Sketching Eisenbergs Sandwich Shop

Once the busiest lunch counter in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, Eisenberg’s Sandwich Shop closed earlier this year as a casualty of the Pandemic.  But I just got the happy news that it will be reopening under new owners.  This was a great place to sketch while slurping delicious matzoh ball soup. The sign that stood out front said, “Raising New York’s cholesterol since 1929.”  A bustling, traditional counter deli, people from all over the Flatiron area came here for egg creams, pastrami sandwiches, and their classic meat loaf. 

Sketching Eisenbergs Sandwich Shop

Once while sketching I lost my favorite DaVinci sable brush. Two days later when I realized it, I rushed back and the cook reached into his pocket and handed it to me! Another time while sitting at the counter my glasses fell into a vat of steaming soup. Without missing a beat the cook retrieved my glasses with his ladle, wiped them off with the rag tucked in his belt and handed them back to me, and resumed making sandwiches. A true New York City place! 

Sketching Eisenbergs Sandwich Shop

The Flatiron district has changed immensely since the Pandemic began.  Many restaurants have closed, and the ones that remain now have elegant outdoor dining spaces.  Broadway between 23rd and 21st is closed to traffic, and has been transformed into a pedestrian mall.  The Harry Potter store on 22nd between Fifth and Broadway is drawing crowds of tourists.  I hope that the new Eisenberg’s retains the same ambience and menu as the old one.  And I am looking forward to going back for sketching!

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Related links:

Sketching in New York City

Poetry in the Subway

Pandemic Sketchbooks

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