Since its opening on Wednesday, Jewish deli Maven’s Jr. has been brimming with customers. The Thayer Street restaurant, which describes itself as a “modern traditional Jewish deli,” features a wide array of options, from sandwiches made with handcut meat to potato latkes.
Maven’s Deli, which opened its first location in Pawtucket in 2023, makes “everything from scratch,” according to owner and founder Jason Sugarman, including their bread. The meats used at the Thayer location are prepared and cooked on site, though it receives its stock of food from the Pawtucket deli.
Sugarman said that the delis he frequented in his childhood inspired him to open a similar restaurant in Rhode Island. For the past 12 years, he’s been “collecting menus (and) getting information from different owners,” to develop ideas for his own deli, he said.
“We’re trying to do … more classical items,” Sugarman said, “but we have a few things that are twists,” including the deli’s Hot Maven, which is inspired by schnitzel. While the restaurant is based on the traditional Jewish delicatessen, Maven’s is not certified Kosher.
Opening the deli’s original location in 2023 required “a lot of trial and error” when learning how to make classic deli dishes from scratch at a large scale, Sugarman said. “Now we’re just in a growth phase,” he added. “This opening has gone a lot smoother.”
In deciding where to open their second deli, Sugarman said that he wanted the new location to be close to the original Maven’s Deli, but not so close as to create competition between the two restaurants.
“I love Thayer Street,” he said, citing the high foot traffic. Sugarman also owns the Pokeworks down the street. “This spot was picked for a reason,” Sugarman said. “We want to be (on) a corner.”
Maven’s Jr. houses an array of seating options, two arcade games and a flapboard with letters that flip every few minutes to spell out jokes. Sugarman explained that he wanted Maven’s Jr. to be “a cozy place” to “talk to your friends and meet new people.”
Kai Faucher ’27, described walking down Thayer Street to get a meal after a workout when Sugarman ushered him into Maven’s Jr. “I got magnetized,” Faucher said.
Faucher, who was Maven’s Jr.’s first customer, was “very happy” with his pastrami reuben sandwich. “I’m mourning Louis,” he said, referring to the Brook Street diner that closed at the end of last year. “But the variety of the menu and the feel of the place is starting to fill that hole.”
“It’s very cute, old-timey,” he added, noting that he appreciated the deli’s modern features.
Faucher has been back to the deli two more times since its first day.
“It made me really happy to see that,” said Sugarman, adding that a couple other customers have already returned multiple times.
Allie Hunnius ’28 said she had been excited for the opening of Maven’s Jr. ever since she saw posters advertising their new location.
“I feel like it’s brought something that’s kind of been missing from Thayer,” she said. “It’s amazing that they’re even opening up because there weren’t a ton of traditional Jewish food options” on Thayer previously, she added.
Sugarman aims to make Maven’s Jr. an opening, welcoming place. “We’re a meeting spot for everyone,” he said. “We want to be here for a very long time.”
Seyla Fernandez is a senior staff writer covering faculty.
