

photo via Yelp

For the time I briefly lived off the Graham L stop, Graham Avenue Meats & Deli was a hallowed hangover staple. It was the place where you'd see everyone from the night before, subsidizing their insane Billyburg rents with a weekly Willie Special (to all you Godfather adherents: three meats are always better than two). Spicy, of course, because chili oil is the only way to balance out the fatty goodness of whatever multimeat stack they happened to have on hand that day. It was a wonderful ritual that kept me from eating the cats I lived with and an excellent way to fortify my stomach for another consecutive evening of $2 Tecates and infinite bad decisions—the veritable holy trinity for any 20-something eager to make the rounds before Glasslands et al. closed for good.

The Village Voice initially reported on March 30th that it looked as if the lights had gone out for good, and after flustered speculation, an Eater commenter said the shop was "confirmed dunzo forever by the staff." Pandemonium on my Facebook newsfeed ensued, until it was all finally followed by a detailed eulogy by Fader editor and former 285 Kent staple Emilie Friedlander, which became the final, heart-wrenching sign of the impending Cheap Eats apocalypse. The deli's phone is disconnected, and no one seems to know why it closed.

After all, the 30-year-old staple was beloved by the Brooklyn independent music community, who were fixtures outside on bleary-eyed Saturday mornings. (Not to mention the mob, who owner Michael "Mike The Butcher" Virtuoso had ties to, as a loanshark for the Bonanno crime family.) Yet even Sopranos-level hijinks couldn't stop the Yelpers from giving it 4 1/2 stars and Foursquare from awarding it an exceptional 9.2—because all it took to create converts was one face-stretching, belly-satisfying gnaw of their sky-high sammie, lovingly made by people who actually deserve the title "Sandwich Artist."

Anyway, R.I.P. Graham Avenue Meats & Deli. I can only hope I can find another salami half as satisfying this side of the Hudson.