Corned beef and pastrami fans who were bereft when the Full Belly Deli on Brighton Avenue, Portland’s only Jewish delicatessen, closed in January may soon have full bellies once again.
Online speculation has run rampant for the past week that the deli will reopen in the Old Port, ever since the deli’s owner, David Rosen, launched a Facebook page with a new deli logo and the hopeful message “Opening Spring 2015!!!!” The page already has more than 1,000 likes.
Contacted by phone Monday, Rosen said he and his business partner did not want to talk about the deli or confirm its new location until he had a signed lease. There’s still no word on whether that’s actually happened, but Old Port landlord Joe Soley confirmed Thursday that the space under consideration is at Fore and Market streets, in the building previously occupied by a frozen yogurt chain.
The speculation that the deli would be in the Old Port first came from a generic map that was posted on the new Facebook page and had a red dot on Commercial Street. The map was taken down a few days ago.
Rosen did not return repeated requests for an interview Thursday.
Rosen and his family ran the deli, known for its huge sandwiches, on outer Brighton Avenue for 28 years. When he closed its doors, Rosen said the business had been struggling because of rising food prices and increased competition from chain restaurants in the area.
Rosen opened the deli with his mother in 1987. For years, his father, Jack Rosen, was also a fixture. He died in 2010.
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