It’s a warm summer afternoon, and Dream Deli is bustling. Music is playing softly inside and, seated at the row of tomato-red outdoor tables, customers are enjoying a variety of sandwiches, salads and house-made sodas. The restaurant, which opened in late November of 2025, feels well-situated on the sunny corner of SE Division St. and 35th Pl.
For Jessie Levine, who co-owns Dream Deli with her husband, chef John Bissell, the restaurant’s sense of belonging is no surprise. “Ever since we got to Portland, it’s apparent it feels like home,” she says. “We knew we definitely wanted to open a restaurant in SE.”
Inspired by Bissell and Levine’s Jewish and Italian heritage, Dream Deli’s menu is also guided by “the North Star [of] sourcing and working with ingredients from the Pacific Northwest whenever possible,” explains Bissell…