Friday, June 3, 2011

Mama Louisa's Hero Shoppe

Work took me out to Crown Heights/Prospect Lefferts today, so I didn't do my normal Friday walkabout.  Instead I ended up at one of the best delis I've ever visited - Mama Louisa's Hero Shoppe, on New York Ave. & Rutland, just around the corner from Kings County Hospital.  From outside, it looks like a fairly conventional, traditional kind of deli, but once you get in there, you'll know you've entered a different class of place altogether, and you'll be smiling . In addition to its dizzying array of heros, and other good stuff (rock lobster, brisket, ravioli, cabbage soup, artichoke parmigiana) , this store is crammed with hand-written signs,  & a million of life's necessities: water balloons, hairdryers, frisbees, corkscrews, clippers, painkillers, all sorts of candies (Junior Mints Deluxe!), Play-Doh, playing cards, furniture polish & glue. You might have gone back to another era - somewhere in the mid 70's?  -  & you feel that maybe you could live very nicely off everything they sell here.  Contentment!  The place is jamming at lunchtime, with a line of burly guys waiting for their food.  The helpings are huge, the prices are good, & the food is all-out excellent.  Service is brisk, serious, but friendly. I had the artichoke-parmigiana hero - a giant, messy delight.  This place will nourish even the most jaded soul, depressed by the relentless tide of urban homogenization.  Get over there.  Quick.




5 comments:

Carl Douglas said...

Can we go there in July?

Carl Douglas said...

Also, discussed today with C.L.R the best/worst place to die. Apparently a distant relative died of a heart attack recently and the family announced with great pride that it happened in Marks and Spencer. We decided we preferred Tesco Express.

onemorefoldedsunset said...

We can definitely go there, Carl. Just don't drop dead in there!

Marty Wombacher said...

"Play-Doh, playing cards, furniture polish & glue."

Anyplace that sells all those items under one roof is my hero! I need to find this place!

onemorefoldedsunset said...

All of life's essentials, Marty.