Mario’s Deli, 4723 Vernon Blvd, 718.937.3193
Sometimes things and places are right under your nose, but you miss them entirely until one day you see a video about your neighborhood and shots of a deli with amazing looking home-cooked food right on Vernon that you noticed but wrote off as just another deli. Oops. Well luckily, the loss is only mine and it’s righted now. Mario’s Deli has been on Vernon Blvd forever, and clearly there are many in the know because every time I go in there, it’s hopping with hungry people.
E & I Deli, Vernon Blvd @ 50th Ave, Hunters Point
If you’ve been reading this blog for five minutes, you know that there’s a grocery store issue… as in we don’t have one. And I’m tired of hearing that C-town counts as a grocery store. Fine, technically C-town is in Hunters Point, but if you live in Queenswest or Vernon/Jackson, two of the other sub-neighborhoods of HP (which is a sub-nabe in and of itself), that C-town is as far away, if not further than The Garden in Greenpoint. Or really, let’s just leave it at that it’s far away. And my question is: is it a good grocery store? It’s too far for me - I just go to The Garden, lug my groceries from the city, or I go to the E&I Deli, aka the Korean deli on Vernon.
Surprisingly, E&I has a really savvy buyer. The deli is definitely stocked with some ‘yuppie’ vittles. You know, overpriced and organic. It also has a great selection of Asian foods as well… which is very much in line with the theme of our burgeoning restaurant scene.
Thank you E&I deli. If it weren’t for you, we’d have to walk the 5000 miles to C-town (aka 15 minutes).
