Zaro’s Bakery

Stopped by this morning before work for breakfast. Ordered a toasted everything bagel and specifically said LOW FAT CREAM CHEESE. Waited some time and got to work; bagel was barely toasted and it came with butter… Super disappointed especially a bagel from here ran me $ 2.95. Most likely not going to come back because they messed up a simple bagel order and charge a premium because of their location. I’ll walk down the street to Dunkin.

I don’t know why I do this to myself. I am always running late when I have to take the dreaded NJ Transit to visit my bf. So I will usually grab a cheesecake from here and a bagel toasted with cream cheese. The cheesecake is decent but the bagel is super hard. Did they toast it too much? Not sure but my palette always hurts after. I tell myself I shouldn’t come back but then I will get hungry again and will probably buy another bagel from here :(
I have gone to the Zaros in Grand central — no hard bagels there.

On the recommendation of a friend, we picked up a raisin challah for our Christmas morning Praline French Toast Casserole. I was extremely disappointed with the bread. It was not sufficiently eggy and it contained barely a soupçon of raisins. A double-​egg challah riddled with raisins – the challah of my childhood – is what we had sought. Next year, we are returning to the 2^nd Avenue Deli for our Christmas challah. And no, that is not an oxymoron.

This is a relatively nice and clean place to eat/​drink and relax while waiting for your train. They have beer, salads, sandwiches, cookies, bagels, fruit, greek yogurt, chips, coffee, etc.

Good bagels, bad cream cheese, overpriced. But the real issue is the rude customer service. I’ve been yelled at in the past for ordering an egg and cheese bagel in the wrong line. This visit (after I verified that I was in the correct line for lox), I listed all the other toppings I wanted, but forgot to say the type of bagel. The woman behind the counter gives me a look and goes, «Sooooo???» -«So?» -«I need to know what kind of bagel you want.» And believe it or not this was a grown woman in about her 30s, not a teenager. I’ve been to Zaros many times over the last 4 years, and this kind of thing happens way too often. I give up on this place.

It was so hard to choose one sandwich when i was here! The pace of Penn Station is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. But my 5 year old son and I each found something we liked and were able to find a seat inside the bakery. We didn’t have room for dessert and that’s a bummer because everything looked great.
Be prepared for some chaos when you are here. Its hard to tell who is helping you, where to go. There are two counters (sandwich and dessert/​coffee). It is a little overwhelming if you aren’t used to the hustle and bustle of New York (which this laid back New Englander wasn’t) but I was pleasantly surprised the sandwich was great! Definitely a go to option if I head here again.

I bought a quick cup of coffee here. It was OK… no better, no worse. I wanted to leave a tip as I always do. I mentioned to the gal at the cash register I didn’t see the tip jar. She told me the workers were not allowed to accept tips.

This is one of the most efficient places I’ve ever been. My turkey and cheese croissant was toasted and delicious in the blink of an eye. Same goes for my iced coffee, which was not toasted ;)

This is probably the least efficient Zaro’s Bakeries I’ve been to. I understand the morning rush may be more difficult to deal with, but with 6 people on staff to take your order and 3 cashiers open to process your payment, your bagel should not be prepared and packed for you without the cream cheese you asked for. The coffee is a little lacking and the bagels are good, but the service will make the quality of your morning experience there less-​than-​desired.

Got a quick couple of iced coffees here on the way back to NJ from Penn Station. The deserts and pastries looked divine, but we didn’t have time to enjoy them.
Service was a bit slow and confusing. There were three or four POS, and no one really guided us to where we should have been to order. Once we did, the cashier literally yelled across the bakery to have our coffees made.
My husband hated his coffee, but mine was alright. Nothing out of this world. I’d go back to try some of the pastries!

To be honest, the first time I tried Zaros in Penn Station, I was expecting something more like supermarket deli on tasteless bread.
So not the case. The meat in the sandwiches is outstanding and the portions are generous. They understand the need to get your sandwich and sprint, so your order is handled quickly and accurately.
I always stop here to get a sandwich for my trip home to DC whether riding Amtrak or the Vamoose bus.

Inside the Penn Station is a nice looking bakery with tables and chairs. Their bakery items looks great and tasty. The other side sells sandwiches and wraps. Not many options were open at 6am and passing through Zaros and looking at their baked goods gave us the confidence to give it a try.
Two croissant sandwiches, one ham egg and cheese and the other turkey and Swiss. We told our cashier Rohine that we got a ham croissant and he charged us $ 6.99 when it should of been the breakfast croissant for $ 4.50 then when we looked into it we were smashed in the face with the worst customer service.
Both sandwiches were toasted but crushed and flat, not very tasty and not worth $ 12 with a side kick of bad attitude.
Might consider to start your day somewhere else, especially too that their coffee tastes like medicine.

