Chicago's the Next Big Bagel City — Complete With Giardiniera Cream Cheese

Food&Wine / by Leah Koenig / April 6, 2026

Like many Chicago-area natives of a certain era (the 1990s), most of the bagels I encountered as a kid were doughy, ring-shaped behemoths formed in the automated kitchens of national bagel chains. The baking scene in Chicago today tells an entirely different story. Chi-town might not have the bagel credentials of New York City or Montreal, but in recent years it has emerged as a formidable bagel town in its own right. A new generation of bakers is turning out hand-rolled, freshly boiled and baked bagels with snappy crusts and chewy insides worthy of their cream cheese and lox. Several of them are also giving the Jewish “roll with a hole” a Chicago variation, incorporating flavors that highlight the city’s rich cultural diversity. Here are today’s can’t-miss bagel spots in Chicago. Read More Here.