Back in college (California State University, Fresno), I would occasionally visit the Uncle Harry’s New York Bagelry & Coffeehouse.
But it was the “Traditional Lox Sandwich” that made me a regular visitor to the establishment.
Uncle Harry’s New York Bagelry & Coffeehouse is the legacy of Harry, a man who came from the old country and would eventually make New York his home.
A hardworking immigrant, he would eventually become known as the “Walnut King”.
He was a man who demanded that the sesame seeds came from Sri Lanka, blueberries were from Maine, poppy seeds were from Australia and that chopped onions were fresh.
And while many students would walk across the street to get coffee and a bagel, for me, a visit to Uncle Harry’s New York Bagelry was simply about “The Traditional Lox Sandwich”!
And it’s no doubt one of the most delicious lox sandwiches I have tried in the U.S.
All over the country, one will find delicious lox sandwiches, may it be Russ & Daughters in NYC, Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco, Lox of Bagels in Honolulu, Lox, Stock & Bagel in Greensboro, North Carolina and other locations around the country.
But for me, it was that first taste of a lox sandwich that made me a repeat customer to Uncle Harry’s New York Bagelry… but I moved to the Silicon Valley right after college and since then, which was nearly 15 years ago, I haven’t visited Uncle Harry’s New York Bagelry & Coffeehouse until today.
I was surprised to find out that there were five locations in the Fresno area but the one I wanted to visit was the one in River Park shopping area, which became my second home after printing the latest edition of Asian Pacific Review.
After the long hours of working on older PC’s, with the old ZIP disc/drives in hand and printing at the Kinko’s location, I would often visit Uncle Harry’s New York Bagelry after the initial print.
I didn’t recall that much of a variety but obviously, I was surprised to see that they have incorporated Betty’s Sandwiches (Betty was Harry’s wife and would make sandwiches for him before he left to work) to the location but also have a wide variety of bagels.
So, I went ahead and made my order and had “The Traditional Lox Sandwich” which costs around $7.95 and features sliced Nova lox, cream cheese, red onions and tomatoes on a pesto with provolone bagel. I requested for the addition of capers to the sandwich.
Suffice to say, the memories of “The Traditional Lox Sandwich” came back to full fruition as the taste of this sandwich made me fall in love with Uncle Harry’s New York Bagelry & Coffeehouse once again!
The salmon tasted fresh, the cream cheese schmear was delicious, but it was the combination of the ingredients that won me over. Definitely one of the best lox sandwiches I have tried in the United States.
If you happen to be driving through California and will be making a drive through Fresno, I highly recommend checking out a Uncle Harry’s New York Bagelry & Coffeehouse establishment.
