Corner Grinder

Pretty much everyone agrees that after the demolition of Front Street and the East Side of Downtown, the spiritual center of the city's Italian-American community moved to Franklin Ave. Today, you're a lot more likely to hear Spanish, or even Serbo-Croatian, spoken on Franklin Ave than Italian, but there still are a good number of Italian restaurants, bakeries, and other businesses. The Corner Grinder (along with its rival, Franklin Giant Grinders) is chief among them.

On Friday, my Italian-American co-worker who came with me to the Primavera Pub and another co-worker decided to go for lunch. We were going to go to East Hartford for pho, but the other co-worker caused to be just a few minutes behind schedule, putting us at the back of a very long line at Pho 501. After jumping on the Charter Oak Bridge, we decided that we'd hit Franklin Ave. If I'd been driving, we would have gone to Franklin Giant, but since my Italian-American co-worker was behind the wheel, we ended up at the Corner Grinder (there really isn't a whole lot of difference between the two, but people, including me, have their favorite).

The Corner Grinder has been around for a long time (I don't know anyone who knows exactly how long) and it is a very popular spot, both for those who grew up in the South End (many of whom make regular pilgrimages back), as well as for everyone that loves hearty grinders stuffed with all sorts of Italian-American specialties. Now, there is nothing fancy about the Corner Grinder (the inside is pretty consistent with the outside) and it certainly isn't fine dining, but very few places in this part of Connecticut can match the quality and quantity the Corner Grinder serves up.

The first thing you need to understand about the Corner Grinder is that the grinders are BIG. They come in both "half" and "whole" servings and the half-grinder is more than enough for me, which is saying something.

The second thing you need to know is that this is down home, Italian American street food (as Anthony Bourdain would call it). There are no fluffy sandwiches served by some kid with a gotee named Trevor, or girl with her tongue pierced name Sky, like you'd get at some overpriced fake Euro coffee shop. You know what I am talking about, something like avocado, goat cheese, and prosciutto on a faux crustini. No, you're going to have a guy whose name is probably Sal, or Johnny, or Buddy, serving up salami, cappicolla, cutlets, meatballs and all sorts of other hearty stuff, loaded on a grinder roll, garnished (if you can call it that) with peppers, and slathered with homemade sauce. Delicious.

For lunch, my Italian-American co-worker went with the half-steak grinder, which looked really good. My co-worker that caused us to be late got a half-meatball grinder, which also looked good. I went the whole way and had a half-chicken cutlet, with peppers, cheese, and sauce. Outstanding. There really isn't much else to say.

Seriously, the Corner Grinder is a great grinder shop; no more, no less. The next time you are in the South End (except on Sunday, when it's closed) treat yourself to a half-Salami. You won't be sorry.

The Corner Grinder doesn't have a website, but here some links to reviews, maps, and the menu (it's pretty much your standard grinder shop, so cutlets, 42 kinds of smoked meats and pretty much no vegetables other than peppers and eggplant are on the menu) - http://www.yelp.com/biz/corner-grinder-shop-hartford; http://www.activediner.com/Corner-Grinder-Shop/restaurant/Hartford/CT/US/profile/24477; http://www.menupix.com/menudirectory/menu.php?id=720108