Call Your Mother, the much-anticipated bagel shop and “Jew-ish” deli from the Timber Pizza folks, has been open about two weeks. There are bagel sandwiches made with a hybrid New York/Montreal bagel as well as takes on Jewish classics like matzoh ball soup and pastrami. It’s very popular, very tasty and also kind of expensive.
I’ve been twice so far and enjoyed my food immensely, and both times it’s been quite crowded, with a fairly big line inside the restaurant. The lines are often longer though, especially on Friday and during the weekend when they stretch out the door and around the corner. For example, last Friday my friend went at 8:30am and the line around the corner. When I stopped by at 10am it was the same way, and at about noon it was still the same way. It moves fairly quickly, but still requires some waiting, both to order and to get your food. So if you’re interested in going, plan accordingly.
The food is also really good. The first time I got the Amar’e bagel sandwich with candied salmon cream cheese, cucumbers, shallots and radish on a za’atar bagel and a Craig D, which is cream cheese, peach jam, jalapeño and shoestring potatoes. Both were excellent. I’ve also had lunch there with the Greenberg, a pastrami steak and cheese that also came with sides of shoestring fries and pickles. All were excellent. (There’s also a sandwich I have yet to try called the Rashida, which I am guessing is a reference to awesome local ANC commissioner Rashida Brown.)
However, they are also not cheap. The two bagel sandwiches plus a coffee came to about $20, and the sandwich was $15. A half dozen bagels are $12, which is not too bad, unless you compare it to other bagel shops. Here’s the full menu.
It’s also a nice space — it seems bigger than when it was Alfie’s, Tchoup’s and Mothership, as they’ve taken down the wall towards the back and (I think) extended the seating area a bit. There are outdoor seats as well on the patio, and everything is a rustic-looking pink or blue, plus lots of photos of Drake, who has a Catholic dad and Jewish mom, and thus is Jewish.
Have you been? What do you think?
Call Your Mother is at 3301 Georgia Avenue NW and is open Wed-Sun 8am-2pm
Line and interior photos by Emily Goodstein. Sandwich photo by me.
