Lipkin’s Bakery, a Philadelphia staple for a half-century, remains true to its bakery roots.
But now it’s more than a bakery. It’s a deli.
Just Google it and you’ll see the listing: Lipkin’s Deli & Bakery on Haverford Avenue in Philadelphia’s Overbrook Park neighborhood.
Now that it’s a deli, Lipkin’s is open past 2 p.m. Sunday-Thursday. It also now has a dining area for people to eat in. And, of course, it offers deli food such as pastrami, corned beef and roast beef.
This new Lipkin’s is a realization of the vision of Paul Spangler, the bakery’s owner and a Bensalem resident. In 2022, as told in the Jewish Exponent, Spangler’s Best Cake Kosher Bakery merged with Steven Nawalany’s Lipkin’s Bakery. But Nawalany left the business at the end of 2023.
The new owner described Lipkin’s as the only fully kosher deli around.
“What we recognized was that there was a huge shortage. There was no place you could get a deli sandwich that was kosher. Not as a restaurant. Not a single one,” he said.
Lipkin’s spent 47 years in Northeast Philadelphia. But then it had to close due to the rising cost of ingredients and difficulty hiring front-of-house staff, according to that 2022 Exponent story.
That was where Spangler came in. A longtime customer of Lipkin’s, he had discussed different business ideas with Nawalany over the years. Lipkin’s closed in May that year; Spangler reached out in July about a potential partnership.
The bakeries merged and reopened in Overbrook Park, the home of Best Cake.
“Lipkin’s has an iconic name in the Philadelphia market,” Spangler said at the time. “Along with that, they have a very loyal customer base.”
Two years later, Spangler said one of the plans he and Nawalany had discussed in their earlier years was a deli-bakery. They were even about to open one before the landlord pulled the lease.
“I have taken that original direction,” Spangler said.
When Nawalany left the business, Spangler got the Lipkin’s brand, recipes, equipment and staff. Then in May, he invested $45,000 into a renovation that added a deli section with new tables, chairs, refrigeration, freezers, slicers and other equipment.
He said morning business has doubled since the renovation. There are plans to offer dine-in breakfast, according to Spangler.
The owner is an Orthodox, kosher-keeping Jew and, though he lives in Bensalem, he’s familiar with the large Orthodox community in Overbrook Park and nearby Lower Merion. Around 13% of the 13,000-plus-household Lower Merion Jewish community is Orthodox, according to the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia’s 2019 population study.
“Looking at all these numbers and thinking about this, it was a natural progression. And so far, the community has, I think, embraced it. It’s picking up business every day,” he said.
Yaakov Sheehan is a Bensalem resident who davens at Kehillas B’nai Shalom with Spangler. He said he enjoys the macaroni and cheese knishes from Lipkin’s. But now, he plans on going in more often for meals.
He can go to other delis, but he has to read the labels on items to make sure they’re kosher. At Lipkin’s, he won’t have to read the labels.
“There aren’t too many places around here to go for deli where in the house is kosher,” he said.
Spangler said Lipkin’s will start making custom burgers this month to add to the permanent menu. He described his whole renovation as an investment in the future.
“It’s an investment in the future of the business as well as making an investment in the community,” he said.
