PrintTop 5 Meatball Heroes (Almost)
In honor of Columbus Day I started thinking about meatball heroes. A great meatball hero is hard to find. Most meatballs are leaden and way too dense. They're weighed down with too many breadcrumbs. Most hero rolls are cottony disasters, with no chew to the crust. When you find a good meatball hero it's cause for celebration. But when I tried to come up with a top five meatball heroes list I came up short: I could think of three that I truly loved. They are:
Frankie's Spuntino
Address: 457 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 (map); 17 Clinton Street, New York, NY 10002 (map)
Phone: 718-403-0033, 212-403-0033
Website: frankiesspuntino.com
The gold standard of meat ball parm heroes. The meatballs are light, the mozzarella is fresh, and the bread is Sullivan Street bakery pizza.
Caputo's
Address: 460 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 (map)
Phone: 718-855-8852
A family-run Italian grocery store with very high standards, Caputo's features Mrs. Caputo's surprisingly light meatballs, made with beef, pork, and veal.
Leo's Latticini
Address: 46-02 104th Street, Corona, NY 11368 (map)
Phone: 718-898-6069
Also known as Mama's, Leo's Latticini only has meatballs on certain days of the week. So call first.
Crosby Connection
Address: 290 Elizabeth Street, New York, NY 10012 (map)
Phone: 212-677-8444
Website: crosbyconnectionnyc.com
The crosby special is a meatball hero with ricotta and mozzarella. It's a little messy and I wish the bread were a little better, but overall the Crosby Connection makes a fine meatball hero. The price is right, as well: $6.
In theory, based on their track record, the following places should be prime territory for meatball heroes:
Esposito's
Address: 357 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 (map)
Phone: 718-875-6863
The quintessential Brooklyn pork store, Esposito's makes meatballs, fresh mozzarella, has decent bread, and they have pretty high standards.
DiFara
Address: 1424 Avenue J, Brooklyn, NY 11230 (map)
Phone: 718-258-1367
I've never had a meatball parm hero at Dom's, but let's face it, the man knows how to cook and he takes great pride in everything he makes. Anybody had a meatball hero at DiFara?
Meatball Hero Emeritus
Corona Heights Pork Store: The Corona Heights Pork Store is closed (I haven't been able to get in touch with the Cappezzas to find out why), but Mary Lou made a meatball parm hero that was as good as an old school hero could be. Her meatballs were clouds, her sauce was loaded with meaty pork flavor, and she used excellent hero rolls from Rose and Joe's Bakery in Astoria.
I'm also thinking that Faicco's on Bleecker St. and Brooklyn must make a really fine meatball hero, but I've never had one there. Any reports? And what about Royal Crown in Brooklyn?
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7 Comments:
I can tell you from personal experience that Dom's meatball sandwich is quite good (and his eggplant parmagiana is perhaps even better). But good pizza in these parts is a far rarer beast than good meatballs, so I don't often waste my hunger on them.
One additional suggestion for meatballs is the original John's on Bleecker Street. Its pizza is no longer what it once was due to the lousy cheese they have taken to using these days -- although if you ask for your pizza "extra well done" the crust is still good enough -- but its meatballs are still great. The bread they serve is another story, and I therefore usually just get a side order of meatballs in sauce, but the total package is still worthwhile in a sandwich. Check it out.
Makanmata at 9:06AM on 10/10/06
I also want to point out that the ersatz John's franchisees at other locations -- like in Times Square -- serve horrible meatballs. Don't order them there. Other than the pizza, which is somewhat similar, the food at the non-Bleecker Jonh's is completely different than is served at the Bleecker location.
Makanmata at 10:25AM on 10/10/06
I couldn't help it, after reading this post I went and ordered myself a meatball sub from frankie's spuntino on clinton st. It didn't have fresh mozzerella on it, which was a slight dissapointment, but it was still absolutely wonderful. Just delicious bread and flavorful meatballs was enough...
meredith at 12:17PM on 10/10/06
I once had a meatball sandwich from Murray's Cheese Shop featuring Ottomanelli's meatballs which was superb though small.
guttergour at 4:02PM on 10/10/06
in my humble opinoin, the best meatball hero is one that is made at home. i find the problem with store/restaurant bought meatballs is that because they are made in large batches, they are over mixed by a machine and that will lead to a spongey meatball. that said, if i had to buy one i would like to try one from bread tribeca, i dont think there's one on the menu but they would probbly do a decent one!
YumNYC at 9:27PM on 10/10/06
Don't know if it's Frankies' secret ingredient or just adds to the deliciousness, but their meatballs are loaded with pignola nuts... mmm
kqrbob at 12:17PM on 10/11/06
yumNYC is right.
I LOVE MEATBALL HEROES.
I have never ever had a meatball hero that could touch one that was homemade.
In fact that also goes for chicken parm because no matter where you go the sauce tastes the same like there is 1 supplier for hero sauce and the cheese always sucks and they put way to much on.As far as the bread goes Zito's was the best but alas they are another legend that was allowed to go by the wayside because of high rent.
chameleonz at 10:59PM on 10/16/06