Corona, Queens

There are no fewer than 26 subway lines in New York City, and each of them has a different character. The L train is the hipster train, the 6 train shuttles the old (and young) Upper East Side money (and apparently Jennifer Lopez at one point a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away), and so on.

One train line, though, is worthy of special mention, at least for foodies in New York and beyond. That train line is the Flushing Line, better known as the 7 train or "International Express," and it is also the only subway line in New York (and possibly the entire United States) to be a federally designated "National Millennium Trail." Just about every stop along the 7 train is a different ethnic or cultural neighborhood - Long Island City houses artists, young professionals, and still some industrial workers, Sunnyside has a robust Irish accent, Woodside has Thai, Jackson Heights has a large Indian population, and Flushing boasts an enormous Chinese and Korean population.

Given such a plethora of choices, Obe opted for an old favorite - the formerly Italian (and now increasingly Mexican) neighborhood of Corona, Queens. Located in the shadow of Shea Stadium (and the rapidly-rising Citi Field), Corona has some of the same flavor of Arthur Avenue - an older, urban neighborhood in transition from one proud immigrant group to another.

Obe hopped aboard the 7 train and trekked on out to Corona this past Saturday, with high hopes for reaching that Holy Grail of classic New York Italian sandwiches, Mama's (aka Leo's Latticini) on 104th Street.

As Mets fans (and a myriad of police officers, firemen, and other blue collar workers) know, Mama's serves an exemplary sandwich, and has been doing so for nearly half a century. By exemplary sandwich, Obe, like Ed Levine, means "life-changing." In this situation, though, Ed Levine was discussing Mama's Turkey Deluxe hero, which, while an excellent sandwich, was not on Obe's menu.

The facade of Mama's hints a little bit at the treasures available within:

Currently, Mama's is run by the three DeBeneditti sisters, who inherited the store from their father Frank, who had taken the business over from his father-in-law Frank Leo. Two of the sisters were kind enough to pose for this impromptu picture that Obe snapped, though they did profess some amusement that yet another blogger had come to visit them:

After the initial confusion that usually results from a hastily-taken picture, Obe consulted Mama's menu. It's a take-out only place, but there is a nearby park, and in the summer one can walk on over to Mama's Garden (run by the same family...in fact, there is a whole strip of establishments on 104th Street in Corona that bear the Mama's name in some way, shape, or fashion).

Obe opted for a classic - the Mama's Special. Like the Turkey Deluxe, this sandwich is also available at Shea Stadium. Mama's also has a daily schedule of hot lunch sandwich specials during the workweek, which includes a Hot Roasted Pork Hero, an Eggplant Parmigiana hero, and a Hot Meatball hero. Alas, Obe's visit took place on a Saturday. Still, the Mama's Special was absolutely phenomenal.

Here's a picture of the finely wrapped sandwich, prior to demolition work. A more perfect lunch could not be asked for - an ice cold Coke and a generously-sized hero made with top-notch ingredients for under $9.

And here's the sandwich unveiled:

A gratuitous close-up of the sandwich. Note the expertly layered prosciutti, salami, fresh mozzarella, hot peppers, and mushrooms:

After a leisurely devouring of the sandwich, it was time for dessert. Of course, there is only one place for dessert in Corona, and that is the Lemon Ice King of Corona. Seemingly around since time immemorial, the Ice King is a Corona and Queens institution. Here's a snapshot of the Ice King's exterior on Corona Avenue:

The neighborhood may not root for the same soccer team anymore, but the Ice King is tops. And, lest anyone forget, THEY DO NOT MIX ICES (and yes, someone ahead of Obe in line did try to make that request).

There's pretty much every flavor of Italian Ice you can imagine, and then some you've probably never heard of (at least in Italian ice form), such as Vanilla Choocolate Chip or Peanut Butter. Here's their menu:

Obe opted for a medium cherry ice. Big mistake (or small mistake, as it were)! The larger or extra large would have been much wiser. This was the real deal, folks - not the roughly chopped ice chunks and gooey, overly-sweet artificially-flavored fruit syrup so much of us endured through childhood. This was thick, smooth, and had bits of real fruit in it to boot. Here's one shot of the cherry ice:

And here's a close-up of the cherry ice. Note the bits of cherry embedded throughout:
Obe has only had Italian ice this good at one other place, and that would be a small sweet shop located off of Roosevelt Avenue (ironically enough) in Berwyn, Illinois, which is one of the many suburbs of Chicago.

Fully sated (or at least for the moment), Obe hopped back aboard the 7 train and headed on home. Given the excellence of the Mama's Special and the Italian Ice (as well as the sheer diversity of restaurant options located along the 7 line), expect to hear a lot more about the culinary delights of Queens in future posts.