I've been a bialy eater my entire life, which at this point it getting to be a fairly long time. Bagels are fine, I like them, but a toasted bialy, yes I toast bialys, with lox, cream cheese, tomato and red onion is king in my book. Even without the lox its a damn good sandwich.

I have no problem freezing bialys, cut them in half soon as I get home, freeze 4-5 to a pack, perfect cruch/flavor after a spin in the toaster. I always, 99% of the time, go to the Touhy NYBB. If I want bagels I go to Kaufman's, love the corn rye bagels, adore Kaufman's corn rye bread. Plus I go to Kaufman's every Saint Paddy's day for green bagels, a 20-year tradition.

Yes, JB's Deli is fine, they were out of bialys last week, and the wait/disorganization can be annoying. But still, its a 'real' deli, which is by nature quirky, and the creamed herring, which Jazzfood turned me onto, is terrific. JB's cuts their pastrami too finely, it turns a little mushy, not my style. At least its not a salt bomb like the thin sliced mulch at AP Deli.


JB's Deli creamed herring.
click to enlarge


Bialys, count me a Fan!

FYI the Des Plaines outlet only bakes bagels -- any other breads are prepackaged from elsewhere.

I'm sure this is not Kosher, but I'm a Unitarian:
My favorite vendor mish mosh is a griddled NYBB bialy Reuben made with pastrami from Kaufman's. Option #2 is using a pumpernickel bagel from Kaufman's for a 50/50 corned beef and pastrami mixed Reuben.

For the uninitiated, a Reuben, with the combination of either corned beef or pastrami, and swiss cheese, is never kosher.

Meat and cheese never mix on a kosher dish.

rfleisch1 wrote:For the uninitiated, a Reuben, with the combination of either corned beef or pastrami, and swiss cheese, is never kosher.

Meat and cheese never mix on a kosher dish.

My friend who lives Kosher advised she had a plant-based burger with cheese as work around.

Regards,
CAthy2

Cathy2 wrote:

rfleisch1 wrote:For the uninitiated, a Reuben, with the combination of either corned beef or pastrami, and swiss cheese, is never kosher.

Meat and cheese never mix on a kosher dish.

My friend who lives Kosher advised she had a plant-based burger with cheese as work around.

Regards,
CAthy2

Or imitation cheese, but my daughter-in-law prefers real cheese, fake meat.

Picked up my typical NYNB order yesterday. Dozen onion bialys, half-dozen sesame bagel, two flats, two loafs, large cream cheese, Dr Browns Cel-Ray to drink in the car and half-pound nova.

Much to my dismay there was a sign on the door.
Due to staff shortage we will close between 1am and 6am.

Though I rarely go to NYBB at 4am it's reassuring knowing I was able to stop-in 24/7

NYBB Count me a fan!

New York Bagel & Bialy
4714 W. Touhy
Lincolnwood, IL

G Wiv wrote:Picked up my typical NYNB order yesterday. Dozen onion bialys, half-dozen sesame bagel, two flats, two loafs, large cream cheese, Dr Browns Cel-Ray to drink in the car and half-pound nova.

Much to my dismay there was a sign on the door.
Due to staff shortage we will close between 1am and 6am.

Though I rarely go to NYBB at 4am it's reassuring knowing I was able to stop-in 24/7

NYBB Count me a fan!

New York Bagel & Bialy
4714 W. Touhy
Lincolnwood, IL

Big bummer. Some of the saddest news I've read in a long time. I rarely go there at all anymore -- even less so between those hours -- but like you, it felt reassuring and comforting knowing that they were open 24/7. No more, I guess.

=R=

G Wiv wrote:Due to staff shortage we will close between 1am and 6am.

New York Bagel & Bialy
4714 W. Touhy
Lincolnwood, IL

sign on door last night said 11pm to 6am. tough times for bagel makers, good times for sign makers.

dudefella wrote:sign on door last night said 11pm to 6am. tough times for bagel makers, good times for sign makers.

