An award-winning Dallas bagel shop has added another trophy (or two) to the shelf: Starship Bagel, an artisanal shop with three locations in the Dallas area, won three awards at the 2024 edition of New York BagelFest, a national bagel competition that took place in New York on September 28.

BagelFest is a celebration dedicated to all things bagel, with bagels, bagel sandwiches, speakers, games, photo ops, and demonstrations. It bestows two major awards: Best Bagel and Best Shmear, AKA topping.

The winners were announced following a day-long competition at CitiField in New York.

Starship Bagel won top prize for “Schmear of the Year." In addition, they won

• second place for “Best Bagel”
• second place for “Best Beyond the Boroughs”

Their prize-winning schmear flavor was basil, which they served on a garlic bagel with a balsamic tomato salad and a pine nut crisp. Official description: Basil Schmear With Balsamic Tomato and Pine Nut Tuile.

The competition drew 26 bagel shops from around the world, whose entries were evaluated by a panel of more than 30 judges. There was also a "most popular" award with votes cast by attendees.

This was not Starship Bagel's first time competing, following their groundbreaking performance in 2023 when they turned the bagel world upside down by winning Best Bagel, the highest award, plus Rising Star.

Starship Bagel team competing at New York Bagelfest.Facebook

This year, they came in second for Best Bagel, behind Utopia Bagels in Whitestone, NY. While in New York, the Starship Bagel team worked out of Bagel Market, a small chain in New York who lent their kitchen to become Starship's temporary headquarters.

Starship Bagel was founded by Oren Salomon, a young entrepreneur with a passion for making great bagels, who opened his first location in Lewisville at 1108 W. Main St. in 2021. He's since opened a second location in downtown Dallas at 1520 Elm St., right next to the famous Eye sculpture, and a third shop in North Dallas.

Salomon, who was celebrating his win in New York, said that Starship would be featuring the winning schmear in a special promotion once the staff returned to Dallas.

Starship earned first place in CultureMap's ranking of the Best Bagels in Dallas, then national acclaim when it made Bon Appetit's list of "The Very Best Bagels in the U.S." in 2023.