NYC Subway Restaurant Tour, Part VIII: Manetta’s Ristorante (Vernon-Jackson)

Lunch at Manetta’s.

The first station on the IRT 7 train from Manhattan into Queens is Vernon-Jackson, at the intersection of Vernon Boulevard and Jackson Avenue. I have passed through it hundreds of times yet never stopped there. While I was doing the Hunter’s Point South blog on the Ferry Tour, I noticed the V-J subway station was nearby, and wondered whether it was worth exploring for the subway version of the tours. It’s got vintage tilework.

Probably restored sometime in the recent past.

And steampunk ceilings.

Veins of wonder.

And dramatic perspectives worthy of a Renaissance artist.

Despite the tilt and bending.

V-J seemed like more of a subway station than an enclave, but it sported a few restaurants, and I decided to have a sandwich in one. Specifically, chicken parm at Manetta’s.

10–76 Jackson Ave., corner of 49th Ave.

The Vernon-Jackson subway station environs include a sampler of distinctive sights, including some colorful street art worthy of the northern end of Brooklyn (though technically this is the southern end of Queens).

Strolling up Jackson Ave.

The art is by faileart, a collaboration between two guys named Patrick: McNeil and Miller. Let’s take a closer look at their work before we move on.

Find them on Instagram and Facebook.

The restaurant is located right next to the Pulaski Bridge, which connects Hunters Point South in Queens with Greenpoint in Brooklyn, passing over Newtown Creek and the Queens-Midtown Expressway (which soon goes underground to become the Queens-Midtown Tunnel). In addition to accommodating heavy motor traffic, the bridge has separated pedestrian and bike lanes. As a pedestrian, I approve!

I’ll have to check out the views sometime.

A busy corner, then, with a mix of high-rise construction and low-rise shingled charm similar to that of Brooklyn.

Manetta’s Jackson Ave. side.

My table in the nearly deserted restaurant — my favorite lunch setting, because I love being the center of attention — offered a corner view.

Which required panorama mode to fit into one shot.

Facing west, along 49th Avenue…

Manetta’s street view 1.

…and facing northeast, along Jackson Avenue.

Manetta’s street view 2.

A quick trip to the restroom in the back gave me a chance to get a full interior shot facing the front.

Nice terracotta floor.

Looking toward the back, from my table.

With fellow diners.

While Manetta’s all-day menu pricing is typical of a good New York Italian restaurant, the lunchtime menu has lots of affordable sandwich selections. A few were even in single digits. Call it the Empty Restaurant Discount.

Prices, as always, subject to change.

Thick-crusted Italian bread was served.

Bread 1.

I ate the pleasurably chewy part first, saving the soft fragrant center for subsequent sauce cleanup.

Bread 2.

Lunch was served.

Chicken parm 1.

I went for the chicken parm, though I am not opposed to parmigiana sandwiches in all the diverse forms offered at Manetta’s: meatball, eggplant, veal, shrimp, or sausage (and pepper and onion).

Chicken parm 2.

Chicken parm is my roommate’s favorite sandwich. “Without me?” he asked when I got home and told him about it. “Cheaper that way,” I always reply. The bread was as good as the sliced foretaste had led me to expect. The sandwich oozed cheese and sauce onto the plate, which I duly cleaned up — neglecting to take the empty-plate shot, so you’ll have to take my word for it.

Chicken parm 3.

At least I didn’t miss the glistening food-porn closeup.

Chicken parm 4.

My dining explorations in this neighborhood are not over. I haven’t even mentioned the excellent Court Diner, so conveniently located near the 7 train station at Court Square — and the Queens outpost of the Museum of Modern Art. I’ve been there before and I’ll be there again. Consider this a teaser.

Note to the Patient Reader

With just 21 pictures, this episode is briefer than my usual exhaustive approach. I have noticed that most readers don’t read down this far in many of the longer blogs, some of which have more than 100 pictures and are loaded with historical background and/or commentary that may or may not be welcomed. There is good eatin’ near many New York City subway stations and you probably don’t need me to write War and Peace for each one.

But I pledged to myself when I started this series that I’d pursue all content fearlessly, regardless of length or ramifications, and unshackle myself from the chains that bound me as a once-professional writer and editor. Yup, I made a living at this for 39 years, as both staffer and freelancer, before a foreign publisher bought the magazine I worked for and fired nearly the entire staff.

The meandering nature of these blogs is deliberate — partly because the ultimate destination for this material is ebooks. I write for people who like to read. If you don’t have time to read a long blog right at the moment, I hope you’ll take this as an invitation to pick a more leisurely time, curl up by the fire on some lazy evening, ignore the TV, and treat yourself to some unhurried (and heavily illustrated) reads.

To those who have made it this far, thanks for coming along for the ride. I notice and deeply appreciate your claps and comments.

Previously on the NYC Subway Restaurant Tour:

Part I: Lake House Cafe (Van Cortlandt Park)

Part II: Toshkent (Bath Beach)

Part III: Kashkar (Brighton Beach)

Part IV: One Dine (One World Observatory)

Part V: Buntopia (Brooklyn Broadway)

Part VI: A-Pou’s Taste (East Williamsburg)

Part VII: Pierozek (Greenpoint)

If you’re enjoying the NYC Subway Restaurant Tour, please follow my blog by clicking follow next to my name at the top. Then subscribe to get emails on new episodes. Also don’t miss my Staten Island Restaurant Tour (blogs | ebooks) and NYC Ferry Restaurant Tour (blogs). See you soon!