I hope this is not foreshadowing of evil lurking just around the corner.

We, probably in the majority, would go in there in the middle of the night- to avoid the crowds, especially on a holiday where folks flock there. I, too, consider it a very very grim sign.

I’m still not over Nuevo León.

our local crisis is over, hours signage is gone and employees confirmed they're back to 24hrs. we should plan a 3am meetup to celebrate.

dudefella wrote:our local crisis is over, hours signage is gone and employees confirmed they're back to 24hrs. we should plan a 3am meetup to celebrate.

Excellent news. What a relief. Thanks, for the update.

=R=

dudefella wrote:our local crisis is over, hours signage is gone and employees confirmed they're back to 24hrs. we should plan a 3am meetup to celebrate.

Excellent idea!

Cathy2 wrote:

dudefella wrote:our local crisis is over, hours signage is gone and employees confirmed they're back to 24hrs. we should plan a 3am meetup to celebrate.

Excellent idea!

Not!

Y'all are crazy.

Although, I used to stop at NYB&B at about 4AM when I was making my daily trek from Mundelein to the produce market in Pilsen, so who am I to talk?

And, a little off-topic, but I seem to remember a 24-hour Korean place on Lawrence Ave. in the '80s/'90s at which I dined at once about 4AM, just to say I did it. It was dark, I was the only patron, and it was really creepy. Thought I was going to get jumped while eating my banchan.

The signage regarding the closure was up when I was there about 2-3 weeks ago. At the time, one of the employees stated that there had been a death in the family of one of the bakers, which accounted for the overnight closure. Given that explanation, I'd not expected the overnight closures to last more than a few days and was surprised by the news that the sign was still up so recently. Glad to hear that the sign has finally come down.

We've been going to NYBB for over 30 years, buying 2-3 doz bagels at a time every month or so-- first when we lived in Hyde Park and in more recent decades in Oak Park. In our younger days, it was not all that unusual for us to stop in after midnight, after we'd been out to a party on the Northshore.

Do you eat that many (or have that many mouths to feed), or do they freeze well? It's a hike for me, but if I could make actual use of a dozen bagels I'd make the trek every couple of weeks...

Most recent data points: Monday 4/3 1pm 10ppl in line, 2 foh staff, waited 10min, still 7ppl in line, left since I couldn't wait much longer. Today, 4/5 11:45am, 2 ppl in line, 2 foh staff, in and out in 3 mins. Egg bagels - delicious as ever.

Kid Charlemagne wrote:Do you eat that many (or have that many mouths to feed), or do they freeze well? It's a hike for me, but if I could make actual use of a dozen bagels I'd make the trek every couple of weeks...

We always have NYBandB bagels in the freezer. They do great. You should split them before freezing. We toast them in the toaster oven on the upper half of the oven so that the top can brown and the bottoms don't burn.

lougord99 wrote:We always have NYBandB bagels in the freezer. They do great. You should split them before freezing. We toast them in the toaster oven on the upper half of the oven so that the top can brown and the bottoms don't burn.

What Lou said.
We are almost never without split bialy and bagel in our freezer.

Kid Charlemagne wrote:Do you eat that many (or have that many mouths to feed), or do they freeze well? It's a hike for me, but if I could make actual use of a dozen bagels I'd make the trek every couple of weeks...

We eat that many. Some for breakfast, some as the base for lunch sandwiches (at home and more often brown-bagged), and snacks. They are popped in the freezer (sliced in half) as soon as we get them home.

Onion bialys are my go-to, 3 dozen at a time and frozen in bags of 6. Jalapeno cream cheese, and their nova truly is a step above. Almost pristine. I buy two 1/2 lb. packages & freeze one.

lougord99 wrote:We always have NYBandB bagels in the freezer. They do great. You should split them before freezing. We toast them in the toaster oven on the upper half of the oven so that the top can brown and the bottoms don't burn.

Well now I have a weekend trip to make!