With a bright pink facade, the newest bagel spot in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood is hard to miss.
Washington D.C.-based Call Your Mother Deli recently opened its first Midwest location at 1615 N. Damen Ave, taking over a spot previously filled by Dimo’s Pizza.
Offering a hybrid New York-style and Montreal-style bagel, the self-described “Jew-ish” deli fuses the fluffy texture of the former with the sweetness of the latter.
The bagels, that get their signature sweetness from honey, are made in-house.
On the menu are several breakfast and lunch sandwiches, along with nine different bagel flavors and five “schmearz,” including strawberry swirl, roasted veggie and more.
While many Chicagoans are lining up to give the new shop a try, at least one local business isn’t happy about Call Your Mother’s new venture.
Piece Pizzeria & Brewery, located just around the corner at 1927 W. North Ave., took shots at Call Your Mother in a social media post on Wednesday.
Piece Pizzeria owns Bro Bagel, a New York-style bagel shop that’s operated next door to their pizza joint since 2014.
“Consider this shots fired,” Piece Pizzeria said in the post. “Our history in the bagel business dates back to 1983 when my brothers Andy, Pete, Steve and I moved to Chicago from our hometown of New Haven, Connecticut, to bring our authentic New York bagels. Chicago needed them.”
Piece Pizzeria called out that Call Your Mother is backed by private equity in the post, asking their customers to keep supporting locally-owned Brobagel instead.
“Call Your Mother Bagels opened yesterday on Damen around the corner from us, backed by private equity. I ask that you support @brobagel, a locally owned business that bakes with love for you, and has given back to the community as part of our mission—while enjoying the very best bagels in Chicago,” Piece Pizzeria said in the post.
