Patchogue's Hero Joint serves Thanksgiving sandwich all year

Thanksgiving comes early to The Hero Joint, the sandwich shop with locations in Patchogue and Bay Shore. Or, more accurately, it never really goes away. Owner John Murray makes two Thanksgiving specialties that have proved so popular, he can’t take them off the menu.

First up, the sandwich he calls "the Bird": Back in 2008, a decade before he opened the first Hero Joint, Murray found himself at the iconic Martha’s Vineyard deli, Life at Humphreys, on a 40-minute line for a sandwich his friend swore would be worth the wait. Amazingly, “the Gobbler” was. Even though it was July, Murray thrilled to the pileup of turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce on sourdough, and filed it away in his gustatory memory in case he ever opened a sandwich place.

In 2012, Murray opened Kilwins in Patchogue (the confectioner-ice-cream shop’s first franchise on Long Island) and, six years later, he expanded into the adjoining space with The Hero Joint with the goal of elevating the humble sandwich. And onto that first menu waddled The Bird. Murray roasts whole turkey breasts and slices them thick — like you would at home. He warms the slices on the griddle before layering them onto toasted marble rye bread with a patty of homemade cornbread stuffing and a generous slather of homemade cranberry sauce.

The sandwich sells all year but “once there’s that first crisp chill in the air,” it takes off. And it’s become a popular item for actual Thanksgiving celebrations. “People order a three-footer for their Friendsgivings,” Murray said. “A lot of local bars — like the Penny Pub in Bay Shore — will give their cook the day off and order a six-footer for customers.” Individual sandwiches are $17.95; heros are $25 / foot.

Murray’s Thanksgiving chowder has a very different origin story. In 2019, The Hero Joint entered a broccoli-Cheddar soup in the Patchogue-Medford Library Souper Bowl competition. It didn’t even place. The next year, Murray took inspiration from The Bird to create a soup that would get the judge’s attention. “I Frankensteined it out of gravy, stuffing and turkey and topped it with Craisins,” he recalled. It took the top prize. That was on March 8, 2020. The chowder had exactly one week to shine before New York shut down.

“Chowder” doesn’t really describe a savory but not-particularly-photogenic concoction that has the consistency of soft cookie dough. “It's like that puddle on your plate after you’ve finished Thanksgiving dinner,” is how Murray described it. I’d liken it to a turkey-stuffing porridge which, like cookie dough, is very hard to stop eating. A cup is $8.99; a pint, $11.99.

The Hero Joint is at 74 B E. Main St. Patchogue, 631-636-0500 and 182 W. Main St.,

Bay Shore, 631-636-0500, theherojoint.com.