Mother's Bistro Launches Bubbie's Deli Board, a New York Deli in Portland

Pastrami sandwich on Bubbie's Deli Board. — Pastrami sandwich at Mother’s Bistro. Photo credit: Mother’s Bistro.

In honor of their 25th anniversary, Mother’s Bistro has put together a New York deli menu, called Bubbie’s Deli Board, as well as a catering division. As a former New Yorker, when I saw Mother’s chef and owner Lisa Schroeder talking about this new menu, I had to know more. So I reached out and she shared some details with me.

The Bubbie’s Deli Board Menu

Bubbie’s Deli Board is a pop-up, essentially. It’s accessible for dine-in and takeout from Wednesdays to Fridays from 9am to 2pm (or until sold out) each week. Lisa is originally from the east coast, and has a first-person feel for the NYC deli classics.

The menu is divided into sections: Breakfast, Lunch (which includes starters and sandwiches—BTW, you can opt for gluten-free bread on their sandwiches), and then sides and sodas. Very happy to see Dr. Brown’s Black Cherry in there, and I wonder if we’ll see their “Cel-Ray” flavor any time soon.

Breakfast, Lunch, Bagels, Pastrami

The Breakfast menu includes bagel-centric dishes—get a bagel (they use bagels from Henry Higgins) with just cream cheese, or have it with whitefish salad or as part of a lox platter. The Lox, Eggs, and Onion plate is bagel-free.

The Lunch menu includes some cherished deli dishes—matzoh ball soup, chopped liver, latkes, and pierogies. Sandwiches include a Reuben, turkey & swiss, chopped liver, corned beef, and a deli superstar: the Pastrami sandwich—house smoked and on homemade rye bread. You can add double meat, but will it approach the height of the one at Katz’s? I guess you gotta go in and find out.

For sides, you can get coleslaw, pasta salad, and fries. Leave room for the cinnamon rugelach, too.

Filling a Need

These dishes are near and dear to my heart,” said Lisa. “They’re part of my heritage, my memories, and my culinary soul. After 25 years of nurturing Mother’s into what it is today, it feels like the perfect moment to honor my roots and share that tradition with our community that has been clamoring for such dishes since Kenny & Zuke’s Deli closed.”

Some of the deli items are offered through the new catering service, as well.

Over and over I heard Portlanders pine for a good Jewish deli to open up in town. Glad to see Lisa and Mother’s step up to the plate on this one. The menu is pretty solid, and perhaps they’ll expand to include things like cabbage rolls, noodle kugel, knishes, blintzes, and babka in the future. But for now, I hope this will satisfy that NY Deli food desire in this city.

Here’s to Bubbie’s Deli Board being a huge success!

Bubbie’s Deli Board at Mother’s Bistro [opened June 26, 2025]
121 SW 3rd Avenue, Portland
Mother’s Bistro website | Instagram | Facebook