Omnivore - What’s Old is New: Revisiting E. 48th Street Market and Broadway Cafe

?? With so much focus on all of the shiny new chef-driven concepts and fancy food halls Atlanta is offering diners, it’s easy to forget about the old spots you have already visited and/or written off. Restaurants are like a living and breathing organism prone to change, which means a place you once loved could no longer be good or a place you never liked, may now be your savior. Follow along as I rediscover oldies and goodies.
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? After a disappointing cheesesteak at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Daves-Phillys-Water-Ice/731904296901551Dave’s Philly’s and Water Ice, I needed what I like to call “a Hobbit lunch.” If you are a Lord of the Rings/The HOBBIT fan, you know what I am talking about. For those of you who don’t know, a “Hobbit lunch” or breakfast or dinner is actually your second meal during that particular meal time. For Hobbits, it is because they have particularly voracious appetites. For me, I use the second meal to erase the memory of the disappointing first meal.
? So, back to that cheesesteak. I could not get past the taste of old griddle on the overcooked meat. So off we went to E. 48th Street Market, an Italian market that opened in 1986. Walking in the doors makes me feel I’ve been transported to some piece of Little Italy in a Dunwoody shopping center.
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? You can buy many different things here, including pre-made bolognese, rope sausage, veal scallopini, ridiculous garlic bread, and more, I came for the sandwiches. On this visit, we ate a meatball sub with fresh mozzarella (you have to add that on for extra) and the Stoffato, a mix of mortadella, capicola, and provolone with lettuce and an oil and vinegar sauce. Both sandwiches are on the smaller side of the sandwich spectrum meaning they were not overstuffed and easy to manage.
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? I love how they sliced the meatballs to make the sandwich more compact and the gooey string of cheese upped the textural pleasure factor. I also took one of the grilled garlic bread rounds to go, which I ate for dinner with some scrambled eggs and fresh tomatoes.The market also has soups, pasta, pizzas, and a daily menu where you can find things such as open faced calzones.
? Broadway Cafe has long been a staple of the nearby Jewish Community in Toco Hills/Druid Hills, but the food was never very good. They are now under new management and things are improving. They have rolled out a bagel program where they kettle boil them every day. While they are not open after sundown on Friday through 8pm on Saturday due to shabbat, we go first thing on Sunday morning when they open at 7am for hot bagels that rival many in Atlanta.
? The bagels are not obnoxiously enormous, but on the smaller side — around 5 inches across. They have good chew and reheat well the next day although they normally don’t last that long in my house. I prefer them warm from the store. They have tons of flavor options, flagels (flat bagels), schmears, and pickles. I hear the other menu items have also improved.