Capitol Hill’s Insanely Popular Bagel Shop Eyes an Expansion

Restaurateur Monica Dimas is on a roll: The owner of such Seattle gems as Tortas Condesas and Sunset Fried Chicken Sandwiches just opened a Neon Taco expansion called Little Neon Taco on First Hill, and her Capitol Hill walk-up, Westman’s Bagel and Coffee, which has drawn crowds and frequently sold out of its New York-style bagels since opening in December, already appears to be eyeing a second location.

Last week in sharing a Stranger piece titled “Our Favorite Places to Get Jewish and Israeli Food in Seattle,” Dimas teased the expansion on Facebook: “Yes, I know it can be annoying when we sell out - working on a future second location with more perks & bagels forever.” Eater has reached out for comment from Dimas and will update as the story develops.

Jewish and Israeli food haven’t found a strong foothold in Seattle (if there were any doubts, the mostly dismal results of The Seattle Times’ “Great Seattle Area Bagel Taste Test” put them to rest), but that may be changing, thanks to purveyors like Westman’s. “A pastrami start-up, a bagel window, and a kosher meat food truck have all opened recently, carefully taking baby steps into Seattle’s edible landscape. And not one but two Jewish delis, both run by well- established local culinary professionals, plan to be open by the end of the year,” notes Naomi Tomky in The Stranger’s story.

The bagel window is Westman’s, of course; the pastrami start-up in question is Pastrome, run by David Youssefnia, and currently only available via occasional pop-ups or a monthly meat club; and the food truck is Kogo, also only available to order online at the moment.

One of the upcoming Jewish delis is New York-style Dingfelder’s Delicatessen, opening this year at 1318 E Pine St. on Capitol Hill. Husband and wife owners Vance Dingfelder and Stephanie Hemsworth, who also run Nourish Catering, promise an “Authentic Old World Delicatessen with plenty of Corned Beef and Pastrami, Knishes, Whitefish, Smoked Salmon, cookies and more.” The other Jewish deli in the works, Schmaltzy’s, could land in Fremont by December 2018 thanks to Jonathan Silverberg of the latke-sandwich food truck Napkin Friends.

• Our Favorite Places to Get Jewish and Israeli Food in Seattle [The Stranger]
• The Great Seattle Area Bagel Taste Test [Seattle Times]
• Napkin Friends’ Deli Spin-Off Finds a Home in Frelard [ESEA]
• A New York-Style Jewish Deli Is Coming to Capitol Hill [ESEA]
• All Coverage of Westman’s Bagel and Coffee [ESEA]
• Westman’s Bagel and Coffee [Facebook]
• Westman’s Bagel and Coffee [Official website]
• Pastrome [Official website]
• Kogo; Seattle’s Kosher Food Truck Project [Facebook]