This week we have a guest blog from Brooklyn based folk singer, Juliet K. We follow Juliet on her journey to find Williamsburg’s best BEC (Bacon, Egg and Cheese) breakfast sandwich (on Graham Ave). Joined by her band mates, Juliet judges four local breakfast stops, complete with photos, scores, and of course, the winner!
MEET JULIET K
Hello! I’m Juliet K, folk singer, Brooklyn resident, eater of sandwiches. I have a few great loves in my life. The two greatest, by far, would be music and food. I live in a neighborhood with some truly great food. There is Neapolitan style pizza with beautifully charred crust, high brow barbecue, and creamy polenta with sausage (St. Austere, seriously, go).
Still, the food staple of my life is undoubtedly the ubiquitous, the classic—the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. Simple, cheap, melty, perfect. They’re my go-to food for a quick breakfast on the way to work, a leisurely weekend morning at home, or (most often) a late night snack, and as such, I’ve tried quite a few in my neighborhood and if it wasn’t a kind of lame thing to be, I think I’d call myself something of a BEC connoisseur.
So, that leads us here, to the great bacon, egg, and cheese quest of Graham Avenue. Me and my bandmates will, to the best of our abilities, conduct a survey for the best bacon, egg, and cheese in the area surrounding the Graham Avenue L station.
THE "BEC" CONTENDERS
There are plenty of fancy variations out there, but those are not my concern. I’m interested in cheap and quick, so this quest is going to be tailored as so. I’ve ruled out any bodegas that I’ve found to be consistently lousy in the past so that leaves us with…
Late Night Stars
This was my projected winner going into the game. Generally where we go when we’re fixin’. Plus, they’re open pretty much always which is important.
357 Graham Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Green Apple Deli
Had one horrendous delivery experience here that ended up in no food, so I was not hopeful, but since I’ve never actually tried their sandwich, they’re in the ring.
375 Graham Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Metro Deli & Grill
I’ve been here a couple times, the grill closes earlier than other bodegas but it’s generally solid.
685 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Grand Gourmet Deli
Another strong contender. Usually a post bar favorite.
505 Grand Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Garden Grill Diner
Not a bodega, but they’ve got a counter where you can just walk in and order to go.
318 Graham Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
The Bagel Store
This is the one major outlier but we agreed it should be included (mostly for novelty). This is the smaller outpost of the store that’s become famous for the rainbow bagel, but that is of no interest to us! We thought we’d include it cause they also have a bacon, egg, and cheddar bagel, like… the bagel itself. It seemed within the spirit of this event to get a BEC on a BEC bagel.
754 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
THE JUDGES
JULIET
Alt-folk singer-writer, and eater of BECs
A BEC classicist. The most important qualities are cleanness, freshness, cheese meltiness and bacon crispiness. The major deal breaker: gross, undercooked bacon where you have to pull the gnarly pieces out.
PHILIP JOY
Drummer
He describes himself as a traditionalist, “I grew up in a family that took bacon, egg, and cheeses really seriously.”
NATHAN KAMAL
Violinist; Wildcard
The BEC is one of Nathan’s top three favorite foods. He will not specify criteria but when asks what he looks for in a BEC he answers, “The pleasure I get out of food is knowing how it’s going to taste before I eat it and having that expectation be met.”
OLIVER MASHBURN
Guitarist
Off the bat, the only things he’s looking out for are meltiness and thick bacon.
THE TASTE TEST
Green Apple Deli
Surprisingly good! People were impressed with bacon quality, but a little let down on the bread. I found the bacon too salty, but my fellow panelists liked it, so to each their own. Overall, a solid choice.
Juliet:
Philip:
Nathan:
Oliver:
Metro Deli
So Nathan went kind of rogue on this one and ordered it on… rye bread?! But we did our duty and ate it anyway. Not my choice, but considering, it was pretty okay. Good cheese melt, but lackluster on the bacon.
Juliet:
Philip:
Nathan:
Oliver:
Late Night Stars
First off, we ordered it on a roll and they gave it to us on a bagel. For shame. There was a serious cheese distribution issue, it had slid out of my quadrant and ended up all in Oliver’s. He also found a gross undercooked piece of fatty. I was pretty let down. Even Nathan, the Paula Abdul of this sandwich contest, lowered his score by a half point.
Juliet:
Philip:
Nathan:
Oliver:
Grand Gourmet
This was another one Nathan went rogue on, ordering PEPPERJACK of all things. So it wasn’t quite an even comparison with the others, but it wasn’t too different. Again, wouldn’t have been my choice, but it was pretty good considering. The egg was well cooked. Everything was even, good quality ingredients, no gross bits.
Juliet:
Philip:
Nathan:
Oliver:
Garden Grill
This one felt more like real food than the others. The eggs were fresher and not overcooked. The bread held up better, everything was just cleaner. Ideal egg to cheese ratio, expertly melty.
Juliet:
Philip:
Nathan:
Oliver:
The Bagel Store
This thing is… decadent. The bagel itself was impressive, but people were a little let down by the fillings—bacon quality and cheese quantity. I’ve got to say, I really just like BEC on a roll better, but if you’re feeling adventurous/ready to lie on the floor holding your stomach for the rest of the day, go for it.
Juliet:
Philip:
Nathan:
Oliver:
*Note: Nathan, noted wildcard rated everything but stars a “5” because he apparently cannot taste the difference, so the judgement really rests on the three remaining judges.
THE VERDICT
DINER WINNER
Garden Grill
Totally unanimous. Just as quick as a deli, so quality, so freshness. And just as fast as any of the others. That being said, Garden Grill is a diner, not a deli. They have the advantage of a restaurant kitchen, but it’s also a few dollars more expensive and they close early.
DELI WINNER
Grand Gourmet
So for your broke days or late night sandwich endeavors, our deli winner is Grand Gourmet Deli. At times, a bacon, egg and cheese can be considered the booty call of food. One of its most important qualities is its availability at any time of night, and of those you could find around 2 AM coming home from a show, Grand Gourmet was the obvious winner. I (personally) believe that it would have been seriously enhanced by American cheese, but I guess to each his own. And even considering it was not my preference, this thing was good. They put some love in there.
VIDEO FEEDBACK FROM PANELISTS
Follow Juliet K Online:
Check out Juliet K.’s new record!
All Unforgivable Things
![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://www.music4breakfast.com/index.php/brooklyns-best-bec/&media=https://www.music4breakfast.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/DSC_0044.jpg&description=The hunt for Williamsburg's Best "BEC" (Bacon Egg Cheese) Breakfast Sandwich (on Graham Ave). A food review by alt-folk artist Juliet K.){kind=link}