New Sig's Place Stops Traffic

If you see someone pull a u-turn on Aquidneck Avenue, it's not likely they forgot something back at their house. They just can't believe their eyes they're seeing Sig's Place Deli & Catering now reopened at 1151 Aquidneck Avenue.

Owner, Shawn Margolis, can hardly believe how excited people are to see his family's deli, a longtime institution in Newport, that would have celebrated its 80th year in business this year had his parents, Morris and Brenda Margolis, not closed it back in 2008. His grandfather opened the original Sig's Deli in 1930.

But really it should be no surprise to him. Margolis tells Patch that for the past two years, "People were constantly coming up to me and telling me  how much they missed us and the food. I even had one lady that was crying. There's no where else around here to get this kind of food."

Margolis says that what differentiates his food from others is that everything is made fresh on site. "You can't beat fresh made and there are not that many people doing it," he says. His specialties are roast turkey, mac 'n cheese, American chop suey, and macaroni salad.

Of the macaroni salad, he says, "People are buying it like I'm giving it away for free."

Margolis, who worked for his parents off and on as a kid and then full time for 11 years at the Newport Sig's, tells Patch that he had been thinking about re-opening the business for a while, but says he "fell into it" when he heard through a friend that the Aquidneck Avenue space next to Post All was opening up. 

"I drove by and there was no sign in the window so I found out who owned the building, called them, and three days later we had a lease," said Margolis. "We started renovating the space 1-1/2 weeks later and two weeks after that (July 3) we were open for business."

So why Middletown instead of Newport?

It's the perfect mid-point between Margolis' home in Portsmouth and that of his parents, who still live in Newport and now work at the new deli three days a week, said Margolis.

Margolis says it's great to see so many of his Fifth Ward customers come out to support the new Middletown location.

He also loves seeing the same faces four to six times a week. He has many repeat customers and, according to Margolis, the new people who come in often say they heard about it from a friend. 

Teresa Helger of Little Compton told Patch, "We happened to stumble upon it one day and now we come every week."

Loyal customers will recognize the same fresh prepared foods, fresh baked bagels and muffins, as well as take-out dinners that were mainstays at the original Sig's Place. However they will not see the grocery and frozen foods sections that had been part of the original Fifth Ward Sig's.

The other main difference is the new offerings that take advantage of the high quality pizza oven left there by previous occupants Scooby's Pizza. Margolis decided to keep that oven, stay open until 8 pm and offer pizza as well.

In the almost six weeks since Margolis' new Sig's Place has been open, he's already handed out the original 2,000 menus he had printed, so it appears that the long-time Newport institution is on track for similar success in Middletown.

Sig's Place is open seven days a week from 6:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. They take all major credit cards and have an ATM on site. They also offer Sig's Gift Cards.