Hey, there! Log in / Register

Jewish-style deli could open in Lower Allston

The Boston Licensing Board decides tomorrow whether to let a Jewish-style deli open in Barry's Corner, a locale not currently associated with pastrami or Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray.

With the board's approval, the Franklin Group, which owns Tasty Burger, among other local restaurants, would open Our Father's Deli at 197 North Harvard St. with a liquor license purchased from Legal Seafood for its currently shuttered Prudential Center location.

The deli, which would be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, would serve "great pastrami and roasts and things of that nature," attorney Dennis Quilty said at a hearing this morning.

"It's our take on classic Jewish-American deli and trying to fill something we feel is a void in the city of Boston," restaurant manager Brian Reyelt added. Recent months have seen a spate of articles bemoaning the death of Jewish delis in the US.

Quilty said that the once sleepy Barry's Corner crossroads "is perhaps growing as fast as any part of the city, including the Seaport," as Harvard and private developers try to create a new neighborhood and campus on the university's vast tracts of land.

The deli would be on the first floor of a new apartment building on North Harvard at Western Avenue.

The mayor's office and city councilors Mark Ciommo and Michael Flaherty supported the proposal.

Neighborhoods: 
Topics: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

"great pastrami and roasts and things of that nature," attorney Dennis Quilty

They found the 1 non Jewish attorney to represent them? Pastrami and roasts and things of that nature? Someone get Dennis a knish, pronto.

Also, can't wait for this to open like yesterday.

up
Voting closed 0

Quilty is the lawyer in this town to hire if you want to get something done in terms of licensing or zoning.

up
Voting closed 0

They hired Dennis because he and his firm are well known in restaurant/liquor licensing world in Boston and have a high profile reputation in Boston's legal world for making such city approvals happen fast. In fact, his team have authored many MCLE publications regarding the liquor licensing laws in Mass.

up
Voting closed 0

Mamaleh's is also opening soon in Kendall, so the Jewish deli doesn't appear to be dying out just yet:
http://mamalehs.com/

up
Voting closed 0

I strongly associate "Our Father" with Catholicism, not Judaism.

However, I'll still eat at the place if the food is good and they don't make it too trendy and weird.

up
Voting closed 0

...They could call it Goyim House for all I care, as long as the food is good.

up
Voting closed 0

I'm hoping for a Jewish style deli would come to East Boston, I'm craving a pastrami with pickles Katz style right now just thinking about it.

up
Voting closed 0

Asking out of complete ignorance, obviously.

up
Voting closed 0

Lendy's in Saugus off of Route 1 at the intersection with Lynn Fells Parkway is a decent Kosher style deli. Good pastrami, decent matzoh ball soup, and the requisite lineup of Dr. Brown's products. Only stopped in there once for lunch, but I'd go back if I was in the neighborhood.

up
Voting closed 0

Whatta ya know! http://lendysdeli.com in Saugus.

up
Voting closed 0

While I'm totally pro-Jewish deli, even pro-kosher deli because even I can live without cheese occasionally, I am not getting how this odd windswept corner of Lower Allston is supporting the restaurants rotating through there.

It's been many years since I lived in Allston even though I feel like I lived there for many consecutive lifetimes; if anyone would like to weigh in on what's changed on Western Ave & North Harvard to make it a desirable restaurant location, please satisfy my curiosity.

Sincerely, La Bibliotequetress, former Henry's Diner waitress

up
Voting closed 0

Well, there's this, which the proposed deli will be on the ground floor of: http://continuumallston.com/

up
Voting closed 0

Are 325 apartments enough to support a restaurant?

If it's good enough for word to get out, and people can get there conveniently, a restaurant can survive even if there isn't much in the immediate vicinity. If it's an average neighborhood place, not so much.

up
Voting closed 0

But it's just a short ride over from Harvard Square (remember when Dershowitz had a deli?) and not that far from Brookline. Plus, Harvard's plans call for plenty of upscale housing to go along with its new campus. If Tasty Burger could open in an old gas station on Boylston Street before most of the current towers went up, I suspect they can wait out the infilling of Barry's Corner.

up
Voting closed 0

Also, you can park in the spots around the building for one hour for free. So it's convenient for people who drive as well,

up
Voting closed 0

Lower Allston had no food other than Dunkin Donuts until Stone Hearth and Swiss Bakers moved in. The rest of us OPiA's as someone said are dying for a close fabulous restaurant. My street alone has over 100 people living on it. The rest of lower Alston adds up quick. + the Continuium + Harvard grad students housing at 1 Western Ave, there is also also a small neighborhood around the other side of North Harvard.

We are all tired of pizza.

I'd kill for a beer bar with a tattooed pianist on my block.

up
Voting closed 0

I was hoping we would get a restaurant that would serve something healthier. Anything is welcome at this point, I'm a little tired of going to Swiss Bakers.

up
Voting closed 0

how this odd windswept corner of Lower Allston is supporting the restaurants rotating through there.

