
"If you ever doubted the Irish roots of this beach-roast-beef tradition, Brennan and Carr—founded in 1938 at the end of Gravesend Neck Road in Marine Park—makes the case: the building looks like a stockade crossed with an English Tudor cottage and contains two darkish dining rooms where you can order at an outside window or traipse through the open kitchen and sit down. The sandwich ($8.75) comes on a kaiser roll not quite as good as RNR's but with a more generous mound of beef; both sides of the bun are dipped in beef broth at the kitchen (so you don't need to buy a separate cup, which costs $4.50), and the beef is as much steamed as roasted, giving it a bouncy texture. Reflecting its maritime location, the New England clam chowder is very good and priced the same as the beef broth, and the blueberry pie ($4.60, a la mode $8.95) is worth getting. Dining in feels historic—real plates and beer mugs add to the charm—and there is a parking lot." - Robert Sietsema