Vic's Bagel Bar

The best part about living in a new neighborhood is getting to explore the new neighborhood.  On Saturday afternoon when I was bored and couldn't find anyone to play with I walked out my front door and just wandered down 3rd Avenue.  Suddenly, I found myself 30 blocks south in the East Village.  I then turned around and walked all the way back up 2nd Avenue.  After 60 blocks I got in a little exercise and saw what my new hood has to offer.

As wonderful as that was, I did my walk before lunchtime which means I didn't get to sample the food options.  If you know me, you know I think the food scene is the most important quality of a neighborhood so I decided to start this week with a bagel from Vic's Bagel Bar across the street.  Vic's is a nouveau bagel place that uses the Cold Stone method of mix-ins with the cream cheese.  Warning: this is not your typical New York Jewish bagel.  The mix-ins are diverse and include fruit, nuts, veggies, pesto, wasabi, potato chips, and sprinkles.

A couple other things set Vic's apart: unlike most down-and-dirty bagel places who have vats of coffee (which, don't get me wrong, I love) they serve Stumptown, my favorite.  They also have beer pong tournaments at night where they serve pizza bagels.  I haven't checked that out yet, but it doesn't sound bad and good for them for capitalizing on the fratty Murray Hill crowd.

I ordered cream cheese mixed with chopped lox, cucumber, and green peppers. I was hoping to get some dill mixed in there, but they were all out.  It's probably good they were short on dill because my bagel had already reached the staggering price of nearly $7.  Sure, my cream cheese tasted great and I got enough of it for two to three bagels, but that's super expensive.  I think I'll go back for Stumptown when I want a treat of a coffee but I'll have to get my bagels at one of the two old-school bagel places that happen to be next door.