Lox, cream cheese, some onion, and tomato but only when they're awesome.

Can't get 'em here, honestly. I get occasional deliveries from NY. We do have some serious lox, oddly enough, so that's something.

Yeah, for some reason I can tolerate a lousy tomato on a bagel but I can't otherwise.

I am a bialy person. Cannot really find good ones in VT. As for bagels, they have become too large. Don't eat them as a sandwich, unless they have nova, etc.

Have you tried Montreal bagels?

Everything bagel with olive cream cheese and tomato slices. Perfection!

3) Yes, they are wonderful. And not so doughy and ridiculously big as the modern day NY bagels have become.

Cinnamon and raisin, with either cream cheese or grape jelly. Or just a plain bagel. I'm not wild about seeds and onions are always too strong for me. Occasionally I'll make a sandwich with a bagel, yunnow bacon-egg-cheese or roast beef or turkey 'n' cheese. Or Spam >;)

As fresh as possible, untoasted, with real butter, each half eaten separately, not like a butter/bagel sandwich. Onion is my favorite. I love me a good bagel - gotta savor it. Now I'm kinda drooling a little.

[5] Yeah - they're getting too big. Silly big. They serve mini bagels here at work - and while they are not really good bagels - I like the size. I should watch my carbs more than I do (blood sugar), so those honking sized bagels look good but are kinda scary for me.

Everything with a healthy schmear - wonderful interplay of the warm onion and garlic flavor with the cool cream cheese.

Or a poppy with too much butter. Split and toasted so the butter melts in.

[1] [3] The supply problem is severe here in NC, where they think Panera and Bruegger's are good bagels. I found my salvation here:

http://johndlee.hubpages.com/hub/Homemade_bagel_recipe_Make_great_nadrolled_water_bagels__its_as_easy_as_baking_a_loaf_of_bread

Making them at home is time-consuming, but incredibly rewarding. Not anything you'd do on a workday, but perfect for that rainy Sunday when you find yourself awake before anyone else.

Sesame seed, or plain, or whole wheat, sometimes toasted, sometimes not. I like (light) creme cheese if the bagel is more doughy, butter if its less doughy.

Turkey or roast beef or chicken salad, with mayo and tomato, is good on a bagel if the bagel is good. Ditto a "breakfast sandwich" (egg with one or more of cheese/ham/bacon/canadian bacon).

Growing up as an upstater, I've never had an actual "NYC" bagel, so take this with a grain of salt if needed. There's a wonderful bagel place on the North Shore here in Massachusetts*, called Bagel World, hands down the best bagels I've ever had. Light, fluffy, and so delicious, you can eat them plain. Carb worries aside, you can even eat two in one sitting and not feel stuffed.

If a bagel from the City tastes better, my gosh, it must truly be heaven there.

*[1] It'd be a long drive for you, RI - probably an hour and a half to their Reading location - but they are worth it.

Alex, MILE END!!!!!

[1] - I agree!!!Everything bagel, cream cheese, lox, tomato & onion (I had to toast the bagel too)
I loved Sundays when I was a kid. Most Sundays were bagels for breakfast days. The local bagel shop in a strip mall in North Massapequa where we bought them from had amazing bagels (still do) and they made a killing! - I'm talking line out the door, halfway down the mall business. And for those buying "break-the-Yom-Kippur-fast" it was even crazier. Well worth the wait though!

10) Yeah, Mile End is sweet. But that is a trek from the Bronx, you know?

plain bagel, butter. the lighter the bagel, the better : )

of course.

Marble rye fresh out of the oven, or toasted with a little butter, and, if I'm really going for it, a chocolate milk. Breakfast of champee-oans.
Peanut butter and strawberry jam on a toasted bagel is good livin' , too with a cup of coffee.
Sliced chicken breast, lettuce, and mustard on a toasted bagel won't kill you at all either. If that's my sandwich, I go with a seltzer.

You are making this NY guy miss his bagels. Thanks for the recipe, Bronx.