Frankel Pastrami Sandwich: $17 Greenpoint Lunch Guide Now

Frankel’s Delicatessen is at 631 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222, and its published menu lists the hot pastrami sandwich at $17. The same counter offers a pastrami-egg-and-cheese breakfast variation, so the pastrami sandwich search can lead to two different meals depending on when you arrive. Frankel’s official site describes a daytime service rhythm with a close around 3:00 PM. Plan it as a Greenpoint morning or lunch, not as an evening deli run.

The hot pastrami on rye with mustard is the cleanest first order. It lets the meat, bread, and condiment set the baseline before you experiment with the breakfast version. The pastrami-egg-and-cheese is a different proposition: softer, richer, and better suited to an early start when you want breakfast energy rather than a classic deli plate. Do not order both for one person unless you are deliberately splitting. The contrast is useful, but the portions are not a light tasting.

The $17 price gives the sandwich a clear place on a Greenpoint lunch list. Look for the texture of the seeded rye, the cut of the meat, and how much mustard the bread can hold without collapsing. A pastrami sandwich should not require a knife-and-fork rescue. If the first bite is salty, use the pickle or a cold drink before adding more sauce. Frankel’s works best when the order is edited down to one main idea.

Frankel’s is a compact counter where order clarity matters. Customers may be picking up bagels, breakfast sandwiches, or deli classics, and the line moves better when you decide between the hot pastrami and the breakfast build before reaching the register. Keep special requests short. If you are taking the sandwich outside, make sure the wrapper is secure and ask for condiments in a way that protects the rye. A polite pause is fine. A menu conference in the queue is not.

After eating, walk south on Manhattan Avenue and angle toward the McCarren Park side of Greenpoint. The neighborhood is easy to enjoy in short sections: storefronts first, quieter residential blocks next, and open park space when you want to stretch the meal out. Do not treat the route as a hunt for another major food stop. The better sequence is pastrami, coffee if needed, then air. That spacing makes the breakfast version feel less heavy and gives the classic sandwich room to register.

Frankel’s suits an early riser, a solo lunch customer, and a pair comparing two formats. The breakfast sandwich makes sense for someone heading into a workday, while the hot pastrami on rye is better when lunch is the destination. Families can split one main sandwich and add a simpler item instead of ordering several dense builds. The room’s energy is urban but not theatrical: locals move through it with purpose, and the best visitor behavior is to match that pace.

Use the official daytime schedule as the hard constraint and aim for the first half of service. A 3:00 PM close leaves little room for a late lunch if the counter is busy, so I would not arrive in the final hour expecting every format to be available. Morning is particularly useful if you want the pastrami-egg-and-cheese. For a classic hot pastrami, late morning avoids the breakfast rush without pushing you toward the closing window.

Frankel’s feels like a modern neighborhood deli because the menu lets one ingredient travel between breakfast and lunch. Pastrami can be a traditional rye sandwich, or it can become the savory center of an egg-and-cheese. That flexibility is the place’s story. It is not a museum reconstruction of a Jewish deli. It is a Greenpoint counter using familiar deli language in a contemporary daily routine. Order the format that fits your actual day, not the one that sounds most dramatic.

If the queue reaches the door, decide whether you want a seat, a wrapped sandwich, or a breakfast handoff. I would give the wait about fifteen to twenty minutes, then choose takeout rather than making the short daytime window stressful. Read the menu before joining the line, keep the $17 hot pastrami as the anchor, and carry a second option in the Karpo APP in case the timing fails. Frankel’s is close enough to revisit. There is no prize for forcing one visit.

I would skip stacking the pastrami-egg-and-cheese on top of the hot pastrami for the same person. The second format is worth trying on another morning, not as an oversized first order. I would also skip extra sauce if the rye is already carrying mustard. The honest judgment is that Frankel’s strength is proportion: the meat should remain the center, whether breakfast or lunch. Add a pickle, take a walk, and leave the counter with the sandwich intact.

Address: 631 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222. Phone: (718) 389-2302. Standout orders: $17 hot pastrami on rye with mustard, or the pastrami-egg-and-cheese breakfast variation. The official site lists daytime service and a close around 3:00 PM. Source facts from frankelsdelicatessen.com and its published menu/location pages. Save the Greenpoint stop in the Karpo APP and plan around the daytime window rather than assuming evening service. Frankel's daytime format rewards a calendar-aware visit. If breakfast is the reason for coming, arrive early enough to enjoy the egg-and-cheese without turning it into a rushed commute meal. If lunch is the goal, give yourself time to walk afterward before the 3:00 PM close becomes the only thing you can think about. Put the address, phone, and menu choice in the Karpo APP before leaving. That makes the short Manhattan Avenue stop feel intentional, whether you are headed to McCarren Park, the subway, or back to work. Keep the order upright during the walk, and remember that the breakfast version is the better choice when you need food in hand before a full midday schedule begins.