Polish donuts in a Polish deli (Image: George’s Deli)

With reporting by Soumya Gupta

George’s Deli just turned 45 and is in new, highly capable hands even as the First Hill fixture struggles through the massive disruptions from the bus rapid transit line construction that has torn up the neighborhood’s main business artery.

Mark Oliver, the paczki Polish donut guy, is now in charge. He celebrated the big birthday milestone earlier this month with free paczki.

“I used to come to George’s with my parents, and I knew that this was something I wanted to be a part of,” Oliver said. “I was familiar with how Janet ran the deli, and it just felt right.”

With its crafted sandwiches, groceries, and European specialities, the Polish deli has stood on First Hill since Janet Lidzbarski founded it in 1983. Now, the deli’s new owner, Oliver intends to carry the legacy of spreading Polish culture through gourmet ingredients and homemade recipes. He says he has spent most of his time creating and learning Polish recipes, and has had a deep passion to share his heritage with the neighborhood.

Oliver says a typical day at George’s starts off with the staff smoking and grinding sausages, which are sold individually or in their crafted sandwiches. Afternoons are the busiest, as they spend most of their time packing sandwiches for a long line of customers travelling from all parts of the city. The Reuben and George’s Special are customer favorites, Oliver says. In addition, the deli also offers an assortment of pickles, jams, jellies, mustard, and Polish beer and cookies. What sets George’s apart is the extensive smoking of their sausages, both fresh and flat, he says.

(Image: Kevin T via Google)

“The last 40 years have been nothing more than a journey, we started off wanting to introduce the Polish cuisine in the community, and had people all across the country visiting us,” he said. “There are very few Polish delis in the city, and setting this up was a big jump for the community.”

While the city has given a tremendous amount of love to the deli for over four decades, its E Madison location is currently a major challenge. Like many restaurants on the street, George’s has suffered because of the RapidRide G line construction on Madison to transform the street into a new transit-optimized corridor. The three-year long construction project has taken a major toll on the survival of many local businesses in the area, replacing sidewalks and restricting many lanes. Service is planned to begin — finally — next year.

Oliver says the construction has been a pain in the kielbasa with disruptions to the business day and challenged parking and pedestrian access.

In the case (Image: George’s Deli)

“Since parking became difficult, people found it hard to stop by the deli, which majorly impacted our business,” Oliver said. “They had to park and walk around two blocks to actually get here. We lost out on staff as well, since it wasn’t possible to pay hefty amounts during working hours.”

Lack of foot traffic in the area has also contributed to an increase in break-ins.

“Over the past month, I have had to report several break-ins at the deli, people have vandalised the property, and even set fire to the main shed behind,” he said. “It’s becoming difficult by the day – some days, I walk my employees to their cars.”

Reporting incidents to police hasn’t help much for Oliver and the deli, he says.

For now, George’s is staying put though Oliver says he has thought about a possible new location. He is also working to make the best of things with plans to set up a small kitchen space next to the deli to handle his Marek’s Bakery line of Polish pastries and other baked goods.

“We are already sellings sandwiches, polish dumplings and sausages on the menu,” Oliver said. “I have been fond of Polish pastries for a long time, and I look forward to adding these treats soon.”

Central Seattle’s Polish community, meanwhile, remains a significant target market. The Polish Home marked its 100th anniversary on Capitol Hill in 2018.

George’s Deli is located at 907 Madison. Keep track of updates from @georgesdeliseattle on Instagram.

$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE

Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month -- or choose your level of support 🖤