Were the rats the secret sauce?

One thing I was extremely excited about when returning from break was trying the new Absolute Bagels. As long-time Morningside Heights residents and Columbia students know, the beloved store closed over a year ago after health code violations were reported.

After this devastating loss, I spent time in vain trying to find a piping hot, fresh, and cheap bagel near campus to no avail. Finally, the word was on the street that Absolute Bagels was reopening under new ownership. With a soft opening on December 29, a line of over 100 people stretched around the block. As the reviews came in, many said that it tasted just like the old Absolute.

This is all to say that I was extremely excited to try the new, but not really new, Absolute Bagels. My friend and I went on a weekday around 10 am, and ordered a toasted plain bagel with blueberry cream cheese, toasted plain bagel with walnut raisin, and an iced coffee.

There was not a long line, and the ordering experience was as efficient as I remembered. We waited a short time, and then brought our bagels just two blocks back to my room. The bagel itself was just as I remembered, with a chewy texture and heavy but welcome spread of cream cheese. The iced coffee was excellent.

I mention the distance above, because when we ate the bagels just a few short minutes after getting them, they were barely warm. Perhaps this was an anomaly. But we also had other qualms—the New Absolute is no longer cash-only, and the interior was completely gutted to make way for a confusing combination of fake leaves on one wall with a Parisian tile on the floor.

I will be back, hopefully with a warmer bagel in hand.

New Absolute Bagels via Author