Dollar Grub: East Village

9th Street Bakery

Burned out on sugary sweets, I instead look to the “water bagel.”

“It’s an old-fashioned style,” explains the sweatshirt-wearing counterman. “The bagels are boiled, then baked. That’s why it’s called the water bagel.”

Curious, I order a sesame bagel, toasted and buttered—just one little dollar.