Mamaleh’s Opens in Brookline

by Celina Colby

The people of Brookline are serious about their bagels. So serious they’re willing to flood a crowdfunding campaign with resources to get some of the best bagel sandwiches in Boston onto their streets. Mamaleh’s Delicatessen and Restaurant has opened their Brookline location at 1659 Beacon Street in Washington Square, and the effort has been nothing short of a sesame seed stuffed miracle.

The restaurant opened its original Kendall Square location in 2016, and it has been serving bagels, egg creams, and matzah ball soup to the community ever since. To expand to Brookline, Mamaleh’s partnered with the local crowdfunding company NuMarket. Their goal was to raise $180,000 for the new store. Anyone who donated would receive 120% of their donation back in credits. So if you donated $100, you’d end up with $120 in credit to spend at the deli when it opens. The campaign ended with a whopping $186,428 contributed by 1,195 bagel lovers. That’s a whole lot of lox for Brookline’s hungry donors.

“When we were first introduced to the concept of NuMarket, we were immediately intrigued,” Rachel Miller Munzer, Mamaleh’s co-owner, said in a press release. “We have been in business for over 15 years and have raised capital through almost every method; private investors, bank loans, equipment loans, short term capital loans — even other crowdfunding platforms. Unlike other fundraisers, the concept of NuMarket is so simple and business forward.”

Mamaleh’s aims to bring Jewish cuisine from decades past to contemporary Greater Boston, and the city has proven to have the appetite for it. The menu offers favorites like a lox sandwich, pastrami, babka, and whitefish. From a grab-and-go case by the register, you can pick up tongue, pickles, lox, latkes, frozen dishes, and whatever else your pantry is missing.

The small but bright and cheery space provides to-go and stay-in meals, with indoor and outdoor seating options. Both the Cambridge and the Brookline locations also deliver, and you can ship nationwide from Mamaleh’s website.

Brookline has long relied on Kupel’s Bakery for a classic bagel fix. Now the neighborhood has double the options for a savory Sunday morning breakfast.

“We couldn't be more excited about joining the vibrant dining scene in Washington Square. We have always seen a gap in the area for more breakfast and lunch options to feed the dense and hungry neighborhood,” Miller Munzer said. “Additionally, it is an honor to be opening on the same block as the long-shuttered B&D Deli.”

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