FAQ
What is your baking process?
We bake our bagels daily. We use a mother dough as a starter for every batch and allow each batch to ferment for 24 hours (6x longer than the traditional rest time).
After they are shaped, our bagels are boiled in NYC water and honey (a trick from our Montreal roots).
Once they’re ready for the oven, bagels are baked in a hearth oven which requires our team members to patiently watch and rotate bagels often until they are perfectly golden brown.
What kind of flour do you use?
We exclusively use King Arthur Baking Sir Lancelot hi-gluten flour, which helps our bagels get their extra voluminous and chewy texture plus it is never bromated or bleached.
Do you offer gluten-free bagels?
Yes, we serve Original Sunshine gluten-free plain and everything bagels.
Where are your bagels baked?
Our bagels are baked fresh multiple times a day in four of our stores: Williamsburg, Nolita, Bushwick, and Long Island City.
Are your bagels seed oil free?
All bagels served in-store and shipped from our website are seed oil free and made with olive oil. Our frozen line is currently transitioning from canola oil to olive oil.
How can I order a large amount of bagels?
The more the merrier! You can order catering for gatherings of all sizes.
Why are your bagels smaller?
We believe great bagels aren’t measured by size. While ours may be smaller, they’re packed with exceptional flavor, thanks to high-quality ingredients and a unique baking process that creates a better-tasting, better-for-you bagel.
What cream cheese do you use?
We make all custom cream cheese flavors in-house by mixing Gina Marie Natural Cream Cheese with the highest quality ingredients like scallions, vegetables, and hot honey. We chose Gina Marie because their cream cheese is made with just three ingredients: salt, milk, and cream sourced from small family dairy farms.
How do you source your toppings?
We strive to always use the highest quality and best tasting ingredients in all our sandwiches including: fresh vegetables, housemade almond butter, Catsmo Gold Label smoked salmon, Schaller & Weber turkey, Old World Provisions pastrami, and Fabrique Delices chicken sausage to name a few.
What coffee do you serve?
We serve Black Seed Wake and Bake, our proprietary blend made from 100% arabica beans ethically sourced from farm to cup. Our team perfected the blend through a year of research and development.
What eggs do you use?
We use Vital Farms pasture-raised eggs in all of our egg sandwiches. We also don’t scramble our eggs, we fry them fresh for every order.
Are your bagels vegan?
Since we boil our bagels in honey, they technically are not vegan. If you are vegan and eat bee products, you are in the clear. We offer Tofu and Tofu Scallion vegan cream cheese.
Do you make rainbow bagels?
No, we do not carry any colorful bagels because we do not use any artificial ingredients including food dyes, flavors, or stabilizers.
Do you have an app?
Yes, you can download it from the Apple App store or Google Play store. Earn loyalty points on each purchase and redeem for rewards. Our app has the best prices compared to other third-party ordering apps for pick-up and delivery.
Do you have a line of frozen bagels?
Yes we do, you can find them locally using our store locator. No stores near you? We also ship nationwide straight from our shops.
What are your sustainability practices?
Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do. We partner with City Harvest and Rethink Food to ensure unsold bagels help feed our community. We also give our bagel scraps a second life by transforming them into bagel chips, cookies, beer, and spirits. Every sandwich we make is part of our commitment to reducing waste and creating a more sustainable food system. Learn more about our sustainability initiatives.
Do you offer your bagels wholesale?
Yes, please contact wholesale@blackseedbagels.com if you’re interested in more information.