03:22 PM

Here's when downtown spots like Solomon's Delicatessen, Kodaiko, KoJa Kitchen and more will open

By Jessica Rine

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Solomon's Delicatessen

UPDATE: Solomon's Delicatessen will open Monday, July 1, with breakfast and lunch service from 6 a.m.-2:30 p.m. through July 11. Beginning Friday, July 12, the restaurant will be open daily from 6 a.m.-9 p.m. with breakfast, lunch and dinner service.

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Solomon’s Delicatessen, the long-awaited Jewish deli, had hoped for a June 17 opening, but co-owner Andrea Lepore says the restaurant is now set to open by early July. Named after Tower Records founder Russ Solomon, the deli—which inhabits a former Tower Records store—will feature a similar menu to its Davis locale (think bagels, lox, house-smoked whitefish, pastrami sandwiches and matzo ball soup), as well as some new additions like latkes and pastrami-topped schmaltz fries (French fries cooked in chicken fat).

The deli's interior is a visual nod to the ’60s and ’70s (when Tower really exploded, explains Lepore) with quartz countertops that recall the original marble entryway, vintage Verpan lighting fixtures and pops of fuchsia, teal blue and Tower Records yellow—colors pulled from the entry’s stunning psychedelic mural—against leather banquettes and warm wood furniture. Above the deli on the second-floor, the “Russ Room” is a event space and gallery that will honor the legacy of the music-movie-book mogul as a live performance venue and community gathering room which will be able to accommodate approximately 150 people for concerts. Lepore is working with local promoter Brian McKenna to book music acts, and is in talks with newly opened Capital Books to schedule book signings and other literary events; the 2,000-square-foot space will also function as an art gallery for exhibits curated by the locally based Toyroom Gallery.

“This was a historic preservation project, really,” says Lepore. “It’s not just opening a restaurant—this was a very raw shell that we’ve brought back to life. We’re excited that we’re finally able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

730 K St. solomonsdelicatessen.com