Of course we wake up late and have to head to Penn Station without a stop at my most favorite of bagel places, so we grabbed a bite at Zaro’s as a way to feed the hunger beast before the ride to New Haven.
Staff is super friendly and helpful, even though I’m sure they only deal with harried travelers and tourists all day. That was appreciated.
The bagels were way better than I expected – actually pretty decent and worth the couple bucks. As always, I got lox and onions on mine, though it was sadly missing the capers. I was a little annoyed that they charge extra for a couple slices of tomato on the bagel, so I skipped it. The lox was okay, not sure I would get it again, I’d rather just stick to the basics. The hubs was happy to see that, unlike Bagel Express, they do not add those heart healthy oats to his everything bagel.
They have a nice selection of chips and drinks as well, and a bakery inside where you can get fresh bread and sandwiches if you’re looking for something a little more substantial than a bagel.

This is a difficult review for me because I am very conflicted about Zaro’s. As far as bakeries go, it is pretty good, especially if you’re in a rush to catch a train and need something to bring home to mom and dad. Most notably, their chocolate babaks have become a favorite within my family.
However, I tried one of their wraps for the first time this evening. They look (and sound) delicious, sitting so prim and neatly wrapped behind their glass case. I mean, what doesn’t sound appetizing about ‘Michael’s Delight: Light chicken salad with apples and cranberries’? I don’t know who Michael is, but he should get out of the sandwich business because this wrap was disgusting. This was anything but delightful — the chicken was rubbery and the mayo (?)(or some mayo imposter) was gummy. Despite being ravenous on my way home, I couldn’t get passed my two bites (a second bite just to ensure I wasn’t delusional) and threw the remainder of the wrap out. For $ 9.00, had I not been in a rush to get home, I contemplated getting off my train to complain.
Moral of the story: stick to Zaro’s baked goods.

We wanted to grab a quick breakfast on our way to Philly. This place was packed with people waiting in lines for their turns. Somehow we also managed to place a swift order of sesame bagel, Onion roll and a cappuccino. Everything was just ok, nothing great to brag about!

THIS PLACE RUINED MY MORNING
A friend had warned me about the stingy cream cheese but I need to give places a chance on my own…
I ordered a heavy toasted everything bagel with scallion crème cheese
Strike 1 — no scallion crème cheese on a Monday morning… really…
Strike 2 — barely toasted
Strike 3 — the regular crème cheese you did use… you put literally NOTHING on… what are you going to run out of that too… better to run out then skimp on everyone paying $ 2.75 for a damn bagel/​cream cheese !
It’s so bad I took a picture … too bad I cannot post it on here so people can see how I am NOT exaggerating at all!
Monday suck enough I will most likely not come back — there are so many other places I can try before I get a lousy bagel again.

I’ll be honest, Penn Station is one of my least favorite train stations. Think about the competition: Union Station in DC, 30^th Street in Philly, Grand Central, even New Haven train station (OK I’m biased since I grew up there, but seriously, it’s a very nice station, at least architecturally). Compared to these, Penn Station has no character or charm.
Ah, but what it does have is Zaro’s, a place to get top-​notch bagels, delicious pre-​made sandwiches, and huge cookies and pastries. I’d have to be sprinting to catch a train departing in two minutes for me not to stop here and pick up a snack. Nothing tastes stale or mass produced, it’s all as good as what you’d get at a bakery that isn’t parked in a train station. The only minor issue I have is that the seating area is crammed with tables and chairs, making it difficult for travelers with large luggage, especially wheeled suitcases, to navigate.
Trust me on this, there is no better option for a quick bite in Penn Station than Zaro’s.

Great breakfast choices with a big bread selection from different types of rolls, to bialys, to bagels.
Breakfast comes out in less than 5 minutes.
Prices are pretty decent. Bacon/​2 eggs/​cheese on artisan bread is about $ 4 – 5
Lox special for $ 8 was a bit disappointing though. They are VERY light on cream cheese and i got two thin slices of lox. If you like lox sandwiches, find a deli.

Picked up a bagel before boarding the train. I got the wheat everything bagel with nova lox, tomato, onion, and lettuce. I asked to have each half wrapped individually so I can eat one half now and one on the train. Everything was done as requested and pleasantly. The guy who made my bagel was friendly and funny. The girl who rung me up was nice– we chatted while I waited for my bagel. The bagel itself was fresh and delicious. It wasn’t overly stuffed so eating it on a train is doable.
It is a tough call whether to have a slice of pizza or a bagel before boarding the train. I usually let the time of day help me decide. If going bagel, stop here!

I pass by often. There are actually two Zaro’s in Penn Station. They need to run promos or shake up the time continuum somehow, otherwise inertia will keep brushing most of the people by.
Someone I knew had a St Patrick’s day cupcake from there and it turned his tongue green. I love looking at the colorful cakes but maybe it’s best to stick with the less coloring.
I’ve only had a handful of things there, but the quality is pretty good.