The Meatball Shop

Update: The Meatball Shop now has six locations.

When I was told there was an hour wait for a table at the Meatball Shop the other night, I was ecstatic. The last two times I tried to go, there was a two-hour wait, and since then Meatball Shop hype only seemed to grow. There were mentions of it everywhere: the Food Network, the Yahoo.com homepage, my Facebook friends’ status updates. Taunting me.

Yes, I allow myself to be taunted by hype, when it comes to food. We all have our weaknesses.

The wait might have been shorter due to the fact that it was a bitterly cold weekday night, right after a snowstorm. I put my name down for a table and waited at Epstein’s, a bar next door, where I met up with fellow food blogger, Mr. EateryROW. There was literally no breathing room for onlookers at the Meatball Shop, but they called to tell us our table was ready, as promised, about an hour and fifteen minutes later. We were seated at a side table along the wall of the small dining room, which is mostly taken up by a long communal table. The diners at this table seemed younger than the Tone Loc vintage tunes pumping through the ceiling, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Really—if you’re eating meatballs and drinking beers to Funky Cold Medina and not enjoying yourself a little, something is probably very wrong.

The ordering process takes some getting used to. Markable menus and dry-erase pens are provided for your selections. You mark an x for the type of meat, sauce, and style–in a bowl with sauce ($7), sliders ($3 each), hero ($9), or a “smash”–two meatballs on a brioche bun, cheese and side salad ($8). The sides ($4 each) were an assortment of healthy greens and stick-to-your-bones indulgences, including sauteed broccoli, steamed spinach, salad, polenta, risotto, and white beans.

We ordered sliders because our server advised that was the best way to sample different meatballs and sauces. The downside of the slider, I found, is that it’s difficult to taste the sauce because so little of it fits on the tiny bun. The classic beef with tomato sauce was juicy, but plain. The spicy pork meatball with mushroom sauce more flavorful, but fell short on the spice. The special meatball, with chile relleno pepper and queso fresco topped with smokey jalapeno, tomatillo and chipotle sauce had the most kick. I’d recommend it if it’s on the menu.

Sides were above-average. the escarole with brown butter and lemon capers served as a tasty helping of greens, and the white beans were smooth and filling, like a revamped mac n’ cheese. We split a scoop of brown sugar ice cream for dessert. Although I didn’t try the ice cream sandwich, I was informed by EateryROW that the cookies were too hard to bite into.

Now the real question: is the Meatball Shop worth a two hour wait? I’d have to say no. The food was above average, and in fact, EateryROW and I speculated that the wait and ensuing hunger were making things taste better. The prices were reasonable, and I liked the atmosphere. Our server was incredibly attentive considering how busy they were. They’re also open til 4am Thursday-Saturday, a huge plus in this night owl neighborhood. If it were a matter of rolling up to Meatball Shop with a couple of friends and snagging a table right away, I’d recommend it.

The Meatball Shop
84 Stanton St. between Allen St. and Orchard St.
Sun-Wed noon-2am, Thurs-Sat noon-4am