Just Bagels: A Bronx original with a whole lot of heart
Nestled in Hunts Point is a bagel company, Just Bagels, with over 30 years of history bringing a savory taste to the world boiled and baked in the Bronx.
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If you’re looking for someone who lives and breathes bagels, meet Cliff Nordquist — a man who believes bagels are the happiest food in the world and has spent more than three decades proving it.
Since 1992, Cliff has been shaping, boiling, and baking authentic New York bagels right in the Bronx. What started as a tiny 1,500‑square‑foot storefront in Pelham Bay has grown into a 50,000‑square‑foot operation in Hunts Point with more than 200 dedicated employees working around the clock.
Today, Just Bagels ships fresh and frozen bagels to all 50 states and 14 countries, producing nearly 400,000 bagels every single day.
But even with that scale, Cliff insists they still make bagels the way a neighborhood shop does — just on a bigger level. It all begins with quality ingredients, aged dough, and the magic of New York water. The dough rests for 10 to 12 hours in a chilled room to develop the signature crust, chew, and shine that defines a true Bronx bagel. Then comes the essential step: boiling. Because if it’s not boiled, it’s not a real bagel.
From there, the bagels are baked to perfection and shipped fresh throughout the Tri‑State area or frozen for nationwide and international delivery. And nothing beats tasting one straight off the line — crispy on the outside, soft and chewy inside, pulling apart just the way a proper bagel should.
Sesame, everything, plain — Cliff has a favorite, but he’ll let you decide for yourself.
Every bag, every box proudly reads "Made in da Bronx" — a reminder of where it all began and why these bagels taste like home.
