A bit of Portland is coming to San Diego in the form of Ben and Esther’s Vegetarian Jewish Deli. The deli and bagel shop, which first opened in 2019 and went full-vegetarian in 2020, has plans to open its second location right here in San Diego at 6663 El Cajon Boulevard.
Eater San Diego reports the shop is opening as a collaboration between deli-owner Justin King and Marc Bennett the owner of Pappy’s Barber Shop. The deli is scheduled to open this fall in the Aztec Village Center.
Among its many items, Ben and Esther’s offers bagels, kugel, knishes, mazto ball soup, and hamentashen. In place of lox, they serve up “not-lox,” or salt-roasted, sliced carrots with tomatoes, capers, and dill, and their bagels are vegan and boiled and baked in-house daily. The schmear options also seem endless (in a good way) with plain, veggie, chocolate hazelnut, honey almond, scallion, and jalapeño varieties. Not to mention a plain vegan and a rotating vegan special schmear.
King was unavailable for comment at the time of publication, but it sounds like the San Diego location is only the beginning of his expansion plans, and the deli that serves up vegetarian Reubens could soon be bi-coastal.
