Sandwiches 2, Apps 0 at Walter Foods

While you may think my first home in NYC was 89th street, at one point in my life, I called Williamsburg my home. My old roommate Crystal and I decided to meet up for dinner last night, and since she still lives in the neighborhood, I thought I’d head back to my old stomping grounds and check out Walter Foods.

I loved the atmosphere of Walter Foods as soon as I sat down. It had an old school vibe to it, and instead of putting us at a cramped table for two, we got a spacious booth and the host was accommodating, even asking if the temperature in the restaurant was okay. Waiters were sharply dressed in white button ups and ties. For a second, I thought I hadn’t crossed the East River and was still at work in the Financial District. Our water glasses were constantly being refilled and the moment I finished my alcoholic beverage, I was immediately asked if I wanted another before my glass hit the table. Guess it looked like I had a rough day.

To kick off the night, we started with some cocktails. While they were a little pricey at $11 a pop, they certainly had some specialties - including a Dark and Stormy (gosling dark rum/ginger beer), which I typically only see on vacation in Bermuda. Clearly I was in heaven with the drink, but was a little disappointed in the price.

Our appetizers came out first, and we went with fried calamari and crispy green beans (green beans in tempura). Please note that these are on the menu at the restaurant, but not on the online menu. We were both unfortunately disappointed with both these dishes. Crystal wasn’t a big fan of the teriyaki sauce with the green beans, and we agreed a spicy wasabi dipping sauce may have gone better with it. Luckily, we had some jalapeno mayo type dressing with our calamari, so we used this as a substitute. I like to consider myself well-read in the art of fried calamari, as it truly is my appetizer staple, and this was disappointing. The plate was mostly tentacles and I found myself digging through flecks of friedness in hopes to find a ring or two. Unfortunately, the whole plate was just overly fried.

Dinner though was redemption. Crystal and I decided to split two sandwiches - a filet mignon french dip and a lobster roll. Both came with fries, but we swapped one of the fries out for mashed potatoes. They were so delicious. The fries were perfectly crispy and well seasoned and I loved that Walter Foods gave us a tray of dipping sauces. The lobster roll had huge pieces of meat and it wasn’t overly mayoed. As far as the french dip goes, every time I eat a steak sandwich I feel like an idiot because I have such a hard time biting into the sandwich and I usually end up pulling away with a huge piece of steak coming out of my mouth (See? Who wouldn’t want to go on a date with me?). Not the case here at Walter Foods. The meat was tender and the tangy horseradish sauce was a great complement. The mashed potatoes were also delicious with the right amount of garlic, and let’s just put it this way - I had about two tablespoons of potatoes and a quarter of a sandwich and I brought it home because I couldn’t bare to toss that deliciousness away.

While I loved the sandwiches we got, unfortunately the first course was a bit of a disappointment. I would head back again for the sandwiches but I’d be a little worried to try too many new things since I felt like some of the items on the menu were a hit or miss. Overall, if you are in BK or have friends who live there, check it out, but I don’t think Walter Foods should be the reason some Manhattanites travel to Williamsburg for the first time.