Rotating through what? This location has been a construction site and before that was Harvard property.

Maybe you are referring to where Stone Hearth is, but that again makes no sense, it was a gas station that became Stone Hearth pizza, so there has been no rotation of restaurants.

up
Voting closed 0

That entire area on the other side of Western Ave is going to be Harvard's new Science and Engineering campus. Historically, that part of Harvard has only been for athletics and the business school, but will eventually have a much bigger academic presence at the undergrad/grad level. So, there will be tons of students walking between the Cambridge campus and the Allston campus, with Barry's Corner in-between. That's also why they've done major reconstructions of both the Weeks Footbridge and the Anderson Memorial Bridge (the latter seemingly taking a decade...), improving the walk/bike commute across the river.

Plus, as others have mentioned, they're also building new graduate housing there, in addition to the new apartment complex that already opened. The new campus is still years away from opening, so that's more playing the long game--however, they'll still get a decent lunchtime crowd from the business school, plus WGBH isn't too far down the road.

up
Voting closed 0

So, I'm willing to take the heat of totally ignorant answers.

Is there another style of delicatessen that isn't Jewish-style? I don't mean the ubiquitous deli counters in supermarkets, which are usually a standard hodge-podge of cold cuts and mayo-based salads. Are there other ethnicities/cultures that use the term "delicatessen" to describe a place where you get "homey" food offerings generally identified with that ethnicity or culture?

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

up
Voting closed 0

Greek deli - like the Greek International Food Market in West Rox
Italian deli - like Monica's Mercato or the Salumeria Italiana in the North End
German deli - like Karl's Sausage Kitchen
Polish deli - like Baltic Deli or Euromart in Andrew Square

I'm sure there's more

up
Voting closed 0

RIP Armenian Deli in Watertown. The baklava case was awe inspiring.

up
Voting closed 0

Many of the North End one's today are not the same as the old ones when the neighborhood primarily served locals. Yes, though, there are deli's that do serve that style of food.

up
Voting closed 0

Jewish style implies non-kosher food is on the menu as opposed to a Kosher deli.

up
Voting closed 0

Some people use the term "kosher style" to describe a restaurant that serves Eastern European Jewish foods but has no kosher certification.

The term has never made sense to me. "Kosher" is a set of rules, not a cuisine. You can have non-kosher matzo ball soup, and you can have kosher Thai food.

up
Voting closed 0

I really didn't know. Now I want to explore them all and put on fifty pounds!

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

up
Voting closed 0

I hope they sell loaves of marble rye.

up
Voting closed 0

they don't have to set the bar very high. No one in Boston would know a good Jewish or Jewish-style deli if it hit them on the head.

Meanwhile, what makes it a "Jewish-style" deli? They make you feel guilty about not calling your mother and they tell you to always bring a little sweater in case it gets cold.

up
Voting closed 0

No one in Boston would know a good Jewish or Jewish-style deli if it hit them on the head? That seems like kind of a sweeping statement considering the number of Jews in Boston. And for all that I'm always excited about new restaurants, including this one, there are actually already a few places to get good Jewish/Jewish-style deli-ciousness.
Here are a couple in my neck of the woods:
Michael's Deli
Zaftig's
Rubin's

Maybe they're just not good enough for you (though it's hard to imagine that such a discriminating patron of delis doesn't know what Jewish-style means beyond the stereotypes handed down from stand up comedians over the years). Some people can only enjoy good food when it makes them feel superior to those around them. Presumably in addition to tasting good, though that might be less important.

up
Voting closed 0

Been a while since I've been there, though - although the last time was when my side of the family (i.e., the New York Jewish wing) got together, and nobody seemed to complain.

up
Voting closed 0

Something always seems a bit mediocre at S&S, though I'm not sure what.

up
Voting closed 0

Technically, all 3 of the places you mention are in Brookline, not Boston.

up
Voting closed 0

Even if they're less than a mile from the political boundary of the city, you're technically right. So we just won't ask people to vote until they hop back on the green line or walk the few blocks home, I guess. ;-)

up
Voting closed 0

Ben, I'm guessing you've never left Boston. Let me assure you, except for Michael's, which unfortunately only has but a few tables, the deli's you mention prove my point: That Bostonians would not know a good Jewish or Jewish-style deli if it bit them on the nose.

If you think any of those are good (again, with the exception of Michael's, which is on par with NY deli's), then you need to get to the tri-state area, and I don't mean MA/NH/VT.

I think you're assuming that I don't like those places because they're not fancy enough? On the contrary, I don't like them because the serve corned beef that tastes like it came from Star Market.

And anyone I've ever known who is Jewish and from out of MA is shocked to see how few Jewish restaurants and businesses there are in a town that (supposedly) has such a large Jewish population.

up
Voting closed 0