Mastman's Deli To Bring 100% Kosher Food Downtown

In "mid-to-late October," downtown Austin will be on the receiving end of a great mitzvah: the opening of a 7,000 square-foot kosher deli called Mastman's, originally of Buffalo, New York.

Flying under the radar, the Mastman's website has been teasing Austin since early 2012 with posts like this: "We all can't be the chosen people, but soon in Austin, Texas we will be able to eat like them. Mastman's Deli will bring Kosher back to the heart of Texas where it belongs." The original Mastman's closed in 2005 after sixty years on Buffalo's Hertel Avenue. Here's hoping the Austin Mastman's will continue this adorable advertising tradition.

UPDATE: Eater Austin just talked with deli owner David Rosen, who's lived in Austin for ten years and owns a concert production company in town. His grandparents opened the original Buffalo Mastman's in 1943, and today Rosen is the "steward" of their family recipes. He says: "I'm not worried about being a success, I'm worried about my grandmother killing me if the matzah ball soup isn't perfect."

Rosen acknowledges that he's been keeping Mastman's something of a secret while he got all his kosher ducks in a row: "I almost grew a yarmulke permanently out of my brain stem," he jokes. The new Mastman's will feature a 3,000 square foot kitchen to support their catering operations, while the deli itself will seat 216 and feature a full bar—with all-kosher booze, of course.

· Mastman's Deli [Official]
· Mastman's Kosher Restaurant ... [@Odam]
· Mastman's Deli [Facebook]

[Photo: Google Maps/EATX]