STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Pete Davidson has spent years shouting out Staten Island’s best food spots, but on the debut episode of his new Netflix podcast, one local deli got a mention for a very different reason.
During the debut installment of “The Pete Davidson Show,” Davidson sat down with longtime friend and first guest Colson Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly) for a loose, wide-ranging conversation that bounced from funny memories to mental health and whatever else came up.
At one point, the two started talking about EMDR therapy, and Davidson asked Baker what his “happy place” is, or the mental image he goes to during sessions.
Baker’s answer was simple: “Clear water.” Davidson’s response, on the other hand, was about as classic Staten Island as it gets.
“Mine was this deli that’s near my house,” he said, gearing up for another hometown borough shoutout.
The appeal, he explained, is that it’s almost aggressively practical.
“It’s not the best deli in the world. It’s just f—— clean,” Davidson said. “It’s, like, really clean. And you feel really good about buying produce and, like, meats from there.”
For Davidson, the place is also great because of its familiarity, and it’s stayed normal even as everything else in his life hasn’t.
“The guy has known me since I’m like 8 to 10 years old,” Davidson said. “He’s never like, asked me a Hollywood question. He’s never made a comment on it. He’s always just like, you know, ‘good to see you.’”
Eventually, Davidson revealed the name: Bagels R Us in Great Kills.
“It’s phenomenal,” Davidson said, acknowledging that delis aren’t exactly hard to find in New York, which is why it means something when one becomes the one.
“So that was my happy place,” he joked, “and now I just put terrible memories in there.”