Manhattan’s Iconic Meatball Shop Partners With Postmates
New York City’s culinary landscape is continuously bursting with unique flavors and home to some of the best restaurants in the world. And since The Meatball Shop’s infamous meatballs have quickly become many New Yorker’s go-to comfort food — it goes without saying that revered chef & co-owner Daniel Holzman has made his mark on the NY restaurant scene.
To uncover the secret sauce behind The Meatball Shop’s success story, we sat down with Daniel to chat about how they’ve thrived in the NYC foodie scene, their take on the on-demand space, and partnership with Postmates.
To begin, Daniel said it was the changing restaurant landscape that first prompted him and childhood friend Michael Chernow, to open The Meatball Shop in 2010. “Michael and I had this goal of opening a restaurant that addressed some of the concerns we already had from working in other higher end restaurants. We wanted to create a more casual environment, but with the same pride as a fancier restaurant— with a sense of camaraderie.”
So why meatballs?
“I remember eating meatball heroes with Mike when we were kids… and I’ve always had a background in cooking rustic Italian food. One day we asked ourselves: ‘Who makes the best meatballs in Manhattan? In New York, everyone knew the best local pizzeria, but meatballs? Not so much.”
“Right before we opened, we really didn’t know what to expect. But I remember peeling the brown paper off the windows and just seeing a line…. around the block! We were at the right place at the right time… this was February 9th 2010, it was cold. People wanted comfort food.”
Daniel attributes their success to the ‘perfect storm’. “We had a pretty innovative, yet simple menu concept. When it comes to comfort food, we are replacing a home cooked meal. The customers want what they are in the mood for, to feel like the person in our kitchen is taking care of them.”
“We don’t want to tell them what to order. We wanted the customer to choose their own food adventure, giving them the option to mix and match their meatballs with various sides and sauces.”
And Postmates allows for this type of customization and convenience for customers, said Daniel.
But why join Postmates when their restaurant was already flourishing?
“There was a hard wind blowing — and it was called ‘on-demand delivery’, so why not build a sail and go with it. When changes like this come your way, you can either drown or build a boat. Joining Postmates allowed us to hop in that boat and reach more customers.”
“The partnership has allowed us to grow beyond just the seats that we have in the dining room. We’ve been very happy with the relationship so far.”
And to commemorate this partnership, why not order in during the Super Bowl for your crew with one of the Meatball Shop’s newest items: Bucket O’ Balls, complete with a choice of 25 meatballs and a sauce of your choosing.
