Defontes
“Hot freshly sliced roast beef, topped with fresh mozzarella and roast beef gravy, its simply a home run hit.”
“Seems like it's in the middle of nowhere by the battery tunnel but it's worth the journey.”
“This is one of those out of the way places where you pay for the food, not their rent, add this to your IKEA run.”
Defontes
Take-out: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Brooklyn Sandwich tour. Stop #2. (A three part series)
Defonte's was our second leg of the tour (see other reviews) and I was encouraged by Mike to try the roast pork sandwich. The pork was sliced thin, topped with provologne, spicy vegetable salad, broccoli rabe, and the hero was then dipped in au jus.
From a flavor standpoint, this sandwich was a knockout. The pork was delicious and the au jus was the perfect addition of flavor. The bread was my favorite of the tour as well.
I deduct a star from Defonte's because surprisingly this sandwich was the skimpiest of the three stops. At a food shop like this, I've become accustomed to heroes that are thick and stacked with meat. They definitely could've laid the pork on a little heavier. In fact, the bread was probably the most prominent ingredient.
Disappointing. Delicious. But disappointing.
So we were driving around Red Hook today wanting to go to Hometown BBQ, but it was CLOSED! And THEN we could NOT find parking, and ended up over by Defontes. My boyfriend asked me if I had heard of it, and I was like, "I think?" because it just LOOKED like an institution. We walked in and were taken back to an OLD SCHOOL deli full of construction workers and firemen and a staff of dudes who were brought to this earth to make you happy with cold cuts and slices of bread.
The sandwiches are OF COURSE huge. I got a "small" which was 1/3 of a loaf with prosciutto, roasted peppers, mozzarella, and breaded eggplant. YUM. It was SO good I ate half right away, and the other half later- and I'm usually REALLY weird about leftover sandwiches. My boyfriend got this pastrami sandwich with this DELICIOUS mustard on it and some other stuff I can't remember but I wanted to take all of it away from him.
Needless to say, this is a bucket list type of place but I'm sure we will have a few more days of giant subs and sitting by the pier.
I first heard about Defonte's when they appeared on DDD on the Food Network. When I saw the quality of the heroes and meat that they made, I just had to make a trip to Red Hook asap! I read a ton of Yelp reviews about how they were always crowded and that there was a line out the door, but during the few times I've been here it's been pretty quiet.
The set up here is simple. Walk in, take a look at the selection of heroes they have on the wall and someone will assist you pronto. The great thing about the service here is (1) they have quite a few people behind the counter (2) the employees are very proactive and friendly asking if you need some help. As for what I've tried, I've ordered the large Chicken Cutlet and large Steak Pizzaiola heroes ($12 each) and both were ridiculously awesome!
Both heroes were humungous and, if you're coming here to order one for yourself, it will probably take 2 sittings to eat each half. The chicken cutlet hero had 4 huge slices of fresh mozzarella laid on 4 pieces of chicken cutlets, basically enough to make 4 separate sandwiches! The bread, chicken cutlets and mozzarella were extremely fresh, especially the mozzarella as I could see it glistening in the sandwich. The Steak Pizzaiola was my personal favorite though. This was the sandwich featured on DDD and, if you order this one, you might never take a look at the rest of the menu again! The steak and sauces seeped into the crevices of the bread and were so flavorful. The steak was soft and just melted in our mouths. It was … the perfect sandwich! And maybe the best one I had ever eaten! If I had to choose one sandwich to eat for the rest of my life the Steak Pizzaiola from Defonte's would be right up there!
Also, don't bother taking your sandwich home because the chances are that the bread will get too moist so eat it on the spot inside.
Yeah yeah the sandwiches are kick ass but seriously, is it me or back in the day every NY deli made a sandwich of this quality?
Walk into any NY deli today and ask for a small hero. They'll take out the Boars Head Roast Beef out of the wrapper, then the Boars Head cheese out of the wrapper, then the Boars Head..
ENOUGH!
My dad owned a supermarket in the Hamptons. Back them, the deli manager would roast a huge hunk of roast beef for slicing. Walking around the IGA, you'd have this intoxicating beef smell. Then she'd call me over and make me a hot roast beef sammy. OMG!
What I just described is still being done at Defontes. 100+ years as a matter of fact.
I don't eat deli sandwiches too often because of the Boars Head take over. I do enjoy a hot sammy.
Walking into Defontes, its not a fancy joint. First off you're in Red Hook. The hipsters are taking over but it ain't Park Slope up in here. There are no tables or chairs to sit and enjoy your sammy, just a small counter where you can stand and read the Defontes newspaper clippings. My son and I ate our large hero on the hood of our car.
I want a simple, hot hero. I enjoy chicken parm heroes, shrimp parm heroes, pretty much anything "PARM" you had me at hello.
We decide on splitting a large Hot Roast Beef Parm Hero (Minus the eggplant, to me its like eating slugs) We go outside, rip open the bag on the hood and I take a bite of a warm roast beef hero.
Takes me right back to my dads store. Hot freshly sliced roast beef, topped with fresh mozzarella and roast beef gravy, its simply a home run hit.
Brooklyn, we're famous for so many things. Whatever you call them in your hometown, grinders, subs, whatever.
Come to Defontes and try the real deal from Brooklyn!
