Forkelo ranking · Updated October 2026
8 lox bagels across New York City, ranked on what people say about the dish itself — never the restaurant's overall rating.
Russ & Daughters · Lower East Side, Manhattan
28 dish-specific mentions · 82% positive · 2 source types · menu verified October 2026
Silky, paper-thin nova sliced to order makes this the benchmark lox bagel. Some find the bagel dense, the portion thin for the price, or the fish salty.
Zabar's · Upper West Side, Manhattan
13 dish-specific mentions · 85% positive · 2 source types · menu verified October 2026
A monster, shareable sandwich stuffed with tender, mildly salty salmon. Velvety fish and generous portions win praise.
Russ & Daughters Cafe · Lower East Side, Manhattan
13 dish-specific mentions · 92% positive · 1 source type · menu verified October 2026
Fresh, hand-sliced lox in a sit-down setting that many call the best they have had. One diner found the pastrami-cured portion stingy.
Barney Greengrass · Upper West Side, Manhattan
13 dish-specific mentions · 85% positive · 1 source type · menu verified October 2026
Diners call the melt-in-your-mouth nova the best in the city and worth the steep price. A few find it on the salty side.
Best Bagel & Coffee · Midtown (Garment District), Manhattan
20 dish-specific mentions · 80% positive · 1 source type · menu verified October 2026
Famous for piling on the most salmon anyone has seen on one bagel. A few got thin, sinewy or merely okay fish.
Leon's Bagels · Greenwich Village, Manhattan
13 dish-specific mentions · 77% positive · 1 source type · menu verified October 2026
Buttery, generous lox with fresh cucumber on a chewy bagel. Some call it good but not life-changing, or thick-cut.
Apollo Bagels · East Village, Manhattan
26 dish-specific mentions · 62% positive · 2 source types · menu verified October 2026
Silky salmon on a crackly, chewy everything bagel wins big praise. Critics call it overhyped, light on fish or buried in dill and capers.
Murray's Bagels · Greenwich Village, Manhattan
8 dish-specific mentions · 75% positive · 1 source type · menu verified October 2026
A stacked, well-seasoned classic with silky nova. Some wish for more salmon, and one got dry lox.
Every score is built from evidence about the specific dish: how often locals recommend it, how strongly, how recently, and whether independent sources agree. A restaurant's overall star rating is never converted into a dish score.
Quality and confidence are reported separately. A dish two people loved can score high, but it is marked limited data until more evidence backs it up. The whole calculation — every constant, and three dishes worked through line by line — is written out on the methodology page.
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