The Meatball Shop Guys Thought It Would Be A Slow Summer
Major LOLZ! This place is packed from open to close. Every. Single. Day.
When we're not in the office, our friends know exactly where to find us: either crashing some hotel rooftop pool in this hot, hot heat or at the Meatball Shop on the Lower East Side. No, seriously, we're always here. It's like that cafe where the cast of Friends always hung out. This is our jam, for real. We love the meatballs here so much we dedicated our splash plage to it which is kind of like if meatballs were models and they got a magazine cover.
It's just a few months old with a good wine list and, of course, awesome meatballs. You can mix and match the meatballs (beef, chicken, veggie, pork, etc) with the sauces (spicy, classic tomato, etc), and there's delish sides to boot, like risotto and polenta (starches are our frenemies). You choose to have the sides under your balls or on the side, and there's more than just spaghetti and stuff - they also do meatball sliders which as you can imagine are mind-blowingly delicious. All of this choose your own meatball adventure stuff is done via a laminated menu that you mark with a Sharpie. Even their ordering process is major!
The managers are super-young and super-cool, and we quote from the chef, Daniel : "We really thought it was going to be a slow summer." So wrong. This place is packed day and night. Thank the fact a meal here doesn't break the bank, and during the days they get all that natural sunlight from the floor to ceiling windows. We're so stoked for new things like additions to the menu and outdoor, sidewalk seating (inside only fits like 30 people).
Oh, and the best part? Their freakin' awesome ice cream cookie sandwiches. The wife of Michael, the other owner, is a baker, and her homemade cookies and ice cream are off the chain. You choose your own type of cookie and flavor of ice cream (our current thing is to have a peanut butter cookie with vanilla ice cream) and there you go: heaven sandwich.
The Meatball Shop, 84 Stanton St., New York, NY 10002 212-982-8895. themeatballshop.com