Joe Jr.

I moved to Manhattan this morning. I wish I had more time – I don’t think I stayed nearly long enough in Bushwick and now I only have about 10 days to further explore Manhattan and all its neighbourhoods. For the next little while I will be just off Union Square at the Seafarers International, a Lutheran guest house on East 15th St with single bed rooms, shared bathrooms and service in the downstairs chapel every Sunday. Many of the rooms have plaques on the doors stating that they have been refurbished through the generous donation of such and such. Mine has no plaque. Still it’s clean, and comfortable and very affordable for a Manhattan hotel room.

It just so happens that friends of mine in Toronto have also stayed here and a local eatery was recommended for breakfast. For the life of me I couldn’t remember the name, but this morning while I was wandering around waiting for my room to be cleaned I stumbled upon Joe Jr., just around the corner on 3rd Avenue and I think this must be the place they mentioned. It’s a gem. It’s my idea of the classic American diner. A huge menu with a variety of burgers, omelettes, eggs, waffles, pancakes and bottomless cups of weak, drip filtered coffee on offer, all served in a sea of beige formica and fake wood laminate either at a table or at the bar. Super busy at breakfast time, with the two guys at the stove and grill performing a well practiced, frenetic yet highly choreographed dance with mounds of hash and sausage and eggs and toast. It was quite mesmerising to watch. And also, really tasty and cheap. I may risk a heart attack and come back again tomorrow.

There’s also a nice article I found about Joe Jr. with some great photos by Nick Solares.