# Buttered roll-- a New York thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 18, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137 "2012-10-18T16:34:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dr.Righteous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Dr.Righteous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Righteous)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137/41 "2012-10-18T19:59:03Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > breakfast sandwiches are usually on toast, croissant, or english muffin. Sometimes a roll of some sort. Ah, I see. Around here the default is a roll, and only sometimes on toast, a croissant or an english muffin. It’s a big, wonderful world it is. Now I want a bacon egg and cheese sandwich (where’s that drooling smiley when you need it?). ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137/42 "2012-10-18T20:02:48Z")
I am pretty sure it’s a NYC thing only. There are no hard rolls which you can order buttered in Providence, that’s for sure. I miss it. That and great pizza are all I miss. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137/43 "2012-10-18T20:11:07Z")
Never heard of either one. Western US here. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137/44 "2012-10-18T20:14:36Z")
> [@Caricci](#): > > I am pretty sure it’s a NYC thing only. There are no hard rolls which you can order buttered in Providence, that’s for sure. I miss it. That and great pizza are all I miss. Damn! I do miss that pizza. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137/45 "2012-10-18T20:17:09Z")
Lived in and around the NYC area for 31 years and I have no idea what you’re talking about. I am an expert on bagels, though. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137/46 "2012-10-18T20:25:43Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I don’t k now why this thread is bothering me so much. If you told me this was how they referred to these things in Scotland or Norway, I would find it mildly interesting. But in New York, where I have actually been many times and lived for several years, it keeps making my brain say “No, that doesn’t make sense.” It’s just foreign to my experience. A buttered roll? Never ran across one. Were you in the habit of getting breakfast at the innumerable [standalone carts](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QE6vYGtrL6Q/Tbr7gVQQd7I/AAAAAAAAABE/8Iy_u6DSMJw/s1600/Coffee+Cart.jpg) – featuring buttered and be-creamcheesed breads, as well as sweet danishes, a fair quality of doughnut, and coffee – that pepper the city? Buttered roll (or as I put it, roll with butter, I’m such a rebel) is a coffee cart phenomenon, primarily. The fancier grade of cart has a cooking surface and makes egg sandwiches, for which roll (kaiser roll) is the default unless you ask for something else. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137/47 "2012-10-18T20:31:55Z")
I had no idea I was a philistine for liking toasted bagels! :rolleyes: I mean, it’s bread after all. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137/48 "2012-10-18T20:43:30Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Were you in the habit of getting breakfast at the innumerable [standalone carts](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QE6vYGtrL6Q/Tbr7gVQQd7I/AAAAAAAAABE/8Iy_u6DSMJw/s1600/Coffee+Cart.jpg) – featuring buttered and be-creamcheesed breads, as well as sweet danishes, a fair quality of doughnut, and coffee – that pepper the city? Buttered roll (or as I put it, roll with butter, I’m such a rebel) is a coffee cart phenomenon, primarily. > > The fancier grade of cart has a cooking surface and makes egg sandwiches, for which roll (kaiser roll) is the default unless you ask for something else. Coffee carts, delis, bodegas…anywhere one would grab a bite to go. They’re buttered and wrapped for speed and bodegas and coffee carts…delis will often butter to order, though I’ve known a few that keep some handy so one wouldn’t have to wait behind the egg orders. ETA: Yep, philistine for liking toasted bagels with the caveat that most bagels aren’t what NYCers would consider real bagels. I often wondered how Dunkin’ Donuts can get away with selling their crap bagels in this town, but I also wonder how the national pizza chains get any business too. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137/49 "2012-10-18T20:49:06Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > In my experience, if you stray farther than Danbury from NYC, you can’t even find a decent hard roll anyway… Oh, please. :rolleyes: You’re just saying that because west of the Hudson River everyone just gnaws on tree bark for breakfast. With no butter. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137/50 "2012-10-18T21:02:28Z")
