By Ben Riggleman

You can’t walk a block in downtown Brunswick without hitting a restaurant. Brunswick’s eateries run the gamut from hipster (Frontier) to haute (Henry & Marty), with every shade in between. On the more traditional side, there’s Broadway Delicatessen, an unassuming breakfast/lunch establishment at 142 Maine Street. With its home-cooked variations on traditional fare and its eye-catching decor, the Deli, in its current incarnation, has been a favorite of locals for going on 30 years now. One quiet Monday morning, I decided to pay it a visit before catching the Metro Breez to South Portland.

Service was expert and lively. My waitress rattled off an impressive list of the day’s specials. From what I managed to jot down, these included scrambled eggs with spinach, bacon and cheddar; a “cup of oats” with fresh fruit, orange juice, and a chocolate croissant; and two pumpkin pancakes with Maine maple syrup and sausage links. I ordered the pancakes, and a coffee ($1.95), for a total of around $11.

The ample flapjacks came dusted with a little confectioner’s sugar. With that plus the pumpkin-infused batter, they were sweet enough that I left the maple syrup untouched (but I’m not complaining). Texture-wise, they were in the Goldilocks zone: somewhat gooey in the center, from the pumpkin, but not overly so. And while I’m not the most discerning when it comes to my cup of joe, this one was smooth, and lacked nothing. The only disappointment was the sausage; the little processed pork cylinders were of the cafeteria type.

It must be said, though, that these are an exception. The main courses at Broadway are, as a rule, made from scratch, including the pancakes. Many ingredients are locally sourced. Most of the meats come from Topsham’s Bisson Farm; the breads, from Standard Baking Co., out of Portland, or Little Lad’s, out of Corinth, Maine. Eggs and cheeses are also from local farms. The famous turkey sandwiches are made starting with a whole turkey.

I know this on the authority of Broadway Delicatessen’s owner herself, Nancy Cuff-Bigelow. Ms. Cuff-Bigelow graciously fielded my questions and recounted the colorful history of her restaurant — all while effortlessly frying bacon, whipping up sauces and doing other tasks around the kitchen. Obviously a pro, she said she had gotten her cookery chops at a restaurant in Bath before purchasing the Broadway Deli in 1988. Owning such a restaurant, she said, was “something I always wanted to do. It was “either this or a grocery store,” she explained, because she was the mother of five small children at the time: “I was thinking in terms of feeding them, and possibly future job employment.” All five have worked at Broadway; her youngest daughter will someday inherit the restaurant when Ms. Cuff-Bigelow retires, “years down the road.” Two of her sons are now co-owners of a restaurant in Bar Harbor.

Broadway’s name and logo make you think classic New York-style deli. Under the former owner, an oral surgeon and culinary dilettante from New York, that was its schtick all the way. There are still traces of that lineage here and there, like Yiddish words that have been assimilated into the American lexicon. There are bagels, lox, blintzes and classic reuben sandwiches (the latter a lunchtime best-seller). But the Broadway Deli no longer has a deli counter, and its menu now hews close to standard American diner fare, with various artful twists. It has become, in the words of the owner, “not so much a classic deli as a sit-down family restaurant.”

Indeed, you can’t begin to appreciate the ambiance until you’ve taken a seat. Each of the tables is a work of art by a local artist. Mine was painted with anthropomorphic zoo animals. Another sported a beautiful tree design. The walls, too, serve as an art gallery, and one of the attractions of the restaurant. They house a semi-permanent exhibit of the clock sculptures of Mark Royall, whimsical contraptions made with bicycle chains, circular-saw blades, golf tees and other artifacts.

I’ll surely be coming back to the Broadway Delicatessen, one of Brunswick’s most unique and charming eateries. It is open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Clock sculptures by Mark Royall adorn the walls of Broadway Deli.
Photos by Ben Riggleman