Starship Bagel of Dallas won the Best Bagel award at this year’s New York BagelFest, a competition that brought bakeries from across the globe on Nov. 16 to Citi Field in Flushing, N.Y.
In addition to taking home the top prize in the festival’s blind-tasting category, the Texas bagel shop also earned wins and high praise in multiple subcategories, including Best New York Style Bagel and Best Showmanship, as well as placements in Most Creative and Schmear of the Year.
New York BagelFest 2025, sponsored by King Arthur Baking Company, drew over 2,000 attendees and 23 exhibitors as the festival emphasized its “global participation,” with competitors traveling from Madrid, Honolulu, Montreal, Seattle, Atlanta, New Orleans and other cities, in addition to New York’s own longstanding shops.
Sam Silverman, founder of BagelFest, said the event has evolved into an “international culinary landmark” where a win can “change the trajectory of a business overnight.”
For many attendees, the Dallas victory challenged long-held assumptions about New York’s place at the top of the bagel hierarchy.
“It’s impressive. I was just having this conversation,” Shawn Dixon, a first-time attendee from Astoria, N.Y., told JNS. “I think not a lot of bagel shops outside of New York get a lot of respect. I think New Yorkers are very picky about their bagels, me included, so it’s definitely impressive that they won.”
Dixon said he sampled seven or eight bagels throughout the day, noting that attendees could try quarter-sized pieces on small trays, many of which were preloaded with different spreads or featured customizable toppings.
Hector Molina-Casillas, another first-time festival attendee, told JNS that he was also “very surprised that a non-New York bagel won.”
“I thought New York bagels are the one and only, but I learned that there are other places other than New York doing bagels as well, so it was very educational and impressive in that sense,” said Molina-Casillas, who added that he tried six or seven different types of bagels.
Carly Johnson, a food content creator behind the Soho Foodie social media accounts, said that, while she has become accustomed to non-New York winners in recent years, the breadth of talent on display this year reinforced the festival’s growing international reach.
“I think BagelFest is very cool because there are so many bagels from around the world—I noticed one from Spain and one from Denmark, for example,” Johnson told JNS. “I think the first year I went, three years ago, when a non-New York bagel won, I was very surprised, but I’m now used to it.”
Johnson also praised Starship’s offerings, including its garam masala bagel.
“I thought it was delicious. I am a huge fan of tikka masala, so I thought it was an innovative take on bagels,” she told JNS.
She added that the festival’s tray system, which allowed attendees to carry multiple samples, made the tasting experience fun and flexible.
Beyond the judging, attendees described a lively atmosphere, from family programming to competitions.
“It was incredible. I never thought there were so many bagel enthusiasts,” Molina-Casillas told JNS, adding that the Bagel Rolling World Championship—in which participants attempted to roll as many bagels as possible in a minute—was “so impressive.”
“It was a total New York vibe,” he said. “The energy was very high, and people were very excited to speak with other people.”
Dixon said the event’s diverse vendor lineup was also a highlight.
“I liked that it was showcasing not only local bagels but ones from all over the country and even internationally,” Dixon said. “All kinds of different creative culinary art going on there.”
This year’s festival also featured an expanded kids’ section, all-day tastings, and an Industry Talks series with bakers, authors and food business leaders discussing craft, entrepreneurship and scaling.
In addition to Starship Bagel’s top finish, other major awards included Potchke Bagel of Knoxville, Tenn., which won Most Creative and Best Bialy; Fantzye Bagels of Kingston, N.Y., which placed in multiple categories; and Baltik’s Bagel of Richmond, Va., which won the People’s Choice Award. Montreal’s St-Viateur Bagel won Best International.
Molina-Casillas, who attended alone this year, told JNS he plans to bring more people to the festival next year, saying it’s “an event that you can enjoy even more when you go with loved ones and family members.”
