When I was in my late teens, through my early 20’s I was a fishmonger at Fowler’s Seafood. This seafood market was located Coral Gables, Fla and was and still is an exceptionally wealthy area. It’s known for its Mediterranean-style architecture, luxurious waterfront estates, and high cost of living.
As a fishmonger I became quite skilled in sourcing, cleaning, filleting, and displaying seafood. You want your Yellowtail Snapper butterflied and stuffed with herbs and citrus, no problem. You want your grouper deboned; I got you. You want your shrimp peeled and de-veined, give me a few minutes. The best part of that job was also learning a lot of seafood recipes, one of which became my daily breakfast meal – Lox and Bagel.
Lox is a salt-cured salmon fillet, traditionally brined but not smoked. There is also Nova Lox which is cured and then lightly cold-smoked and less salty. At Fowler’s we made our Lox and Nova Lox in-house. The most common way it’s served is thinly sliced on bagels with cream cheese, capers, and onions
When I lived in Georgia, I would often drive into Savannah and visit the various delis to get my Lox and Bagel treat. Now that I live in Chattanooga, seven minutes from the downtown and southside district, I asked myself who has the best Lox and bagel, River Street Deli or Niedlov’s Bakery and Café.
First, let me say that my travel, food experience bucket list includes visiting New York and stopping in at the iconic Katz’s Delicatessen as well as sitting outside a classic European Café and enjoying freshly baked croissants.
If I happen to die tomorrow, I can at least say, I got to experience both right here in Chattanooga. If you haven’t heard of River Street Deli, you must be living under a rock. I had heard a lot about River Street Deli, and I finally lifted the rock off my toes and limped into the city’s oldest deli, serving traditional New York style deli food since 1998.
The minute owner Bruce Weiss greets you with his still thick New York native accent, it’s like being transported to Lower East Side Manhattan. It’s like being at Katz’s deli surrounded by customers all talking amongst themselves yet you can hear every conversation. Bruce knows everyone so when he spots a new face like mine, he directed me over to him so he could give me the lay of the land. I let him know I was there for the Lox and Bagel.
“Do you want our Nova Lox, or our in-house smoked salmon,” he asked.
“Which is better?” I asked
“Well, you know what Lox tastes like, here try our smoked salmon,” he said quickly scooping up a spoonful of the smoked salmon and placing it on crunchy toast.
It was like a smoked salmon spread, and it was delicious, but I stayed traditional and ordered the regular Lox and Bagel. It’s served with Lox, toasted bagel (your choice of everything or plain bagel) with cream cheese, lettuce tomato, red onion, cucumbers, a pickle wedge and capers.
What I love about River Street’s Lox and bagel is that it’s served as a build your own bagel. The capers and cream cheese come in small containers, so you can add as much or as little of both as you stack your bagel halves. I left the lettuce, cucumbers and pickle wedge off to the side like a salad while I stacked everything else on both halves.
Niedlov’s Bakery and Cafe has the ambiance of a European Bakery. In fact, the shop was inspired by the travels of one of the owners who visited several European Bakeries when he backpacked overseas. That’s where the concept of baking different regional breads came from. There is fresh baked bread displayed on the shelves, plenty of pastries in the glass case and the scent of fresh brewed coffee wafting in the air. Each table is adorned with fresh flowers, and a giant chalkboard menu hangs on the wall behind the counter. You can dine inside or at the outside patio. This James Beard Awards semi-finalist of 2026 always has a line that extends outside the door.
The Lox and Bagel at Niedlov’s is served prepared with cream cheese, your choice of plain or everything bagel, topped with Lox, pickled red onions, microgreens, capers and cucumber salad.
So, who has the best?
Honestly, they are both fantastic, making it hard to choose. Both serve fresh Lox on fresh made bagels. I love that I can stack my Lox and bagel as I wish at River Street Deli but also enjoy the care and attention to detail from Niedlov’s. I love the old-style classic rough and tumble look and feel inside River Street but sitting outside of a Café with European vibes is something elegant and unique. I love the view of Coolidge Park and the Tennessee River from River Street Deli but people watching on southside’s Main Street is also fun.
Why should I have to choose?
When I’m in the mood for Eat, Pray, Love I’ll head to Niedlov’s. When the mood hits for a quick bite after a Broadway play, I’m going to River Street Deli.
Which one is your favorite? Or do you get your Lox and bagel elsewhere?
Email me at: PattyL@brewermediagroup.com