I first learned of Frankel’s through a Bon Appétit YouTube video back in 2019, in a series where they sampled the entire menu in one sitting. The deli has outlived the series it starred in, and has earned its place a neighborhood institution in its own right since opening on a high traffic corner of Manhattan Ave in Greenpoint. This isn’t your usual 24 hour corner store deli. It’s more of an indulgent breakfast that you go out of your way for. Or a place to start a weekend morning in North Brooklyn. It still operates in a mostly takeaway fashion, though they have some counter stools. But the constant stream of orders means it isn’t always a quick stop.

You’re here for the sandwiches. Breakfast sandwiches come in all the classic variations from bacon to taylor ham to pastrami to brisket to add to your egg and cheese on challah. Bagels come in sandwich and open faced forms. They do great smoked fish but don’t sleep on the bacon, tomato and scallion cream cheese combo. Lunch sandwiches range from their take on a BLT to a whitefish salad sandwich to an excellent turkey reuben. They also have hot dogs, but we’re not going to debate whether those are sandwiches here.

The vibe is retro, in that movie set kind of way, but the hype is very real. Regulars have their go-to orders, but there’s something to be said about making your way around the whole menu. But maybe not all at once.