Bagel Talk, located at 368 Amsterdam Avenue between West 77th and 78th streets, was closed by the New York City Department of Health on Friday, October 24.
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ILTUWS first noticed the Health Department’s closure notice posted in Bagel Talk’s window over the weekend, even though the eatery’s grade was still listed as an “A” on the Health Department’s information portal. By this morning, the grade had been updated to “Closed by the Health Dept.” with a score of 76. To put that in perspective, scores between 0 and 13 receive an “A,” while scores from 14 to 27 earn a “B,” and scores of 28 or above receive a “C.”
Multiple critical and noncritical violations were logged by the Health Department. The critical violations listed are:
- Evidence of rats or live rats in the establishment’s food or non-food areas.
- Food, supplies, or equipment not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display, service or from customer’s refillable, reusable container. Condiments not in single-service containers or dispensed directly by the vendor.
- Cold TCS food item held above 41 °F; smoked or processed fish held above 38 °F; intact raw eggs held above 45 °F; or reduced oxygen packaged (ROP) TCS foods held above required temperatures except during active necessary preparation.
- Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated with (FRSA) flies or other nuisance pests in the establishment’s food and/or non-food areas. FRSA flies include house flies, blow flies, bottle flies, flesh flies, drain flies, Phorid flies, and fruit flies.
- Evidence of mice or live mice in the establishment’s food or non-food areas.
- Toilet facility not provided for employees or for patrons when required. Shared patron-employee toilet accessed through the kitchen, food prep or storage area, or utensil washing area.
The Non-Critical violations are as follows:
- Contract with a pest management professional not in place. Record of extermination activities not kept on premises.
- Establishment is not free of harborage or conditions conducive to rodents, insects or other pests.
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ILTUWS revisited Bagel Talk on Monday morning, October 28, and saw a chalkboard by the window that read, “Temp. Closed for Work.” A cleaning crew was inside.
ILTUWS reached out to Bagel Talk for comment but had not heard back at the time of publishing. We will update this story if we receive a response.
This is certainly sad news, as Bagel Talk earned a spot on our “Best Bagels on the Upper West Side 2024 Edition.” On Tuesday, October 22, Eater once again included Bagel Talk in their “Best Bagels in New York City” rankings.
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This health dept. finding is consistent with other things like no air conditioning for the poor employees in the summer. The owners must be cheapskates. I hope they get their act together — best bagels in the neigborhood, better than Zabars or Orwashers.
Bagel Talk isn’t one of the best bagels on the UWS by a long shot, no matter what ILTUWS says. All of these places are better:
Bagels & Co., Absolute Bagels, Kossar’s, Pop-Up Bagels, Zucker’s, Orwashers, Tal, Pick-a-Bagel, even Broad Nosh are better for starters…
Really? The rats, mice and flies didn’t put you off?
Broad Nosh is the best bagel on the Upper West Side, edging out Absolute (who no longer carry multi-grain or garlic).
The real question is: Are any of these places better than Kossar’s? Kossar’s is a relatively new arrival on UWS, (where Pier 72 Restaurant used to operate for decades), on corner of West End Avenue and 72nd Street. Originating on the LES, Kossar’s is famous for their plain or onion bialy, bagels (at least 6 varieties) + wrap sandwiches. They prepare everything from scratch (versus Starbuck’s pre-made egg sandwiches) 2-egg, meat and cheese of choice breakfast sandwiches on a toasted bagel or bialy — I think available all day — and at least a dozen cream cheese mixtures available by the pound or schmear. Not an owner, just a neighborhood fan from day one! Folks swear by their wrap sandwiches (lox, pastrami, scrambled eggs, et al.) as well.
It’s an article full of detail on vermin feces and dead bugs and possible listeria. You really felt like discussing an unrelated tasting menu of cream cheese mixtures in extensive detail?