The Pint-Sized Palate— A Kid’s Take on NYC Food
Edith’s Sandwich Counter, Where Everybody Knows Your Name
By CHURCHILL STONE
I live on a corner in the West Village near a lot of restaurants. Now we have a new place across the street called Edith’s Sandwich Counter. And it is usually packed with people, even at 8 am when it opens.
One super cold Sunday morning, after my mom left for yoga, I looked out our window. There was no line at Edith’s. So my sister, Charlemagne, and I asked if we could finally go there. My father said that he thought the food would be “too adult” for us and that we probably could not get our mouths around any sandwich. Boy, was he wrong.
We were greeted with a “Welcome!” and a big smile, which is just what this neighborhood needs. My dad ordered a SEC&L breakfast sandwich which is an omelet with melted cheddar and sausage, on a toasted bagel. It was really good and very kid friendly. And, it was so large that my sister, my 10 month old baby brother, my dad and I, all shared it. Charlemagne asked for cream cheese for her part of the bagel, and they brought it to her for free. They were so nice to us the entire time.
With our breakfast sandwich we got a latke which is like one large hash brown. It was good, especially with Edith’s special sauce. Across from us we saw somebody eating totkes (chopped up latkes which are like tater tots) with ketchup and special sauce. We also got “Edith’s Sunset Juice” which is orange juice, tangerine juice, grapefruit juice, and lemon juice. Charlemagne and I both liked it so we ended up fighting over it a bit and asked our dad for another. He said, “No.”
They have other drinks too, slushies, but they’re just frozen cold brew coffee. They told us they may get a frozen hot chocolate slushie machine, either that or Cherry Coke, which would be really good, especially in summer.
The people working at Edith’s (Matt, Anna, and Tom) were very friendly. Matt gave us two tasty caramel chocolate chip cookies which were soft and crunchy at the same time. The cookies were super sweet which I loved. We also tried their chocolate babka — it’s sort of like cake and bread at the same time, and that was delicious too.
We went to Edith’s the next week and they remembered our names! This time we had the Sephardi Breakfast Wrap — scrambled eggs, bacon and pickled Fresno peppers. It was spicy, but even better than our first breakfast sandwich.
A few days later, we stopped after school to try Edith’s peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It needed more peanut butter and more jelly; and they should get rid of the crunchy things inside that have no taste. But it was better than the PB&J sandwiches they have at P.S. 41.
Kids would not like a lot of Edith’s menu because it’s stuff like pastrami, tahini, tuna, chickpeas, pickles, smoked salmon and vegetables. Also, the deli sandwiches are huge and expensive (one is $28!). But these sandwiches can probably feed two adults or six kids. They have a sign behind the counter that says, “Eat half here, take half home!”
Edith’s food is pretty good, but it does not deserve a line of 50 people waiting in the freezing cold. Families have to go in the early morning because after that it’s all younger people who want to take pictures of their food for Instagram. And don’t plan on eating inside after 8 am because there are only about ten places to sit and no bathroom.
When my mom heard how much we liked Edith’s breakfast sandwich, she was mad that we didn’t wait for her. Next time!
Rating: ✪ ✪ ✪ (3 stars)
Edith’s Sandwich Counter
64 Charles St. (at West 4th St.)
