Best Bagels

At the New York State Fair this past August, the Bruegger's bagel chain sponsored the baking of the world's largest bagel. The 868-pound megabagel, which measured six feet in diameter and twenty inches thick, required a small crane to hoist it out of its custom-built oven. The mountain of carbs beat the previous record (held by rival Lender's Bagels) by 154 pounds, but there's no way it supercedes our fave local institution, the Bagel Factory. Lest you labor under the misconception that all bagels are soft, pillowy mounds of bread, we urge you to compare your chain-bought bagel to a Bagel Factory bagel. First thing you notice is how much smaller and chewier the Bagel Factory bagel is -- just like a real New York-style bagel should be. The Bagel Factory boils its bagels, then bakes them -- rather than merely baking them (the inferior way). You can choose from a variety of toppings and flavors, but leave some of the poppyseed bagels for us.