Midtown Lunch

May was all about the free food, with giveaways being offered by Pret, Golden Krust, Yorganic, and the big one- free lunch Tuesdays at (more expensive than $10 for lunch) The Volstead.  It proves that either a) restaurants love giving away free shit, or b) you people are a bunch of freeloaders who only come to this site for free stuff!  (It’s probably a little bit of both.)  Anyway, here’s what you guys were clicking on in the month of May:

1. FREE FOOD ALERT: Volstead to Offer Free Tuesday Lunch to All Midtown Lunch Readers
2. Midtown Breakfast: Greatest Breakfast Sandwich of All Time
3. Breaking News: Crisp Unveiled and Open for Business
4. Thursday Free Food Alert: Yorganic
5. DOUBLE FREE FOOD ALERT
6. Tamales Will Make the Perfect Cinco De Mayo Lunch
7. PROFILED: Midtown Lunch’er “Crazy Legs Conti”
8. First Look: Hallo Berlin Express
9. Is Gyro II the Best Gyro Midtown Has to Offer
10. Is China Gourmet the Best General Tso’s Chicken in Midtown?

What you guys were commenting on, after the jump… Read more »

Ever since the food court in the Manahttan Mall closed, faux roast beef lovers throughout Manhattan have been mourning the loss of the city’s only Arby’s.  But according to this email, there may be some sort of light at the end of the dark, beef and cheeseless tunnel:

I was outside eating lunch sitting by the fountain in front of the Chase building (on 6th Ave. btw. 49+50th) and saw a girl walk by with a clear plastic Arby’s cup with some sort of colorful, fruity, frozen concoction. It looked like she just got it as it was filled to the top. She was practically running by otherwise I would’ve asked her what she was drinking and from where. What’s up with that?! Did an Arby’s pop up around here undetected?

Interesting… there are many of explanations (which don’t involve a new Midtown Arby’s) for how this mysterious cup could have shown up on 6th Ave. & 50th St.  Check them out, after the jump… Read more »

I admit it’s not for everybody, but I love eating food off the street, here and abroad.  Meat on a stick in Bali, everything in Thailand, raw clams in Chile… I could go on and on.  There’s something about eating on the sidewalk that is fun and exciting to me, and here in Midtown we have some amazing food carts.  But there is also that step below food cart that pops up every once awhile- like the lady selling tamales in front of the Mexican Embassy, or the Japanese delivery guys selling bento boxes on 50th St. btw. 6+7th.  These are my favorite discoveries, and last week I finally tried a new one on 46th btw. 5+6th. 

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked by this lady standing on 46th St. with a grocery pushcart filled with styrofoam packages.  Usually out there around 1pm, she sells containers of Ecuadorian food to workers in the area for $6-7.  I don’t know where she comes from, or where she goes when she’s done, but I can tell you this:  if there is a random lady, selling homemade food in styrofoam containers on a random street in Midtown, I want to know about it.  I want to eat her food.  No matter what is…  Read more »

46th Street between Broadway and 9th Ave. will be extra annoying today starting at 5pm, when tourists and hardcore food festival addicts will congregate for the Taste of Times Square.  I have conflicting emotions every year for this event.  Food festival = good.  Food festival where Applebees is one of the participants = not as good.  Last year, there were a few gems hidden among the over priced and touristy duds, and while this year promises much of the same, it could merit a quick walk through after work.

Partipating places that we love: Spice Fusion, Utsav, & Toloache.  Partipating places that may not suck: Chop Suey and the Bourbon St. Bar & Grill.  Plus I was pretty happy with my choices last year from Virgil’s, St. Andrews & Le Rivage, who will all be returning as well.  I’m assuming they’ll be doing the whole “buy tickets from a booth and then exchange those tickets for food” nonsense, which normally would require doing a full walk through before committing to a certain number of tickets.  Unfortunately, my threshold for pushing over tourists on Restaurant Row is pretty low, so I’ll probably just end up buying $10 worth of tickets and taking my chances. Also, if you live or work in the Times Square area, you may be eligible for free food tickets (although some hoop jumping through is required.)  For more info, visit their website. 

If you decide to go, I’ll see you there!  (I’ll be the fat guy scowling at everyone in the Applebees line.)

Related: Digging for Nuggets of Goodness at the Taste of Times Square