Story and photos by Gordon Friedman
Barry Siegel is a transplant of sorts, but his business brings him home to childhood memories. Siegel, a former New Yorker, is the namesake of Barry’s Espresso, Bakery & Deli. With its two Eugene locations (Downtown on Oak St. and near campus at 12^th and Alder), Barry’s serves traditional Jewish delicatessen favorites along with the usual, ubiquitous bakery treats. But Barry’s is more than the local family-owned and operated eatery, special as that may be. The cozy locale is a rare find – a white buffalo of sorts. To convince you of this, ask yourself: when was the last time you saw an authentic Jewish deli outside New York City or Los Angeles? The answer is probably never, unless you visited Barry’s.
For many American Jews, our grandparents or great-grandparents immigrated to America with nothing but a few dollars, their culture, and the desire for a better life. And it makes sense that many of the early Jewish immigrants opened delis on the East Coast. The traditional foods like smoked meats and fish, matzo balls, knish, and baked goods like rugelach and hamantaschen made them feel at home in a new land with a new language. As Jewish culture solidified on the East Coast over the years, so did the delicatessen. For the Jewish consumers, a place to get delicious kosher meals or challah bread for Shabbat was integral to preserving a Jewish lifestyle. And for the average New Yorker looking for a bite, the local deli was a friendly place where fresh, home-style food was plentiful. With over a century of history in America, it seemed as if the delicatessen had made an indelible mark on New York cuisine.
But the delicatessen has been in decline recently – so much so that now there is a website dedicated to tracking the frequent deli closures across North America. And it’s important to note that when a deli closes it’s like losing a family member. The old-style delis are the places our ancestors ate, laughed, gossiped, and felt at home. When visiting my 77-year-old uncle Ben Ami in New York this December, he solemnly noted that during his 40 years as a New Yorker he has seen many of the best and oldest delis close their doors.
This is where we return to Barry. After he and his wife had both been laid off, he decided to start his own. “We know how to run a bakery, so we’ll start our own and we’ll succeed,” says Barry of the thought process behind the decision.
And they did just that. With an almost instinctual return to his roots, Siegel brought traditional Jewish food to the most unlikely of places – Eugene.
“It’s traditional food. We just try to keep the past going. I went to places like this growing up. Anybody that walks in here says ‘Wow, I remember this.’ We’re bringing back what I call the food from the homeland,” says Siegel. “So, whether it’s the Jewish bakery or the deli part, it’s just comfort food for anybody that’s been there, done that. You know, this is our soul food.”
And how soulful it is. Barry’s the best deli I’ve seen outside its traditional headquarters of New York and Los Angeles. I really don’t believe you can have it better unless you’re at a place like Canter’s in LA or Katz’s in New York. Sure, you can visit the “new-style” delis in Portland or Seattle but they’re borderline sacrilege. The new delis often make a pastrami sandwich with thick-sliced meat, or a bagel and lox with half the lox you’d normally get. The thought of this would make many purists cringe. Deli food isn’t supposed to be reinvented. It’s the food that you ate when your 94-year-old great grandmother pinched your cheek and called you shayna punim, or “pretty-face” in Yiddish.
It’s this connection to the past that makes Barry’s surreal for a Jewish person often forgetting their traditional roots. The matzo balls are as good as grandma made them. The lox with cream cheese on a challah roll is Rabbi approved. The kugel is crisp and sweet. The Jewish baked goods are everything you could want and more. It’s the perfection of Barry’s that tickles my love affair with real Jewish food. So, wondering what you’ve been missing out on? On a rainy afternoon head to Barry’s for some matzo balls or a knish. Perhaps you’ll see me there, an echo of memories and generations past.

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In Review: Barry’s Espresso, Bakery & Deli brings authentic Jewish cuisine to Eugene