It’s the kind of thing that might make lifelong New York City residents race to burn their MetroCards—or at least consider trading in their Timberlands for cowboy boots.
A bagel made in Dallas took home the top prize at BagelFest 2025. Hosted by “bagel ambassador” Sam Silverman’s company, BagelUp, the event bills itself as the world’s premier bagel celebration.
As Chris Sadeghi (@chrissadeghi) a bagel-wielding reporter for the WFAA television station in Dallas-Fort Worth, announced, “You won’t find it in the Big Apple; you’ll find it right here in Big D.”
Starship Bagel, in downtown Dallas—the one located right next to the big eyeball sculpture—took home the big prize. And everyone’s got an opinion.
Country-Wide Food Fight
Predictably, viewers of Sadeghi’s video defended NYC’s incomparable dining scene. But a few folks did ride hard for the Lone Star State. In fact, the top comment comes from LaggyMcstutters (@laggymcstutters), who wrote, “Ill take it a step further. Texas has the best food in the country.”
Despite awards and online support, Nick DiBari (@itslifeandlifeonly) isn’t convinced. “I was born and raised in New York City and I moved to Dallas 3 years ago. I have yet to find good pizza and bagels. I’ll try it but I am skeptical,” DiBari wrote.
“That’s great, but nyc has great bagels everywhere. Who’s going to be able to stop by this place when they’re driving from Lewisville and Plano? Could you imagine stopping by this place on the way to work in Dallas? It’s just not practical. I’ll check it out on the weekend when I go time,” groused Omar-L (@zapdonutt).
Saad S. Cheema offered another—more cynical, yet practical—take. “Have not heard anyone talk about it here in nyc. we also don’t do “best bagel” that’s for tourists. the best bagel, pizza, halal, chinese, etc is one closest to your apt. here in NY. They are all better than most places elsewhere,” they wrote.
And the final sticking point for many New Yorkers? Sandwich ingredients. “A place that doesn’t even sell a bacon, egg, and cheese [bagel sandwich], yeah right,” Quantum (@quantumremnant) pointed out.
A quick perusal of the menu suggests that while Starship Bagel offers a fermented jalapeño schmear, there’s no bacon, egg, and cheese bagel in sight.
What’s The Big Whoop About A Bagel?
In a TikTok video watched 346,800 times, Sadeghi gives the backstory. He says, “Starship Bagel […] went up there to New York. And took home the best prize for the best bagel in the country.”
The video starts out with the reporter standing in front of the award-winning bagel shop. Then it cuts to the obligatory food shot: racks and racks of bagels just waiting for a schmear.
“Come on New York,” Sadeghi says, taking a big bite out of his everything-ish-looking bagel. “Step your bagel game up.”
Starship Bagel’s Got Secrets?
According to Culture Map Dallas, this isn’t the first time Starship Bagel’s been recognized by the national bagel community. The eatery first won for “best bagel” in 2023. And then in 2024, it won for best schmear.
So what’s its secret?
Culture Map writes that according to Starship Bagel founder Oren Salomon, the team took a huge risk. They partially pre-cooked their bagels prior to traveling to the Big Apple.
Salomon explains, “We par-baked them, froze them, and brought them to New York on dry ice — then finished them off in an oven I purchased in New York and brought to the Citifield venue. We turned an ‘away game’ into home field advantage.”
As anyone who’s watched a competitive baking show knows, cooking away from your “home kitchen” can be a minefield of problems. From different equipment to difficult environments, there’s a ton of unpredictability in competitive baking.
In addition to par-baking the bagels—essentially partially baking them—the Starship Bagel team used two different ovens. “They first baked their bagels in a rotating deck oven to give the bagels a crisp bottom. After freezing, they did their second bake in a convection oven, which gave the bagels a nice crispy top,” reports Culture Map.
Crisp bottom, crisp top, with a chewy middle and nice schmear? You’ve got our attention, even if bacon, egg, and cheese versions aren’t on the menu.
BroBible reached out to StartShip Bagel via email and Chris Sadeghi via email and TikTok direct message. We’ll update this if they get back to us.
@chrissadeghi DALLAS BAGEL STUNS NYC: @starshipbagel in Downtown Dallas left New York reeling after taking top honors at the 2025 BagelFest. #Bagels @bagelfest @WFAA