The Hero Of Mott Street

They call it a bakery, but in reality the bakery is a few blocks away on Elizabeth Street. This outpost of Parisi Bakery specializes in magnificently-crafted heroes — maybe the pictures of Babe Ruth and other New York Yankees provide heroic inspiration.

But finding hero nirvana is never easy and at Parisi's there is the little problem of the line. The line begins to form just before noon and soon snakes out the door and onto Mott Street. I've many times preached my feelings about waiting on line for food. Unless times are very hard, don't ever do it!

Even for their exemplary meatball hero smothered in deeply-flavored marinara.

There are ways to avoid the line quandary. It just takes a little planning. You'll need to set your schedule around your visit to Parisi's. Make that your priority for the day. Take a late breakfast or an early or very late lunch and you should be fine. There is no seating at Parisi's but who cares? You've got your hero. Don't ask for more...or maybe just a few loaves to take home.

Brian Silverman chronicles cheap eats, congee, cachapas, cow foot, cow brains, bizarre foods, baccala, bad verse, fazool, fish stomach, happy hours, hot peppers, hot pots, pupusas, pastas, rum punch and rotis, among many other things on his site Fried Neck Bones...and Some Home Fries. Twitter: neckbones@fried_neckbones.