Franklin Corner Store
210 Frankin Street, in Greenpoint
Restaurants category pick for the week of 8/25/08
Throughout the past year of living in Greenpoint, I've always found the Franklin Corner Store closed whenever I passed by, so it hasn’t been a big part in my diet until... now. Thanks to the coaxing of a co-worker, I finally made it up to the seemingly nondescript and unexceptional looking bodega and I can say with certainty that they make the some of the best sandwiches you will ever try. I have, even recently, touted many a sandwich spot but (with the possible exception of a perfect bahn mi) none can really compare.
The lone dude who makes all the sandwiches (all the other employees are apparently only paid to watch him and man the counter with semi competency) should sue every Subway staff member for their false claims of sandwich artistry. This guy is the real deal. Each taste combination is perfect, many are actually pure genius. Just listen to what goes into my personal favorite, the hot and pressed Chicago: thin fried eggplant, turkey, jalapenos, avocado, bean dip, lettuce, and provolone; or Jim’s infatuation, the Bronx Bomber: roast pork, swiss cheese, avocado, BBQ sauce, mayonnaise and jalapenos, served hot and pressed.
For around $6 each (some are even cheaper), these can become an obsession, the kind of food that keeps you up at night with eggplant and turkey dreams and the kind that keeps you fat in the middle. We even ate there twice in one day only a few days after our first taste. Sounds similar to getting hooked on a drug, right? Well, try it yourself and you’ll understand the extreme reaction.
If you do and you ever tire of the clap board sandwich menu, you’ll be as delighted as I was to find that they have a paper menu with a plethora of additional mouth watering choices. Also adding to the place's mystique: modestly hidden behind a cooler hangs a signed photo of none other than David Lynch.
The only draw back (aside from a kind of dirty cat that jumps on Jim’s lap) is that it can take forever. Remember, only one guy is allowed to make the sandwiches–which can be irritating if you're impatient; but how could anyone not be impatient when waiting for a sandwich this amazing?
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