Midtown Lunch

Who says a short fat Jewish guy who refuses to spend more than $10 on lunch every day (except in extreme all you can eat buffet circumstances) can’t have anything to do with Fashion Week?  With shows in full swing at Bryant Park, Madewell (a new’ish chain of stores from the owners of J Crew) asked me for a list of places to grab some eats between shows, for a flier they’ve been handing out all week underneath the tent.  Apparently those people do in fact eat.  Who knew?

If you’re going to be at one of the Fashion Week events, you shouldn’t have any problem snagging one of the fliers… but if you’re a Bryant Park stalker, hoping to run into your future wife during your lunch break, your access may be limited (also, you should know you have no chance with those women.  Their shoes cost more than your weekly salary). 

For those dudes, here’s a map, and list of the suggestions appearing in the flier, after the jump… Read more »

I don’t think there’s a perfect Midtown Lunch choice on Fat Tuesday.  Two Boots’ muffalatta is terrible, Delta Grill on 9th Ave is out of bounds (and out of the Midtown Lunch price range) and Jacques Imo’s To Geaux in the Grand Central Food Court is closed.  So, only one choice remains.  The take out, $8.25 Fried Oyster Po’Boy at Grand Central Oyster Bar.  Order from the window just to the right of the GCOB’s main entrance (in the food court on the lower level).

There are plenty of places to drink after work though.  Two I know of, in Midtown West, after the jump… Read more »

Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. Today it’s Matthew, a Strategic Sourcing Manager who assured me he was a Giants fan- which was a pre-requisite for today’s profile.  My little way of thanking the big blue for preserving the legacy of my precious 1972 Dolphins.  I also hate the Patriots (10 years in Boston as a Dolphins fan will do that to you).  Nothing about his profile says Giants fan, and he couldn’t get me a photo of himself wearing any Giants stuff in time… but I’m going to take his word for it.

 Name: Matthew

Age: 42

Occupation: Strategic Sourcing Manager

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 34th St. & 8th Ave.

Favorite Kind of Food: Italian followed closely by BBQ

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Indian. Love spicy food, but can’t handle the spices in Indian food.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Chicken Parmigiana hero at Manganaro’s Hero Boy on 9th Ave and 38th.  (I can tell this is going to spark comments already.  Are you sure it’s Hero Boy you love?  Or, do you like Manganaro’s old school deli next store.  Two different places.  Long and historical rivalry.  -zach)

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: The cafeteria in our building, which isn’t bad for a corporate cafeteria. They have great chicken wings!!

Place you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch: Ressie Mae’s may she rest in peace! Chicken and waffles should be outlawed, but the combination is something not to be missed.

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why?  San Francisco.  Great weather, beautiful walking city and it has the 2 criteria I require to consider living anywhere: great Italian and great Chinese food. Plus you can go down to the Wharf and get Dungeness crabs from a cart, sit with your feet over the side of the wharf and throw the shells in the Bay with that view!

Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? Where can a guy get a good rack of BBQ Ribs in Midtown without a long sitdown lunch? I’ve eaten in the South for lunch and it seems like these places are everywhere, but, alas, I haven’t found great ribs I love since Wylie’s closed on 50th and 1st a few years ago. Help a guy out ML readers!!

Chicken wings.  Fried chicken and waffles.  Ribs.  I wish I had been at your Superbowl party.  I’ve only had ribs at one place that could sort of qualify as Midtown… and I can’t imagine anybody elses being better.

BBQ porn, after the jump… Read more »

Last week, my boss made the trip over to 45th btw. 5+6th to try the newest Goodburger location, and when he returned asked me a pretty good question. 

“Why arent you on Goodburger’s wall of quotes?”. 

Good question wise and all knowing boss.  Why isn’t Midtown Lunch up on that wall?

So I went back and read my original post on Goodburger from a year and a half ago, and realized the problem.  Quotes like “it’s just another fast food place in Midtown- that happens to use quality ingredients” and “once you resign yourself to paying the money it’s a good Midtown Lunch”, aren’t going to get me up on no wall.  I hear you talkin’ Goodburger.  You want something with zazz!

So, in an effort to get up on Goodburger’s quote wall, I realized I needed to come up with something awesome.  A perfect quote, ready made for them to use, and posted on the site.  And after I do that, how could they deny Midtown Lunch burger wall immortality? How’s this…

“Goodburger is the best burger and fries combo meal in the city (if only it was $2 cheaper).”

They can leave out that last part if they want…

Sticky Wings from Dallas BBQ posted by Seraphim 1970.  Man those look good. (But not enough for me to want to eat at Dallas BBQ in Times Sq.)  I think I can hold out until Sunday…

• Need cookies for your Superbowl Party?  The Treats Truck delivers! [Treats Truck]
• First Cafe Metro opens Metro Marche, now Hale & Hearty is getting in on the action [Eater]
• If you do the conversion, the new Sakae Sushi is expensive! [Kellog]
• Gothamist finds a closed Sakae, ends up at Yakitori East [Gothamist]
• Katsuhama is perfect for a special lunch with co-workers [Umamimart]
• East on 8th Ave. suffers from being next to Yakitori Totto [NYCNosh]
• The Trini Pak Cart doesn’t actually have spaghetti and meatballs [Lunchboxr]
• Ryan Sutton hits up Chop Suey and Soba Totto [Bloomberg]

Restaurants or take out places that serve multiple kinds of ethnic cuisine are always a red flag for me.  Why serve mediocre food from four different countries, when you can serve great food from the country you are from?  Asian places are the worst offenders too.  Thai on the menu at Chinese and Japanese restaurants, Vietnamese food at Thai restaurants, Chinese food on the menu at Korean places, and sushi just about everywhere.

But in the end I am forced to relent.  I think it’s a combination of my love of (and addiction to) all Asian foods, plus that little voice in my head that says, ‘maybe just this once, Pad Thai made in the same wok as beef and broccoli will magically come out right’.  (It hasn’t yet.)  It was this addiction that brought me to Good Portions, a fast food Asian place on Lexington btw. 39+40th.

What I got, and why I need your help (the “you decide” part), after the jump… Read more »