A top law professor is furious about people eating bagels outside her $1.5 million Washington DC home after a popular deli opened on her street.
Melinda Roth, a law professor at George Washington University, is one of 16 people who made an impassioned plea against the Call Your Mother store at a recent meeting, even proposing a less successful company to take its place.
The business, run by Daniela Moreia and “Chef Doughboi,” Andrew Dana, is a “Jewish” deli in Georgetown — one of seven locations in the DC area — including a pop-up tent at a local farmers market.
The bright pink deli is located just a few doors down from Roth’s home, as she and other angry residents are fed up with the presence of customers in their neighborhood.
During a Board of Zoning Adjustment hearing on Wednesday, the professor shared a PowerPoint presentation and suggested to the board that the issue was “not a popularity contest,” and that a “quiet, sleepy company that isn’t super successful” would be the bagel need to be replaced. store.
Call Your Mother Deli in Georgetown, Washington DC, is under fire from angry residents trying to drive the successful bagel shop out of their neighborhood due to zoning issues and ‘disrespectful’ customers
Melinda Roth, a law professor at George Washington University, is one of 16 people who made an impassioned plea against the store at a recent Board of Zoning Adjustment hearing.
“We all want them to continue to be successful, but as you’ll hear, we want them to be successful in the right places,” Roth said.
‘And not on a block in the middle of a residential area that is ill-equipped to deal with the consequences of their great success.’
Located on the corner of O Street, the store opened in July 2020 and since its inception, tourists and locals have flocked to the eatery for good bagels, coffee, ‘Schmearz’ and ‘Fixin’s’.
The location started as a grocery store before being converted into an antique store, and a flower shop just in front of the deli.
Topher Matthews, an advisory neighborhood commissioner in the area, said The Washington Post that the building was already there before the Civil War.
Matthews explained that the antique store was approved for a zoning exception in the 1970s after it replaced the grocery store and turned it into a retail business.
The deli is not considered a retail store, and before it opened its doors, management applied for a zoning exception, but locals fought it.
Opposing residents raised their concerns and even took them to the DC Court of Appeals, where they won a partial victory in 2022. The court agreed that the zoning board should further approve the location to sell prepared foods.
After Wednesday’s meeting, Roth took to her Facebook to share her concerns about the “bagel wars.”
Co-owner Dana then had to appear before the zoning board again to fight to keep his store alive.
Dana has been very vocal about the challenges his business faces, posting a video last week asking customers for help keeping their Georgetown location operational.
“Do you love this store in Georgetown as much as I do? Maybe my favorite location,” he said.
“We’re dealing with some zoning issues that could impact our ability to stay here in the super long term.”
“So if you want to see us, bring joy to the neighborhood, we would really appreciate your support,” Dana said, encouraging people to reach out and learn more about how they can support the deli .
Below his post, a person wrote who said they visit the store “frequently” and that they find it “disrespectful” how customers sit on their neighbors’ property and “leave trash.”
“You all need to patrol this place better. Especially when the students are back,” she added.
During Roth’s presentation, she showed images and videos of customers sitting on people’s sidewalks eating bagels, overflowing trash cans, and an image that she said showed a “giant rat.”
The Washington Post reported that an exterminator testified at the hearing and said the bagel shop has not caused more rodents in the area.
“One guy even uses a garbage can as a table to eat his bagels,” Roth recalled during the hearing.
She further complained about loud vans and customers taking up “rare residential parking spaces.”
Roth told the board, “The owners of these homes have not been able to get people to move. People become very combative. They want to eat their bagels. They want to eat their sandwiches. That’s part of the experience.’
Another opposing resident who joined Roth in her fight was Michael Savage, a former local resident who decided to move after noticing the store was opening on his street.
Savage took matters into his own hands and sold his house on O Street after seeing the hysteria at the Park View location.
After the meeting, Roth took to her Facebook to provide an update on the zoning battle.
“Tough day (all day, 10+ hours) in the bagel wars,” she said.
“If you don’t have the law on your side, you go low and try to discredit the opposition.”
‘I am shocked by the bullying, the misrepresentations and the fact that people do not understand that successful commercial businesses belong in commercial zones and not in the heart of a residential area. Zoning plans are not a popularity contest.’
While some are outraged by Call Your Mother, others have embraced the successful company in their neighborhood.
Chris Itteilag, the man who bought Savage’s home, said the deli’s detractors are “grossly misrepresenting” the neighborhood’s overall experience.
Itteilag disputed that it is not the customers who are destroying the area, but the residents of the area. He also showed photos of cars with parking tickets, claiming they belonged to locals and not customers.
One person responded to the store’s call for help, complaining that they find it “disrespectful” how customers sit on their neighbors’ property and “leave trash.”
The store opened its doors in July 2020 and since its inception, tourists and locals have been flocking to the eatery for good bagels, coffee, ‘Schmearz’ and ‘Fixin’s’
“Myself and other supporters actually live and live in the area with our families,” Itteilag said.
Another satisfied customer, Josh Randle, said he and his daughter really enjoy going to the store on their street.
“Call your mom saves the day, every time,” Randle said.
‘From 8 to 2, as far as I’m concerned, they are our neighbors.’
One couple, Judith Fedo and Joseph Dains, made sure to visit the bagel shop with their three-year-old after hearing about the zoning uproar on social media.
Danis, 40, told The Washington Post that the store and surrounding area were “not noisy.”
“I want to know what idyllic community these complaining neighbors imagine in their heads, because when you look around you feel this kind of, you know, European atmosphere, this old-fashioned atmosphere. And if you go to Britain or Europe, it’s not quiet and it’s super quiet,” Danis added.
Another local, 90-year-old Joe Katalina, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1987, said it doesn’t bother him when customers enjoy their bagels at his home.
‘I don’t mind at all. They sit down somewhere… I’m used to it.’
“I’m tired of people complaining about this neighborhood,” Katalina added.
DailyMail.com contacted Call Your Mother and Roth for comment.