On North Franklin Street in Watkins Glen, just a short walk from the entrance to the famous gorge, The Blackberry Inn Kitchen has earned a 2025 FLX Finest Silver for Best Bagels that signals something important about the southern Finger Lakes breakfast scene. Watkins Glen has no shortage of places to eat, particularly during racing season and the summer tourist rush, but finding a genuinely good bagel in a town dominated by diners and pub food has historically been a challenge. The Blackberry Inn Kitchen is filling that gap.

The kitchen operates out of a bed-and-breakfast setting, which gives it a different energy than a typical bagel shop. There is a homemade quality to everything that comes out of the kitchen, a sense that the food is being prepared with the care of someone cooking for houseguests rather than cranking through a production line. The bagels have the kind of chewy density and slight crust that bagel purists look for, and the fact that locals voted them into the FLX Finest rankings over more established competitors says a lot about the quality.

For visitors staying in or near Watkins Glen, The Blackberry Inn Kitchen offers a compelling breakfast alternative before a morning hike through the gorge or a day on the Seneca Lake wine trail. The North Franklin Street location puts you right in the heart of the village, walking distance from the state park entrance. In a town where most breakfast options lean toward the greasy-spoon end of the spectrum, a proper bagel from a kitchen that takes the craft seriously is a welcome addition.