Jack’s Corner Opens May 1

By Katie McFadden

There’s a new Jack in town. Since 2018, Happy Jack’s has been bringing joy to Rockaway Beach Drive with their burgers and fries but now his little brother is drawing attention right on the corner. Jack’s Corner, a casual Italian deli with ginormous focaccia sandwiches and baked goods galore, opens on Thursday, May 1.

Order a Tony Soprano and you’ll get a focaccia sandwich piled high with the makings of an entire Italian butcher shop, from genoa salami to capicola, sweet soppressata, prosciutto, provolone, roasted red peppers, lettuce, beef steak tomato and smeared with a Grana Padano crème for added flavor. Maybe a chicken parm is your go to, but Jack’s Parm brings it to the next level with a thin crispy cutlet, prosciutto di parma, Jack’s angry vodka sauce, fresh mozzarella and that Grana Padano crème. Vegetarians may opt for the Surfer with grilled market vegetables, green and yellow zucchini, eggplant, sun dried tomatoes, pickled carrots, and roasted red pepper crème with an option to add fresh mutz. These sandwiches will make your eyes go wide when you see the size of them. But pair it with some homemade potato chips or a classic side salad and you’ve got your meal for the day, or even the next. And don’t forget the A’ Siciliana or Stewarts soda to wash it down or a fresh cappuccino or macchiato to add some pep to your step. Or leave the drinks, but take the cannoli, the sfogliatelle or a slice of mom’s cheesecake for later.

Starting Thursday, Jack’s Corner is ready to serve it all up for dine in, take out, and delivery, with even delivery to the beach in personalized Jack’s Corner lunch boxes that you can unfold as a flat table to keep the sand out of your focaccia. But you’ll want to see what they’ve done with the place at the corner of Beach 109th, which used to be home to Coastal Frozen Yogurt.

Jack’s Corner is a completely different place but inside you’ll find some tributes to their neighbor, Happy Jack’s, with the HJ smile on the awning, and a blue and white theme inside. Your eyes will take you in every direction as you peruse the selection of baked goods, cakes, croissants and deli salads in the front display. A few blue tables and stools welcome you to have a seat while you eat. And take a look up, as you’ll feel like you’re in a museum looking at classic Rockaway postcards, one with a personalized message written back in Rockaway’s heyday—”Rockaway is the coolest place, just take it from me.”

And Michael Caruso and Aidan Dalton are making it even cooler with their dream spot. They’re familiar faces at Happy Jack’s as Aidan’s following in his dad, Chef Mike Dalton’s footsteps, and many have gotten to know Michael as he’s worked his way up from Happy Jack’s delivery guy to bartender to manager, just over the last four years. But now Caruso and Dalton have branched out on their own, but not too far. They’ll still be taking care of business at Happy Jack’s while running the show at Jack’s Corner.

But when the corner spot opened next door, they couldn’t resist the opportunity to spread their wings, under the mentorship of Chef Mike. “He’s amazing. He’s a master chef at what he does with Happy Jack’s. We’ve learned everything from him. I came out here looking for a delivery job during the pandemic and I fell in love with the restaurant business and Rockaway. I always knew I wanted to own my own business, so I partnered up with Aidan who said the corner was for sale and we knew it was the right spot for our first venture on our own,” Caruso said. “I live in Brooklyn, but I’ve been coming to Rockaway since I was a kid and bartending here made me fall in love with it. The people really took me in as their own and have shown me so much love over the last five years. This is my chance to give back and show them a piece of me, a piece of Brooklyn and a piece of where my family came from in Sicily and bring it back to the beach with a Rockaway twist.”

“I’ve been doing this with my dad for over a decade now and some of my favorite times as a child were in the kitchen,” Dalton said. “We’re really excited about turning this new leaf over and we’re excited to see what we can add to the block.”

The young men got the spot in October and set out to build it out, and perfect the recipes. “I’ve been to places like this my whole life, small corner places, sandwich shops, bakeries, small cafes, and I always wanted to open a place where I’d want to hang out. This is perfect for it,” Caruso said. “We immediately started working on the focaccia and pastries to see if we could pull this off and Mike was a huge help. We got it right, so we got this place ready to go.”

Earlier in April, Caruso and Dalton opened their door for a few hours and let friends and family know to stop by to give everything a try. “We got a lot of good feedback, and everyone made us feel like this will be something great for the beach. We’re bringing not only value but high-quality food here,” Caruso said. Most of all, people were blown away with the size of the sandwiches. “We want to watch people’s eyes light up, that’s the goal,” Caruso said. The bigger-than-your head focaccia sandwiches are the star of Jack’s Corner with a pre-set menu of Jack’s Top 10, 10 sandwiches with a little something for everyone, but people may also be able to personalize their own picks. Everything is made to order, with all fresh ingredients, imported directly from Italy. Then each sandwich is topped with a homemade crème, personalized for each number on the top 10.

Caruso and Dalton can’t wait to officially open. “It’s really exciting to see all of our hard work come to fruition and for people to taste what we’ve been previewing,” Caruso said.

Jack’s Corner, located at 108-19 Rockaway Beach Dr., opens May 1. Starting hours will be 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesdays through Sundays. Call 347-332-0323 to order. For updates and more, follow @happyjackscorner on Instagram.