Borscht Belt Brings New York-Style Jewish Deli Experience To Newtown (2024)

"This restaurant is my love letter to the Jewish deli, featuring old-school flavors with my own contemporary twist," said Nick Liberato.

Posted Tue, May 30, 2023 at 1:44 pm ET

618 Hospitality Group founders Nick Liberato (Bravo’s Top Chef Masters, Paramount Network’s Bar Rescue and Netflix’s Restaurants on the Edge) and Michael Dalewitz (co-founder and chairman of Whizzable), opened the doors to the new deli on Tuesday morning.

The Borscht Belt first opened in Stockton, N.J., in the spring of 2021, and was quickly welcomed by locals and tourists alike as a go-to destination for New York-style deli fare alongside traditional Jewish American appetizing cuisine and baked goods.

An ode to the 1950s and 1960s Borscht Belt region of New York’s Catskills Mountains, focused on bringing families together through food, entertainment, and traditional Jewish culture, Chef Nick Liberato takes a creative approach to classic menu items while honoring longstanding traditions.

The Newtown location of The Borscht Belt will maintain the spirit of the original concept, paying homage to the region’s rich history and subtly nodding to the iconic old-school New York delis and bagel shops. Liberato plans to have the largest smoked fish and appetizing selections in Pennsylvania.

“This restaurant is my love letter to the Jewish Delicatessen, featuring old-school flavors with my own contemporary twist inspired by my travels and cultural experiences,” said Liberato, who grew up in nearby Yardley and graduated from Pennsbury High School. “Opening the Borscht Belt in 2021 in the midst of a pandemic was a very rewarding challenge, and we’re excited to take away significant experiences from that process and apply them to this bigger location in Newtown.”

An egg cream and a deli sandwich. (Photo by Gab Bonghi)

This time around, The Borscht Belt has opened with an expanded menu, full-service seating, advanced technology to minimize wait times, and a new collection of original artifacts directly from the Borscht Belt region of New York.

Chef Liberato’s menu features a selection of signature deli sandwiches piled high with freshly-sliced meats — including the new “RPG” sandwich - an iconic Catskills favorite, which features Chinese roast pork on garlic bread with duck sauce and pickled cucumbers.

Additional mainstay menu items include daily fresh bagels sourced directly from Ess-A-Bagel, and bialys from Shelsky’s; various platters with freshly-sliced lox, a variety of smoked and pickled fish selections, spreads and salads; homemade knishes and potato latkes; award-winning fresh steamed pastrami and corned beef; Lower East Side pickles; and daily fresh baked goods including babka, rugelach, and rainbow and black & white cookies.

The menu also features Grand Plateaus for brunch – piled high with tiers of lox, smoked and pickled fishes, meats, spreads and salads.

The Borscht Belt boasts an extensive assortment of gluten-free and vegetarian offerings to accommodate all parties, and a plethora of breakfast beverages including freshly squeezed orange juice, freshly-brewed coffee and espresso drinks featuring Stumptown Coffee Roasters, and more.

The turkey special. (Photo by Gab Bonghi)

Dalewitz, who is an advisory board member of the new Borscht Belt Museum, spent over a year procuring significant artifacts originating from the Catskills region, which are on display in the Newtown restaurant for patrons to admire and learn about the region’s history and cultural significance.

Additional updates to The Borscht Belt include the latest in restaurant technology, including mobile ordering kiosks, and a custom Borscht Belt express ordering app, powered by the newest leading edge POS technology company, Whizzable.

The delicatessen features 24 full-service indoor dining seats available for walk-ins or reservations through OpenTable, 12 outdoor seats for full-service and reservations, as well as 20 first-come, first-serve bar seats in The Bungalow Room, which also serves as a private dining room.

The Borscht Belt is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. offering robust dine-in, take-out and catering. For more information, visit http://theborschtbelt.com or follow @theborschtbelt on Facebook and Instagram.

The Borscht Belt Delicatessen concept launched from 618 Hospitality Group’s reaction to the communal cry in 2020 for the longing of missed family, culture, and authentic food that ties people together.

Instantly, the “Shangri-la” days of the Borscht Belt era came to mind as a source of reference for founders Chef Nick Liberato and Mike Dalewitz; thus, extensive research, passion, and development ensued for an exciting 2021 launch in Stockton, N.J. The Borscht Belt’s Stockton location closed in the winter of 2023, but led to the development of a newer, bigger and bolder iteration of The Borscht Belt in Newtown.

The restaurant delivers a heightened culinary experience featuring the best of the NYC Delicatessen, bagels, appetizing, and baked goods.

Like the Borscht Belt of the Catskills, laughter and music of the 1950s and 60s flourishes amongst a place patrons frequent to find comfort and nourishment.

With an array of take-out, dine-in, and large-format catering options, this reimagined delicatessen salutes a bygone era that has long needed a home to remind everyone how food, family, and friends were once served and how they can be again.