Brooklyn South sandwich shop closes after 12 years in the EDGE District
/Brooklyn South has served its final sandwich at 1437 Central Avenue in the EDGE District | St Pete Rising
After 12 years in the EDGE District, Brooklyn South has permanently closed.
Karen Kramer, who has owned the sandwich shop at 1437 Central Avenue with her husband Mark since 2024, told St. Pete Rising they “just couldn’t keep up with rising costs.”
The financial pressure had surfaced before the closure. In a response to an online review last year, Kramer wrote that Central Avenue rent and food costs had become overwhelming and that she had made significant sacrifices to keep Brooklyn South going.
It was work, she said, she did for the joy it brought people rather than for the money.
Brooklyn South opened in July 2014 under founder Matt Bonano, a trained chef whose route to St. Pete ran through the cheese world. Bonano had worked at Atlanta’s Alon’s Bakery & Market and later became wholesale production manager for Murray’s Cheese in New York.
He moved from Brooklyn to Gulfport and named the deli Brooklyn South because St. Pete reminded him of the “Brooklyn of the South.”
The original shop was a small, largely takeout operation with limited seating and walls covered in cheese labels Bonano had collected since the 1990s.
Brooklyn South’s dining room | Brooklyn South
Its early menu brought together a cheesemonger’s sensibility and a sandwich counter, including inventive grilled sandwiches, such as Rosemary Chicken with fresh mozzarella, Vermont Cheddar with fig jam, Jerk Chicken with chèvre and mint, and corned beef with Peter Luger sauce.
The menu also included custom sandwiches, knishes, homemade muffins, personal cheese plates, sliced meats, and specialty groceries.
Bonano sold the business shortly before the COVID-19 shutdown in early 2020.
Under the next owner, chef Edel Fernandez, the shop held onto many of its staples while adding Cuban influences, including ropa vieja and a Cuban sandwich that quickly became one of its best sellers.
The business expanded into the adjacent storefront in 2022, doubling its footprint. That same year, Yelp named Brooklyn South Florida’s best cheese shop in an all-time ranking based on customer reviews.
Kramer and her husband took over in 2024 and continued Brooklyn South’s longstanding focus on sandwiches.
The shop reinvented itself again, this time as a tiny mom-and-pop sandwich shop with more than 40 specialty options, including ciabatta melts, pressed hoagies, and grilled rye sandwiches.
Brooklyn South’s Italian sandwich with Mortadella, salami, capicola, mozzarella cheese, roasted peppers, and basil pesto | Brooklyn South
The Italian, Turkey Fig, Turkey Melt, Jerk Chicken, Cuban, and Reuben remained among Brooklyn South’s most popular items.
The shop fit naturally into the rhythm of the neighborhood, whether it was a quick lunch, a pregame sandwich and bottle of wine before heading to Tropicana Field for a Rays game, or a stop for cheese, charcuterie, and conversation.
The closure does not necessarily mean Mark is done making sandwiches though. Kramer said he may sell sandwiches across the street at Ferg’s in the future, although nothing has been finalized.
For now, Brooklyn South’s closing means the loss of a small business that endured through multiple ownership changes, a pandemic, and rising costs, while continuing to serve the food and hospitality that made it a Central Avenue staple.
