Lunch: Defonte’s of Brooklyn

There are a lot of good things coming out of Brooklyn these days, not least of which is Defonte’s sandwich shop. The only drawback to the first Defonte’s was its location in Red Hook, too far away for most of us to get there for lunch. But there’s a reason for that other than the trendiness of Red Hook: Nick Defonte came over from Italy and worked in Red Hook as a longshoreman before starting up his sandwich shop there in 1922.

Now Defonte’s of Brooklyn has opened on Third Avenue and 21st in a modern, prime corner space with a stainless steel counter and a few granite tables, bringing their specialty hot sandwiches to the Manhattan work force.

Defonte’s roasts beef, turkey, meatloaf and more daily, keeps the meat warm, and slices it just before serving – so try not to cave and order the usual Italian cold cuts. Defonte’s is best known for their roast beef, fried eggplant, and mozzarella sandwich ($9.75), one of the best roast beef sandwiches I’ve had. The juicy, tender beef may be the centerpiece, but it’s the attention to detail that really puts this one over the top. The fresh, crusty roll tastes intensely of sesame, and the counterman ladles roast beef juice on it before folding up the sandwich.

Another draw is the meatball parmesan sandwich ($9.75), made with well-seasoned beef and pork balls pressed onto a few slices of provolone and sauced with marinara. The cheese melts as soon as they wrap the sandwich. I prefer a meatball sub with more tomato sauce, but this is a question of architecture: In order to put more sauce on, they would have to slice the bread only partway through or do it old-school Italian-American-style and ladle the meatballs into a bigger, hollowed-out roll.

The sandwiches are so huge that you can easily save half for the next day’s lunch, and if you’re not a meat eater, there are several vegetarian options. In fact, there’s so much on the menu worth trying that Defonte’s necessitates more than one trip. But the friendly staff and the back-in-time atmosphere, with hokey ‘60s tunes like “Ain’t Nothin’ Like the Real Thing” playing on the stereo, will keep you coming back anyway.

Total time: 25 minutes
Bill: $12.67

Defonte’s of Brooklyn
261 Third Avenue at East 21st Street
New York, NY
212-614-1500

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