Food: 4.0/5.0
Service: 3.0/5.0
Value: 3.0/5.0
Decor: 2.5/5.0
Overall: 4.0/5.0
Awesome sandwich shop in Red Hook. 'Gem' came to mind as soon as I stepped in. A detective with a handwritten order for six sandwiches with his weapon on his hip, eight-ish burly guys who look like blue collar workers waiting for their sandwiches, and one hipster looking dude with a messenger bag checking out the menu. A team of guys in red shirts behind the counter job shopping the heck out of the different orders. Step in, give your order to a guy who frees up, and watch him do his thing. The sandwich was tasty, and a little pricey but very large. I think it may be a notch better than L***i's.
Yes, Red Hook is far, but you can walk back to civilization after scarfing down one of the biggest sandwiches you've ever had.
Defontes is as old school as it gets. It keeps strange hours. You have older Italian guys yelling at you. And the deli meats are fresh as can be, and they load em up.
Friend and I split the Nicky's special and the roast beef/mozzarella/eggplant (doesn't have a catchy name). The Nicky's special was basically everything they could throw into a sandwich. Tons of veggies, eggplant, and Italian meats. I liked the roast beef better. Perfectly pink, and the eggplant added a nice texture.
If you ask them what the difference is between the two sizes, they'll just tell you with a straight face that one is bigger. Get the bigger one. For $1 more, it's totally worth it.
They also have a backyard with a few tables.
This place is as Brooklyn as it gets.
Yes, it's difficult to get here. If that's a problem for you, you should either 1) buy a car; 2) buy a bike; or 3) buy a comfy pair of running shoes. Either way, when you boil it all down, you really just need to get off that fat @ss of yours and engage in some form of locomotion (be it vehicular or self-generated/bipedal); reason for all the moving around is actually quite utilitarian, especially after partaking in one of the sandwiches from this joint.
A buddy and I decided to take advantage of the ideal weather situation that was going on this past Saturday, as we took our bicycles on the scenic route to Coney Island (19.5 miles one way, for yours truly…). For such an endeavor, an appropriate amount of protein and carbs was essential, and Defontes delivered in spades.
A lightning quick order was placed, with even faster prep and delivery of the 'wich into my hands. A roast pork sammy, with broccoli rabe, sans cheese, with a bag o' chips and bottle of red Gatorade to wash it all down. Needless to say, $15 well spent.
The meat was super moist and juicy, with the slow cooked flavors shining through the generous amount of gravy/jus poured on top. I was surprised with how well the bread held up after seeing how much gravy was poured over top of sandwich. Luckily, the broccoli rabe made the whole sandwich SO much more healthy (so I didn't have to feel like a fat @ss after eating everything in one sitting, chips and drink included).
I should've stopped by on the ride back from Coney Island… the 19.5 on the way back to the frozen north of Queens was a lot more difficult without one of these sandwiches percolating in muh belly.
Should you try these large, over the top, infamous, TV-documented, somewhat overpriced sandwiches? Defontely!
Ew. I didn't like the way this text is looking. Hold on, while I figure out how to change de font.
WARNING: They run out of the hot stuff way before closing, so get here earlier
WHAT TO GET: Chicken sandwich or a Steak Pizzaolo maybe
WHAT ELSE: It's defontely worth a try, although it's anyone's guess if you will become a regular
If they poured some sugar on your sandwich every time you order one (in the name of love), it'd be renamed "Defleppards."
Situated right by the industrial docklands of Brooklyn, when you're driving through this area, you really feel like you're in a mafia movie. Drive down to the end of one of the docks and look for suspicious cement blocks, if you dare.
Known as the best sandwich in NYC, when de facto, it's probably not. But in Brooklyn? De Facto, it may well be. Hence the change of name from Defontes to "DeFactos."
But oh, my, the sandwiches.
These are some of the best sandwiches in New York, but they might not be quite as flavourful and off-the-charts as a lot of people would have you believe, including Guy Fieri, many Yelpers, and the prices, which aren't obscene (like Katz and Carnegie) but also are generally in excess of $10 for a sandwich, and you can't get a smaller order.
If it gets vandalized in disgusting ways, it's temporarily renamed "Defecates."
I've tried the famous Steak Pizzaolo, which was good, and I enjoyed it, dripping in tomato sauce as it was, which is known here as "gravy." However, when they were out of Steak, I tried the Chicken Cutlet with that same tomato sauce instead, and I have to say, I liked it even better. To the extent that I might say the chicken is the go-to hot sandwich here.
If it ever closes down (I hope not), it'll be renamed "Defunct."
If you want better sandwiches than Defonte's in Brooklyn, without going into Latin (such as Caracas and Guacuco's Arepas), or Middle Eastern (such as Goulette), then you'll be hard pressed to find any. Perhaps way down at G & S Salumeria, or over in Manhattan (Cheeky Sandwiches, Parisi, DiPalo's), and definitely Hoboken (Fran's and the others, best in America), but the point is that there aren't many. And as much as I adore Queens, the most famous sandwich shop up there (Sal, Kris & Charlie's), while more economical and even more filling, are not quite as good as these specialty hot sandwiches at Defonte's.
And if you always end up ordering the same thing here, I guess we will rename it "Defaults."