NYCReview
photo credit: Kate Previte
Winner on Franklin
Included In
The Winner empire is hard to pin down. There’s a bakery, with a line worth waiting in, that sells sourdough at 7:30am, focaccia at 12pm, and baguettes at 2pm. There’s a cafe in Prospect Park that's a popular meeting spot for Park Slope dogs. There’s a butcher that also makes white bean salads. And finally, there’s Winner on Franklin.
photo credit: Kate Previte
Operating out of the former Hunky Dory space in Crown Heights, this neighborhood spot serves breakfast, lunch, brunch, drinks, and dinner, where you'll find charcuterie, small plates, sandwiches, patties and also rotisserie chicken. In an effort to do the absolute most, it's open all day, every day—and it might actually benefit from being open for less time, and on fewer days.
A meal at Winner on Franklin yields mixed results. Sometimes, your favorite chicken katsu sandwich is available, and you eat it on a stool in the front window for lunch. Other times, it’s not, and you are left to eat a less satisfying sandwich in the bigger dining room in the back, which has a large skylight and a handful of empty tables that look like they’d been half-set for dinner service before someone remembered that they first needed to serve lunch.
photo credit: Kate Previte
photo credit: Kate Previte
photo credit: Kate Previte
photo credit: Kate Previte
photo credit: Kate Previte
One night, we drank orange wine at the bar by the light of red taper candles, and ate a burger so monumental that we added it to our best burger guide. We watched cheeky third dates sharing sourdough and little wedges of funky cheese, and had a great time. Another evening, some of the candles weren’t red, the back dining room was closed, and nothing tasted quite good enough to justify the bill (which we paid via QR code).
When Winner on Franklin first opened, it was briefly called WinBar. We’re not saying that was a good name, but it was an appropriate name. Come here on a Saturday afternoon to drink frozen margaritas and eat chicken katsu sandwiches at the tables out front, next to people who also started their day just down the block at Bagel Pub. Or come by for a solo burger and glass of wine on a night when you wouldn’t mind paying your check without talking to anyone. That's what a neighborhood spot is for, and, when it's not trying to do everything, that's what Winner on Franklin does best.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Kate Previte
The Breakfast Sandwich
Patties
photo credit: Kate Previte
Chicken Katsu
Veggie Banh Mi
Garlic Bread Grilled Cheese
photo credit: Kate Previte
Cheeseburger
photo credit: Kate Previte
Summer Salad
photo credit: Kate Previte
Crispy Vegetables
Charcuterie