Starship Bagel is back on the national stage, and Dallas is cheering them on. The award-winning bagel shop will compete this fall in New York BagelFest, the annual celebration of everything bagel, where bakers and brands from across the globe showcase their best creations.
Starting Nov. 16, 2025, Starship Bagel will be one of 23 purveyors participating in the event, which attracts thousands of bagel lovers. Attendees can expect not only a wide variety of bagels and bagel sandwiches but also speakers, games, demonstrations and plenty of photo ops. The event culminates in the contests for Best Bagel, Best Schmear and the People’s Choice award.
From San Francisco To North Texas
Starship Bagel began in Oren Salomon’s home kitchen, making bagels for friends before taking the leap into a storefront. A former Levine Academy student and a UC Berkeley finance graduate, Salomon apprenticed at San Francisco’s top-ranked Boichik Bagels to learn artisanal techniques and high-volume operations. In 2021, he opened the first Starship location in Lewisville, sharing space with his father’s restaurant.
Word spread quickly, and today Starship has three North Texas locations, national awards like “Best Bagel — outside NYC” and “Schmear of the Year” and a reputation for inventive sandwiches like the Supernova Lox and Millennium Falcon. The newest shop is in Salomon’s childhood neighborhood in Far North Dallas, with Lewisville baking daily and supplying the other locations, putting North Texas firmly on the national bagel map.
But what makes these bagels so good? Salomon previously told Local Profile that Starship’s secret lies in its bold approach to flavors and toppings.
“Typically, what most bagel shops will do is, like, very, very gingerly sprinkle seasonings on top. We fully dip on both sides, you get full coverage,” he explained. “Everyone has noted that there’s so many seeds and so much flavor on the toppings. No other bagel shop in town does that.”
A Track Record Of Excellence
Starship Bagel has already made its mark at BagelFest. This will be the shop’s third consecutive year competing, following 2023 and 2024, when it earned awards including Best Bagel and Rising Star in 2023, and Best Schmear in 2024.
The bagel shop was also named a James Beard semi-finalist for the Outstanding Bakery Award in April. The award honors a baker of breads, pastries or desserts who exemplifies excellence in food, atmosphere, hospitality and operations.
As Starship Bagel heads back to New York, Dallas locals can take pride in knowing their city’s bagel scene is not just participating — it’s competing at the highest level, still proving it’s the best.
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