Every Cream Cheese Flavor at Tompkins Square Bagels: The Complete Guide

Twenty-five. That's how many house-made cream cheese flavors are currently on the menu at Tompkins Square Bagels - made fresh daily at the East Village kitchen and shipped out to our Manhattan locations. If you've ever stood at the counter and blanked when they asked "what kind of cream cheese," this is the guide to look at before you go.

We've broken down every one of the types of cream cheese on the menu into three groups: savory, sweet, and the dairy-free tofu spreads. Pull up whichever category matches your mood.

Savory Cream Cheese Flavors

The originals. If you want a classic New York bagel order, this is the list you're choosing from.

Plain Cream Cheese (Popular) — the standard whipped New York cream cheese every other flavor on this list gets compared to.
Scallion (Popular) — the single most-ordered flavor in the shop. Fresh scallion folded through whipped cream cheese, no substitute.
Fresh Bacon Scallion — scallion cream cheese with crispy bacon mixed in, for when plain scallion needs backup.
Jalapeño Cheddar (Popular) — sharp cheddar and diced jalapeños, with real heat instead of a suggestion of it.
Lox Spread — smoked salmon blended straight into the cream cheese, the deli-counter classic in spreadable form.
Olive-Pimento — chopped olives and pimento for a briny, Mediterranean-leaning spread.
Sun-Dried Tomato — concentrated, sweet sun-dried tomato flavor mixed all the way through.
Veggie — diced peppers, carrots, and scallion for the crunchiest option on the list.
Chipotle Avocado — smoky chipotle peppers and fresh avocado blended together.
Cucumber Dill — cool, herby, and one of the better pairings for a toasted everything bagel.

Pair any of these with a bagel off the breakfast menu, or build a full sandwich — The Weezer famously lets you pick any cream cheese flavor to go with the bacon, chorizo, egg, and cheddar.

Sweet Cream Cheese Flavors

Best on cinnamon raisin, French toast, or blueberry bagels — though nobody's stopping you from putting Birthday Cake on an everything bagel.

Birthday Cake (Popular) — sweet and funfetti-studded, a genuine fan favorite.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (Popular) — actual cookie dough pieces folded into sweet cream cheese.
Espresso — real coffee flavor built into the spread, for anyone whose bagel needs to double as their morning caffeine.
Peanut Butter and Nutella — as indulgent as cream cheese gets, split evenly between the two.
Apple Cinnamon — real apple pieces and warm cinnamon, the one that shows up every fall.
Walnut Raisin — crunchy walnuts and sweet raisins, made for a cinnamon raisin or whole wheat bagel.
Mixed Berry — a blend of berry flavors in a single spread.
Strawberry — straightforward sweet strawberry swirled throughout.
Blueberry — real blueberry flavor, an easy pairing if you're already getting a blueberry bagel.

Vegan Cream Cheese: Our Dairy-Free Tofu Spreads

Six fully vegan, dairy-free tofu spreads — same flavor logic as the cream cheese lineup, built on a tofu base instead.

Plain Tofu (Vegan) — the dairy-free base spread.
Veggie Tofu (Vegan) — the tofu version of the veggie spread, loaded with diced vegetables.
Scallion Tofu (Vegan) — scallion flavor built on a tofu base.
Sun-Dried Tomato Tofu (Vegan) — sweet sun-dried tomato flavor, entirely dairy-free.
Garlic Herb Tofu (Vegan) — savory garlic and fresh herbs on a tofu spread.
Spinach Artichoke Tofu (Vegan) — a dairy-free take on spinach artichoke dip, made spreadable.

For more dairy-free and plant-based picks beyond the spread list, see our full guide to vegan breakfast in NYC.

How to Pick the Right Cream Cheese Variety for Your Bagel

With 25 cream cheese varieties on the menu, the easiest way to narrow it down is to start with the bagel, not the spread:

Plain or everything bagel → any savory flavor works, but Scallion or Jalapeño Cheddar are the go-tos.
Cinnamon raisin or French toast bagel → this is what the sweet lineup exists for — Birthday Cake and Apple Cinnamon are the most popular pairings.
Blueberry bagel → Blueberry cream cheese, if you want to lean all the way in, or Plain if you want contrast instead of more sweetness.
Lox order → skip Lox Spread and go Plain or Cucumber Dill instead, so the smoked salmon isn't competing with itself.

Not sure where to start in person? Every Tompkins Square Bagels location lets you taste before you commit — just ask.

Cream Cheese for Groups & Catering

Ordering for more than one or two people changes the math. If you're prepping for an office breakfast or a group order, our guide to ordering bagels for large groups covers how much cream cheese to order per dozen bagels so you don't run short. For anything bigger than a quick group order — full breakfast spreads, corporate events, celebrations — our catering menu includes cream cheese platters built to serve a crowd.

Planning something outdoors instead? A few of these travel especially well — see our guide to the best bagels near Central Park for cream cheese and sandwich picks that hold up on a picnic blanket.

Cream Cheese Flavors: FAQ

How many cream cheese flavors does Tompkins Square Bagels have? 25 total — 10 savory, 9 sweet, and 6 vegan tofu spreads — all made fresh daily at the East Village kitchen.

What's the most popular cream cheese flavor? Scallion is the single most-requested flavor in the shop. Plain, Jalapeño Cheddar, Birthday Cake, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough are also called out as customer favorites.

Do you have vegan or dairy-free cream cheese? Yes — six tofu-based spreads, including Plain, Veggie, Scallion, Sun-Dried Tomato, Garlic Herb, and Spinach Artichoke, all dairy-free.

How much cream cheese should I order for a dozen bagels? It depends on the flavor mix and whether you're doing sandwiches or just spreads — our large group ordering guide breaks down the exact math.

Where can I try these cream cheese flavors in person? Any of our five Manhattan locations — East Village (two shops), Union Square, the Upper East Side, and Midtown at Shaver Hall.

See the full lineup and order online for pickup or delivery for pickup or delivery, or browse the complete cream cheese flavors menu to build your order before you arrive.