SUCCESS!!! I found decent bagels at Publix. They are in the frozen breads section.

[japple]

They only had plain, blueberry, raisin-cinnamon and Everything, no whole wheat or multigrain. I chose Everything, and am eating one now, toasted, and with green olive cream cheese! My heart is full! Thanks for all of you who made helpful suggestions.

[Timeflyer]

1. Must sign off DU right now for a bagel run!

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Agree bagels are awful

Real NY bagels are water bagels. Today everything is whipped to a frenzy so they can sell you air and bake then in an oven conventionally. The food is deteriorated and adulterated. No wonder we're losing our minds.

[spinbaby]

3. I'll agree with that

It’s just bread in the shape of bagels now.

[Danascot]

4. It's a law of the universe

The quality of the bagel is inversely proportional to the distance from NYC/Long Island.

[spinbaby]

12. Decent bagels can be found elsewhere

Bruegger ‘s bagels are quite good—don’t know how widespread the chain is. Also, I quite liked Western Bagels in Van Nuys near LA.

[Lonestarblue]

5. Thanks for posting. I don't have a Publix near me, but I'll see if some other grocer carries this brand.

New York bagels are the best.

[Wonder Why]

6. Real bagels are boiled. We have a real bagel place in our town and it's NOT a chain store.

[japple]

9. There was a real bagel place near where I used to work when I lived in NC. You wouldn't

think of finding great bagels in Boone, NC, but they were wonderful and I have really missed them since I moved to GA. There was also a great bakery that made the best artisan breads and scones. I have never found any other scones as good as the ones they made. They made cranberry pecan, maple, blueberry, current, and a few seasonal and savory varieties. It was one of the many pluses of working in a college town.

[mdmc]

7. I shop at publix and miss good bagels

[Emile]

8. Happy Ending 😊

[mitch96]

10. I went to Pubix and picked up some Ray's bagels. Not to bad. Better than the round soft stuff they

pass for a bagel around here.
For me it's all about the crust. Like a good baguette it's all about the chewy crust
When I was putting them away I noticed they were made in Oceanside NY. My buddy lives there and I mentioned it to him... Small world.
He has been to the shop and it's a huge industrial operation that sells to the public also.
Knock three times and tell'em Moshe sent you 😜 Only by the dozen.
Not like your mom and pop bagel joint.
Oh btw they "NY water" is plain old Nassau county tap water. Ahh marketing...
m

[japple]

11. I found this earlier today and meant to put it here. Your post reminded me to.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/05/21/405190434/chew-on-this-the-science-of-great-nyc

According to popular mythology, the uniquely superb texture of the New York bagel has to do with New York City's water — specifically, its low concentrations of calcium and magnesium, which make it softer.
Then comes the key step to making what Coppedge calls a "true bagel" — boiling. Traditionally, Coppedge tells The Salt, the chilled dough rings are poached or boiled in a solution of water and malt barley for anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes. This pre-gelatinizes the starch in the dough, locking the liquid inside of it and expanding the interior. As the video puts it, it's like flash-frying a steak before grilling it to seal in the juices. The boiling also thickens the crust — Coppedge says it "is essential to produce a more 'chewy' bagel."

So why doesn't everyone boil their bagels before baking?

According to Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking, they used to. The traditional bagels that Eastern European immigrants introduced to New York in the early 20th century were always boiled, he writes. But this step gets skipped in the more modern baking method — which, McGee says, is faster and easier to automate. Instead, the shaped bagels are baked in a hot oven that is also injected with steam.