I lived in - or around - New York City for 25 years, and I don’t think I ever ordered a buttered roll. For breakfast I’d order a bagel or bialy or Danish or cinnamon roll or donut or bear claw or sticky bun or croissant, etc., etc., etc. The roll the OP is referring to is a Kaiser roll, and you can get it buttered if you ask for it. Or with a “shmear” (with cream cheese). ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137/51 "2012-10-18T21:05:19Z")
When I lived in Manhattan, I can remember seeing these everywhere, but don’t recall them being “a thing” or having the name “buttered roll”. And if I recall correctly, I remember thinking it odd that they would slice a perfectly good Kaiser roll and smear some crappy margarine on it. So yeah, I remember them - but just didn’t know they had a name or were anything other than lazy guy’s sliced roll with a cheap smear. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137/52 "2012-10-18T21:32:29Z")
[Here’s a conversation](http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/3527/ny-hard-rolls-help)about possible recipes to replicate the NY hard roll, with all the same Proustian devotion by those who know them, and perplexity by those who don’t. I might have to play with some of these recipes. Even if the perfect crunch/flake ratio doesn’t occur, it’s guaranteed to be better than the uniformly spongy “Kaiser rolls” from the stores around here! For anyone interested, I believe the last place I had stellar NY-style baked goods is [Rockland Bakery](http://www.rocklandbakery.com/) (OK, OK, it’s in Nanuet, not Nyack - it’s been a couple decades!) ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137/53 "2012-10-18T22:02:40Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > I had no idea I was a philistine for liking toasted bagels! :rolleyes: I mean, it’s bread after all. You and me both. I used to work at a bagel shop and got snapped at by a cranky lady because I asked if she wanted her bagel toasted. According to her, on the east coast your bagel comes toasted and buttered as a matter of course and the very idea of eating an untoasted bagel should be anathema to anyone with a brain. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137/54 "2012-10-19T00:25:44Z")
We toast bagels when they get stale. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137/55 "2012-10-19T00:34:52Z")
I like to toast my cinnamon raisin bagels cuz I like the butter to be melted when I put the cream cheese and jelly on it. What? ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137/56 "2012-10-19T00:38:30Z")
My NYC-expat ex called it a hard roll as well, so I’ve heard of the phenomenon, but it’s not a thing at all in Ohio. Which is kinda surprising, since these people like their carbs so much that they serve chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes. Calling anything but black coffee “regular” is bizarre to me, though. As for toasted bagels, this is something where we’ll just have to agree to disagree. Unless the bagel is fresh out of the oven, I want it hot so that the cream cheese melts. Toasting is the only way to achieve that. I no longer eat bagels, but one of my favorite meals before I stopped eating wheat was a toasted onion bagel with melty cream cheese, lox, red onion, capers, and lettuce. Cold cream cheese just doesn’t have the same mouthfeel. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137/57 "2012-10-19T04:09:46Z")
Yeah I’ve gotten those buttered rolls from the coffee carts for breakfast in the morning. I never thought it was a “thing” though, it was just a roll with butter on it. Like a bialy with butter (which is much better.) And yeah, “regular” coffee = milk and sugar. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137/58 "2012-10-19T13:59:24Z")
It’s a NY thing. I just came back from a trip to Brooklyn and got my obligatory kaiser roll breakfast sandwich…which would be virtually unheard of here in Richmond, VA. Just like Portuguese rolls are ubiquitous in Newark, NJ and I can’t find one here to save my life. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137/59 "2012-10-19T14:42:48Z")
I think of it as a NJ thing but yes it is ubiquitous here. If a place sells coffee and breakfast stuff, they will always have premade buttered rolls that sell out by 9 am. I used to have a job where I worked with construction guys and without fail that was the default breakfast option for all of them (with coffee). ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137/60 "2012-10-19T15:34:23Z")
In Scotland it would be [one of these](http://www.scotlandsculture.com/recipes/baps.php) (not all six!), sliced and spread with butter. I guess they’re up to 5 inches or so across. A regular coffee would have sugar and milk added, but these days I’d expect whoever was making it to check what you meant… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buttered-roll-a-new-york-thing/638137.md?page=4)