Call Your Mother announces second Philly location in former Metropolitan Bakery space

The former Metropolitan Bakery space in Rittenhouse will soon be cranking out bagels instead of baguettes.

Call Your Mother — the popular bagel shop and self-described “Jew-ish” deli from Washington, D.C.— is taking over the space.

On a brisk spring morning in Rittenhouse, brown paper covered the windows of the former landmark bakery, which took its final bow as a brick-and-mortar a month ago.

Inside, benches were pushed into a corner, and the pastry case was stark and empty. Metropolitan Bakery’s co-founder, Wendy Smith Born, wore a ballcap and handed off sets of keys and alarm codes to Andrew Dana.

Dana, who co-founded Call Your Mother with his wife, Daniela Moreira, beamed with excitement.

“We’re doing it,” he said. “We’re taking over the iconic Metropolitan Bakery space, and we hope to open by the end of the summer.”

Call Your Mother will be at 262 S. 19th St., outfitting it in its signature West Palm Beach color scheme and serving up bagel sandwiches, coffee, and latkes.

It marks the D.C. bagel shop’s second Philadelphia location on the way. In January, as first reported by The Inquirer, the deli announced it would open a location in the corner space of 1500 Frankford Ave.

» READ MORE: D.C. bagel chain Call Your Mother is coming to Philly

The expansion comes amid a bagel boom in the Philly area: Viral bagel chain PopUp Bagels opened its first Pennsylvania location in Ardmore with seven more locations on the way in the Philadelphia region, including Suburban Square and Center City. Bart’s Bagels of West Philly is opening its third location in Bala Cynwyd, and Penny’s Bagels is coming to Haddonfield this year, as well.

For Born, who handed Metropolitan’s brand, recipes, and equipment to Pete Merzbacher (who is maintaining Metropolitan’s wholesale and mail-order operations), Call Your Mother’s takeover was a “straightforward” choice.

“I feel that their business reflects many of the values that I have about food and community,” she said. “I think that community is built around the table, food, and holidays. And food is a sustenance that people feel really good about.”

She added that for 33 years, Metropolitan served as a place for people to get a pick-me-up or a comfort snack. She believes Call Your Mother will do the same.

“We built a community over many years in a part of Center City that didn’t have that sort of community when we first opened,” she said. “I think that’s what I hope to see from Call Your Mother, and I think that they’ve proven in other geographies that that’s what they’re about.”

Born says she’s been privy to community members and Metropolitan fans exchanging rumors for months over what was coming into the space next. She said a few realtors had gotten in touch, but she hadn’t entertained offers besides Call Your Mother’s, describing herself as “taken with that idea.”

Real estate broker Stefanie Gabel of MSC managed the transaction, as well as Call Your Mother’s Fishtown location.

“Call Your Mother Deli is a brand with a lot of gumption and even more heart, so when the beloved Metropolitan Bakery storefront became available for the first time in over three decades, the timing felt like kismet,” Gabel said.

She added that while most national quick-service restaurants land north of Rittenhouse Square, the iconic corner called to Call Your Mother. “It was a no-brainer,” she said.

Dana, whose parents lived in Mount Airy and whose best friend attended Penn, said taking on the Rittenhouse space is a ‘pinch-me’ moment.

“We feel immense pressure, but hopefully that makes us up our game so we’re dialed in every day,” he said. “We’re never gonna be able to fill Metropolitan Bakery’s shoes, but we’re going to try and do something totally different.”

Dana added, “I understand the heartache that regulars felt for the closing. All I can do is promise we’re going to try to make great food every day, with great service, and try to be a staple in the community.”

The Rittenhouse location will keep Metropolitan’s basic layout the same, but freshen things up with some “CYM funk,” as Dana calls it, with bright hot pinks and seafoam blues that match the chain’s signature branding and their equipment. The floor and front counter will stay as-is.

As for the Fishtown location, Dana says the space is coming along with the hopes of opening in early July. Construction has started and the goal is to add elements that make the space resemble a “fish bowl” as a nod to Fishtown. The new build has big windows and high ceilings that Dana says will showcase the kitchen and the bagel operation’s boiling and baking.

Back in Rittenhouse, Born says she encourages locals to have faith in the change.

“I think it’s important that people understand that this has been a thoughtful process. I wouldn’t just hand over the property to somebody that was just in it for a quick buck or to make a splash in Rittenhouse Square,” she said. “I just wanted it to be the right operator with similar values and goals for people wanting to leave happy after they’ve ordered something.”