On my shortlist of “things to eat when I move to New York,” pizza and bagels were notably absent. What was present was the broccoli reuben sandwich from Court Street Grocers, the sandwich I had been thinking about ever since I first laid eyes on it in my feed. A few months in, I found myself living just a few minutes walk from the Williamsburg outpost. Of course, that was in May 2020, and sadly for me, Court Street Grocers was not open for business and would remain closed for months.

But alas, eventually on a fateful day of running errands, I saw that it was open and decided it was time for lunch. Because Court Street is like every Brooklyn millennial hipster food person’s platonic ideal for a lunch spot. The entire existence is a vibe, from the nonchalant casual storefront to the obnoxiously artfully unaesthetic branding and social presence, it knows its audience. It’s more deli than grocer but no one is complaining. We’re here for the sandwiches anyways.

The sandwiches have creative names that live up to the (unexpectedly complementary) smattering of ingredients they manage to put between two pieces of bread. The “Uncle Grandpa” with roast turkey breast, ajvar, pickled fennel. The “Mother-in-Law” with braised beef short ribs, roasted broccoli, kimchi. The “Droopy” with house-made roast beef, french’s fried onions, arugula. For many of the classics they also offer up enthusiastic vegetarian versions: the Ollieflower that subs roast turkey with cauliflower, the Yam and Cheese which uses sweet potato, the Vegetalian which pairs classic Italian deli sandwich flavors with butternut squash. Anyone who is anyone in the NYC food world has their favorite Court Street sandwich, and you should too.

Oh, and they have pretty good breakfast sandwiches too.