Gallery: This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef

Gravy ladled on top of a roast beef and mozzarella sandwich.

The menu at This Little Piggy is as spartan as the interior. Choose between pastrami or two variations of roast beef—"This Way" or "That Way"—while Frank Sinatra sings "My Way" over the radio. Sides of fries, coleslaw and macaroni salad round out the menu.

A co-owner of This Little Piggy.

Slow roasted for hours.

The beef is cooked almost all the way through but thin slicing insures tenderness.

Comes from Cammareri Bros. in Brooklyn.

Roast beef, cheez whiz and au jus on an egg roll ($4). The sandwich is an obvious homage to Roll 'n Roaster in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. There was a Roll 'n Roaster on Third Avenue and 11th Street but it shuttered a few years back. I don't remember it being half as good the sandwich here.

Remarkably, despite being completely soaked through and flattened, the bottom half of the bun remains intact. The best way to eat it is to flip the sandwich over.

Roast beef, fresh mozzarella and gravy ($7.50)

That Way gets toasted in the oven to melt the fresh mozzarella before gravy is ladled on top.

The pastrami is not made in-house; the tiny kitchen in the back simply does not allow it. "I didn't realize that 95% of places that sell pastrami buy it in," said Garcia. He sought a variety that closely mimics Katz's and I think he came pretty close. It has that thick, fragrant bark, redolent with clove and peppercorn, and tender flesh. I am not sure the sandwich needs the coleslaw but I would love to see the bread double baked the way Langer's does in LA.

Parboiled, dried, drenched in flour and then deep fried. They are more like English chips than French fries, with a crisp crust and flaky interior. I actually think they would benefit from vinegar, which is not available, although you can get cheez whiz or gravy (or both) on yours.

The decor is a stripped-down aesthetic—literally.