Sammy Old School

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LIFELONG NEW YORKERS LIKE MYSELF can frequently be heard lamenting the new gentrification of many of our dearly revered neighborhoods. As progressive, forward-thinking, and modern a city New York has always represented, it is a hometown to its native denizens, and we hate to see our home vanish, bit by bit, block by block.

Which is why born-and-bred here are ever more nostalgic for the ever-dwindling "old school" charms Gotham still boasts. One such charm is the 85-year old Eisenberg's Sandwich Shop just across the street from the west side of the most famous building in the FLATIRON DISTRICT. Evoking the memories of neighborhood diners—and diner "chains" such as Howard Johnson's—the greasy spoon still thrives of almost fevered nostalgia and the fervor over what many now instinctually call the best (or as one reviewer put it, "the perfectly imperfect") tuna salad sandwich in all of Manhattan.

And as great as the tuna sandwich is at Eisenberg's is (it is unadulterated heaven, just primo tuna and mayo, to which I ask to add chopped onions to), when I want to go really "OLD SCHOOL" with my dining pleasure, I like a good CHOPPED LIVER. Not only does Eisenberg's make excellent chopped liver, they make excellent BRISKET as well, and feature both on a sandwich that inspires me to revisit a few times a year with a frosty, thick vanilla egg cream.

And as I slowly indulge in my delicious SANDWICH and drink, I look around the shop, soaking up the low-fi, almost archaic ambience, remembering my first trip there when I was eight years old, trying to figure out which new celebrity pics have been added to the wall since my last visit, and enjoying the no-nonsense attitude and service of the staff and establishment.

And that's kind of both businesses and people "survive" in this city. You have to learn to do what you do seriously, without taking your self too serious. Stay true to who you really are, and you'll find a place for yourself in this city.

Maybe even for 85 years.