Tribeca's Bagel Wars: Which Shop Fits Which Morning

"That's a lotta carbs!" A reader known only as G. sent that line to Tribeca Citizen in September. He had counted ahead and expected that once Ess-a-Bagel arrives, every block of Church Street from Park Place to Duane will have a bagel outlet: "Dunkin, Ess, Dunkin, Nala's, Dunkin again, Modern." He also expected that all that competition would bring down the price of a bagel with a schmear, and then admitted it hasn't.

The price staying put makes sense once you compare the shops. Tribeca's new bagel counters are not trying to win the same order. Each opened with its own hours, seating and menu, so each one suits a different kind of morning.

Nine Months, Most of the List Delivered

In January, Tribeca Citizen ran a roundup of carb shops "slated to open soonish." It included Tompkins Square Bagels for Independence Plaza, PopUp Bagels for Greenwich and Reade, Modern Bread & Bagel for Church and Duane, Apollo Bagels for the former Kings space on Bogardus Plaza, and a second Nala's on Church and Chambers. At that point, Modern was still "waiting on some city inspections" and had no date.

By mid-October, most of that list is open:

• PopUp Bagels was serving at 315 Greenwich Street, at Reade, by February 5. It opened two days earlier than planned.
• Apollo Bagels was operating at 121 Reade Street, at Hudson on Bogardus Plaza, by July 2.
• Modern Bread & Bagel opened at 130 Duane Street, at Church, in the second week of September.
• Nala's closed its original Reade Street shop and reopened at Church and Chambers.

The longtime shops are still in place. Zucker's has been on Chambers since its 2023 move. Brooklyn Bread is on Greenwich and Murray, Tribeca Bagels is on Canal, Black Seed is at Hudson Eats in Brookfield Place, and Pick-A-Bagel is still serving. The first thing that separates all of these shops is the hour they open.

The Clock Sorts Them First

Zucker's at 143 Chambers Street opens earliest. The company lists 6:30 a.m. every day, with weekday closing at 5:30 p.m. and weekend closing at 4 p.m. Its menu is the deli standard of hand-rolled bagels, Nova, house-made schmears and smoked fish.

Half an hour later, Apollo and PopUp open within a few blocks of each other. Both start at 7 a.m. daily. Modern Bread & Bagel opens at 8 a.m. and closes at 3 p.m. on its official schedule, so it is the latest to open and the earliest to close of the newer shops.

These are the newsroom's numbers and the shops' own. Both have changed before. Tribeca Citizen's Friedmans visit this fall found posted hours that didn't match the door, so a quick check before a first visit is a good idea.

Then the Chair

After opening time, seating is the next real difference, and Apollo and PopUp sit at opposite ends of it.

PopUp has no seating and no counters, which Tribeca Citizen called "a grab-and-go situation." It sells combos only. You can get three or six bagels with one 8-ounce schmear, or a dozen with two, and the schmear flavors change weekly. In February, three bagels and one schmear cost $13. The bagel flavors are plain, poppy, sesame, salt and everything. You can preorder, and a brunch pack for 18 with whitefish salad or smoked salmon was listed at $130. Founder Adam Goldberg started the business in Westport, Connecticut, in 2020 as a pandemic project, and Tribeca became its 25th location.

Apollo, two blocks over on Bogardus Plaza, is set up for people who want to sit. In its July report, Tribeca Citizen described roomy seating with booths, six prepared food options and house-made ginger lemonade. The bagels are sourdough, crisp outside and airy inside, and come in a short list: plain, sesame, and an everything bagel made without salt. Co-founder Joey Scalabrino runs the brand with partners Kevin Rezvani, Jose Jimenez and Melvin Gonzalez. The July report put the chain at nine locations.

These two shops are less than a ten-minute walk apart and open at the same hour, but they serve different situations. One suits a quick pickup before work. The other suits a booth for a slow Saturday.

Then the Diet

Modern Bread & Bagel is the only gluten-free option in this group. Getting it open took longer than the others; it was already on the January list, still waiting on inspections. The shop is inside the former Duane Street Hotel, which now operates as Duane Hotel. Tribeca Citizen noted that the counter isn't really separate from the lobby and "sort of spills into it." There are a few seats at the southern end.

The menu goes well beyond bagels. It includes sandwiches, open-faced melts, a separate list of egg sandwiches, salads, spreads, smoked fish and signature lattes, plus packaged gluten-free cake mixes to take home. Tribeca Citizen's writer said their household had been making "pilgrimages" to Modern's 14th Street shop for the gluten-free bagels. For that household, the trip is now a short walk to Church and Duane.

Nala's has its own niche because it sells ice cream alongside bagels. The original Reade Street shop opened in 2024. The business has since moved to Church and Chambers. Its current site lists egg sandwiches, bagels with plain or scallion cream cheese, chicken salad sandwiches, dine-in, takeout and catering. Catering puts Nala's in a different category from the shops built around a single order at the counter.

Where the Two Pending Shops Would Land

Two announced shops have not opened yet. Since the open shops already cover early hours, seating, takeout and gluten-free, the question for each newcomer is which gap is still left.

Ess-a-Bagel has "planted a stake on Murray between Broadway and Church," Tribeca Citizen reported on September 17. No street number or opening date has been given. The 50-year-old family business was founded by Florence and Gene Wilpon and Aaron Wenzelberg, who came from an Austrian baking family. Its Financial District shop, just south of Zuccotti Park, gives a sense of the format. It has a large list of specialty sandwiches and no real seating, just places to lean in the windows. If Murray Street follows the same model, it would compete on sandwiches more than on seating.

Tompkins Square Bagels was first announced in August 2025 for the Independence Plaza retail space at Greenwich and Franklin. Owner Christopher Pugliese's company opened on Avenue A in 2011 and runs four other locations in the city. In January it was hoping for spring. The September roundup still listed it as coming. Of the shops named in the January roundup, it is the one that hasn't opened. It would also be the only one on the far west side of Tribeca's northern blocks, where the Independence Plaza retail strip has been busy this fall. Friedmans and its sister restaurant Suram both opened at 378 Greenwich, at North Moore.

A Morning-by-Morning Map

• Before 7 a.m.: Zucker's on Chambers is the only shop on this list confirmed open at 6:30.
• On foot, or feeding a table at home: PopUp at Greenwich and Reade. Preorder a combo and take it with you; there is nowhere to sit.
• A booth and some time: Apollo on Bogardus Plaza, with sourdough bagels and the ginger lemonade.
• Gluten-free: Modern Bread & Bagel at Church and Duane, between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.
• A crowd order: Nala's lists catering, and Zucker's sells smoked fish by the deli standard.
• Downtown errands: Black Seed at Hudson Eats in Brookfield Place, or Brooklyn Bread at Greenwich and Murray.

As of mid-October, Ess-a-Bagel on Murray Street and Tompkins Square Bagels at Greenwich and Franklin are the two announced shops still waiting to open.

At Après Global, we follow Tribeca's storefronts as closely as its buildings, from Bogardus Plaza to the Independence Plaza retail strip. When you're ready to talk about a home within walking distance of your morning routine, Request a Private Consultation.