Ask any New York transplant in South Florida what they miss most and you'll usually hear one of three answers: real pizza, real deli, or a real bagel. The first two have had pretty good Florida solutions for years. The bagel question is the harder one, because the bagel is the food that most depends on how it's made.
What Makes a Bagel a Real New York Bagel?
A bagel is just flour, water, yeast, salt and a sweetener. Five ingredients. So what separates a great one from a sad supermarket round? Three things, all about technique:
- Hand-rolled. Machines don't shape a bagel the way a baker's hand does. The crumb structure is different.
- Kettle-boiled. Before it bakes, a real bagel goes for a quick swim in boiling water (sometimes with malt or honey). This gelatinizes the starches on the outside and creates that chewy, glossy crust.
- Baked in a deck oven. Direct, intense heat from below, usually on a wood board flipped onto stone, finishes the job.
Why So Many Florida Bagels Disappoint
South Florida has dozens of places that sell something called a bagel. Most are bready rounds with a hole. Soft, fluffy, no crust to speak of, and gone stale by lunch. The reason is simple: real bagel-making is slow, labor-intensive, and uses equipment most restaurants don't have. So most places skip the kettle. They use commercial steamers, or worse, they bake straight from a frozen wholesale supplier.
You can taste the difference. A real bagel has structure, you can pull it apart and see the dense, glossy interior. It holds up to cream cheese without dissolving. It's chewy enough that you actually chew it.
Where to Get a Real Bagel in Fort Lauderdale
We're obviously biased, but at Goldberg's Delicatessen we hand-roll every bagel and kettle-boil every batch. Our recipe traces back four generations to Brooklyn in 1949, Artie Goldberg learned it from the original bagel union, and his son Marc carried it to Long Island. We bring that same recipe to Oakland Park.
If you've moved to Fort Lauderdale from New York or New Jersey and you've been missing it, come try the everything bagel with Nova lox. Or call us and order ahead. We open at 7 AM, seven days a week.
"By far the best bagels I've had in Florida, these compare to good NY bagels.", Sarah B. Google Review
Try It Yourself
If you want to taste what a real NY bagel is supposed to be, the easiest way is to order ahead. Toast online ordering opens at 7 AM and most pickups are ready in 15 minutes.