Mike's Deli

Inside the Arthur Avenue Retail Market — the indoor market Fiorello La Guardia opened in 1940 to get pushcarts off the street — Mike's Deli has been the loudest, most generous counter since 1951. Mike Greco built it; his son David runs it now, stretching mozzarella every morning and sending out heroes with names and histories, including an eggplant parmigiana that once beat Bobby Flay in a televised throwdown.

There are a few tables under the market's skylights, and lunch here is the best possible orientation to Belmont: order a sandwich, a glass of wine from the market bar, and watch the butchers, cigar rollers, and produce stands do what they have done for eighty years.