(Image: @benandesthers_seattle)
(Image: Ben and Esther’s)
A Seattle Ben and Esther’s — the fifth location in the Portland-based “Vegan Jewish Deli” chain — is now open on Capitol Hill.
The E Pike shop has been anticipated by the Venn diagram of vegan and kosher food fans since the buzz of its impending arrival started early in summer.
The small footprint of the new Capitol Hill deli is augmented by the former Capitol Coffee Works space’s lofty mezzanine seating area.
Through the E Pike red door of the old auto row-era showroom building Ben and Esther’s now calls home, customers will find a deli counter full of creations like roasted carrot lox and hearts of palm whitefish to go along with the location’s sandwich and bagel menu. “Deli by the pound” goods, borscht and matzoh ball soup, and sweets including black+white cookies and babka are also on the menu.
Typical Ben and Esther’s hours are 7 AM to 3 PM daily.
The new deli will join a Jewish food and drink scene amid the golden age of Capitol Hill bagels ushered in by the opening of Rubinstein Bagels on 15th Ave E last year. The neighborhood also has a homegrown Jewish deli. Dingfelder’s Delicatessen opened at E Pine and 14th in 2018 with stacked-high corned beef and pastrami sandwiches, kosher hot dogs, knishes, smoked fish, and bagels. Aviv Hummus Bar, meanwhile, just marked five years on 15th Ave E with Israeli hummus and falafel.
On E Pike, Ben and Esther’s will have friendly neighbors with shops Retail Therapy and Frame Central in the building. Ox Billiards opened up in the basement in 2021. The three-story, masonry building has a history richer than the condo sales office it hosted before Coffee Works. It was built in 1912 as the flagship store in Seattle for the then one-year-old motor vehicle start-up Chevrolet.
Meanwhile, Ben and Esther’s, with its Portland roots, has proven it can navigate the challenges of PNW city life including a recent bout of hateful vandalism that targeted its Northeast Alberta Street location.
Ben and Esther’s is located at 907 E Pike. Learn more at benandesthers.com.
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very cool!
Just try exploring the menu online. Doesn’t work. For that matter, even when I posed as a Portland resident, I couldn’t explore the menu with prices or anything successfully, from their Portland branches. I wish them good luck improving this.
Well, I could see the menu, but yes, no prices.
This place sounds fantastic! Super excited to try it out.
Is this place going to be kosher?
“Vegan Jewish deli” sounds like a sure sign of the apocalypse.
How did you know plant-based kosher food was Satan’s favorite? 🤣
Are you opposed to vegan food, Jewish food, or just the two mixing? I’ll take Bad Knee-Jerk Reaction Takes for 100, Alex.