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Law professor left outraged by people eating bagels outside her ritzy $1.5M DC home after viral bakery opened next door - as neighbors try to drive it out
A top law professor is enraged about people eating bagels outside her $1.5million Washington DC home after a popular deli opened up on her street.
Melinda Roth, a law professor at George Washington University, is one of 16 people who made an impassioned plea against the shop, Call Your Mother, at a recent meeting- and even suggested a less successful business open in its place.
The business, run by Daniela Moreia and 'Chef Doughboi,' Andrew Dana, is a 'Jew-ish' deli located in Georgetown - one of seven locations in the DC area - including a pop-up tent at a local farmer's market.
The bright pink deli is seated just a couple houses down from Roth's home, as her and other furious residents are fed up with the presence of customers in their neighborhood.
During a Board of Zoning Adjustment hearing on Wednesday, the professor shared a PowerPoint presentation and proposed to the board that the issue was 'not a popularity contest,' and that a 'quiet sleepy business that isn't super successful' should replace the bagel shop.
Call Your Mother Deli in Georgetown, Washington DC, is under fire by furious residents who are trying to push the successful bagel shop out of their neighborhood over zoning issues and 'disrespectful' customers
Melinda Roth, a law professor at George Washington University, is one of 16 people who made an impassioned plea against the shop at a recent Board of Zoning Adjustment hearing
'We all want them to continue to be successful, but as you’ll hear, we want them to be successful in the right place,' Roth said.
'And not on a block in the middle of a residential neighborhood that is ill-equipped to handle the consequences of their great success.'
The shop, which sits on the corner of O Street, opened its doors in July 2020, and since its inception, tourists and locals have flocked to the eatery for good bagels, coffee, 'Schmearz' and 'Fixin's.'
The location began as a grocery store before it was transformed into an antique shop, and just before the deli, a flower shop.
Topher Matthews, an advisory neighborhood commissioner in the area, told The Washington Post that the building was around during the pre-Civil War times.
Matthews explained that the antique shop was approved for a zoning exception in the 1970s after it replaced the grocery store, changing it to a retail business.
The deli is not considered a retail shop, and before it opened its doors, management applied for a zoning board exception, but locals fought against it.
The opposing residents voiced their concerns and even took them to the DC Court of Appeals, where they were awarded a partial victory in 2022. The court agreed that the zoning board needed to further authorize approval for the location to sell prepared food.
After Wednesday's meeting, Roth took to her Facebook to share her concerns about the 'bagel wars'
The co-owner, Dana, then had to go before the zoning board again to fight to keep his shop alive.
Dana has been very vocal about the challenges his business is facing, as he posted a video last week asking for customer's for help in keeping their Georgetown location up and running.
'Do you guys love this Georgetown store as much as I do? Might be my favorite location,' he said.
'We're dealing with some zoning issues which could affect our ability to be here for the super long-term.'
'So you wanna see us, be able to bring joy to the neighborhood, we would love your support,' Dana said, encouraging people to reach out and learn more about how they can support the deli.
Under his post, a person who said they 'frequent' the shop, wrote that they find it 'disrespectful' how customers sit on neighbor's properties and 'leave trash around.'
'You all need to patrol this better. Especially when the students are back,' they added.
During Roth's presentation, she showed images and videos of patrons sitting on people's stoops eating bagels, overflowing trash bins, and an image that she said showed a 'humongous rat.'
The Washington Post reported that an exterminator at the hearing testified and said that the bagel shop has not caused more rodents in the area.
'One man even uses a garbage can as a table to eat his bagels,' Roth recalled during the hearing.
She went on to complain about loud delivery trucks and customers who snagged up 'rare residential parking spaces'.'
Roth told the board: 'The owners of these houses have been unable to get people to move. People get very belligerent. They want to eat their bagels. They want to eat their sandwiches. That’s part of the experience.'
Another opposing resident that joined Roth in her fight was Michael Savage, a former local resident who decided to move after he noticed the shop was opening on his street.
Savage took matters into his own hands and sold his home on O Street after he saw the hysteria at the Park View location.
After the meeting, Roth took to her Facebook to give an update on the zoning battle.
'Tough day (all day, over 10 hours) in the bagel wars,' she said.
'When you don't have the law on your side, you go low and try and discredit the opposition.'
'I am appalled by the bullying tactics, misrepresentations and the fact that people do not understand that successful commercial enterprises belong in commercial zones and not in the heart of a residential one. Zoning is not a popularity contest.'
While some have been left outraged over Call Your Mother, others have embraced the successful business in their neighborhood.
Chris Itteilag, the man who purchased Savage's home, said that those against the deli bring a 'gross misrepresentation' of the neighborhood's overall experience.
Itteilag contested that the customers aren't the one's trashing' the area, but the residents on the block are. He also showed pictures of cars with parking tickets, alleging that they belonged to locals, not customers.
One person commented under the shop's call for help and complained that they find it 'disrespectful' how customers sit on neighbor's properties and 'leave trash around'
'Myself and other supporters actually live and reside on the block with our families,' Itteilag said.
Another happy customer, Josh Randle, said that he and his daughter really enjoy going to the shop on their street.
'Call Your Mother saves the day, every time,' Randle said.
'From 8 to 2, as far as I'm concerned, they're our neighbors.'
A couple, Judith Fedo and Joseph Dains made sure to visit the bagel shop with their three-year-old after hearing about the zoning uproar on social media.
Danis, 40, told The Washington Post that the shop and area was 'not rowdy.'
The bright pink deli is seated just a couple houses down from Roth's home, as her and other furious residents are fed up with the presence of customers in their neighborhood
'I want to know what idyllic community these neighbors who are complaining are envisioning in their heads, because when you look around you can sense this kind of, you know, European vibe, this old-world vibe. And when you go to the U.K. or Europe, it’s not stagnant and super quiet,' Danis added.
Another local, 90-year-old Joe Katalina, who has lived on the block since 1987, said it doesn't bother him when customers enjoy their bagels on his doorstep.
'I don't mind it at all. They're going to sit somewhere... I'm used to it.'
'I get tired of people complaining about this neighborhood,' Katalina added.
Roth told DailyMail.com that the bagel shop 'have not been good neighbors.'
The shop opened its doors in July 2020, and since its inception, tourists and locals have flocked to the eatery for good bagels, coffee, 'Schmearz' and 'Fixin's'
'While they might be a great business, they knowingly violate the law, lie about it and have never reached out to solve any of the myriad of problems that have been inflicted on the nearby neighbors until they are caught and have to show up to argue now that they will do better and they will somehow be better neighbors now,' she added.
'Having CYM on our block is like living in the middle of a parking lot of a drive through restaurant.'
'The rest of us expect the protection of the zoning laws,' Roth said. 'I have no objection to them being a true takeaway bagel store -- or any other commercial business that does not wreak havoc on the neighborhood. But selling sandwiches with no seating is a recipe for disaster, and it has been a disaster.'
Dana told DailyMail.com that Roth 'appealed us before we even opened.'
Despite the battle, Dana said that an 'overwhelming majority of the neighborhood is supporting us.'
'Truth will prevail. We are confident the zoning board will be in our favor,' he added.