Brennan & Carr

Anyone who feels a shred of nostalgia for Brooklyn before the Dodgers skipped town will find much to like at Brennan & Carr, a longtime favorite among the neighborhood’s cops, firefighters and blue-collar workers. Opened in 1938 on a once-quiet street corner in Sheepshead Bay, the cafeteria-like, full-service roast-beef joint is built of wood and brick and looks as unmovable as a cattle stockade. The walls are festooned with Americana — Civil War photos, paintings of storm-lashed ships, mug shots of Washington and Lincoln — and the first thing you pass upon entering is a huge slab of lamp-heated meat. The roast beef has been the main draw for more than 60 years — it’s best served on a soft kaiser and piled high with old-fashioned steamed, thinly sliced beef and doused with a cup of salty pan drippings. The crisp, slightly charred hot dogs, splayed on a lightly toasted bun, are also a treat, as is the bursting blueberry pie à la mode.