and Coconut.
NU Bügel
Price: 💸
Address: 240 Augusta Ave, Toronto
Why You Need To Go: Located in Toronto's Kensington Market, NU Bügel prides itself on producing wood fire oven bagels with love.
One of their most loved bagels is the Lox and Cream Cheese Sandwich, which has slices of smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, red onions, and lemon caper Aioli.
Not only are the bagels Montreal-style, but some of the offerings also have a Venezuelan twist to them.
This bagel joint also offers gluten-free options, which is excellent for anyone with dietary restrictions but looking for that carb-filled breakfast meal.
St Urbain Bagel Bakery
Price: 💸
Address: 93 Front St E., Toronto
Why You Need To Go: You can find this bagel spot inside Toronto's infamous St. Lawrence Market, and it brings the Montreal authentic flavours to the middle of the 6ix.
The family-owned restaurant plans to keep the hundred-year-old tradition going by spreading the European and Montreal ideas of a bagel.
They offer various bagels with dairy-based and non-dairy spreads like baba ganoush, lox pate, and hummus to cater to a wider audience.
Next time you're food shopping, make sure to grab a bagel from this OG spot on your way out.
The Bagel House
Price: 💸
Address: Various Locations
Why You Need To Go: This bagel spot has been giving Torontonians Montreal-style bagels since 1999. They learned how to master the bagel by working at various spots in Montreal that specialize in bagels.
The Bagel House offers regular, special, and twister bagels that are made with water, flour, sugar, eggs, and oil — no shortening.
The bagels are baked in wood ovens that are fuelled by maple.
They have five locations in Toronto and are all open 24/7, so whenever you're craving a delicious bagel, make sure to get your fix from The Bagel House.
Bagel Time
Price: 💸
Address: 584 Danforth Ave, Toronto
Why You Need To Go: Imran Khan, the owner of Bagel Time alongside his family, worked at Fairmount Bakery in Montreal where he learned how to master the craft of old Montreal-style bagels.
Now, he brought this craft to Toronto, where he serves authentic bagels made fresh daily in a wood oven.
They also have gluten-free options for those looking for an alternative and serve sandwiches on their daily menu.
