Profile: Midtown Lunch’er “Amy”
Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Amy- a marketing something or other who is just looking for some cheap Greek.
Name: Amy
Age: 26
Occupation: Marketing
Where in Midtown do you Work?: 40th St. & Ave of the Americas
Favorite Kind of Food: Japanese or Greek, but I love food so it’s really hard to choose. Thankfully living in NYC I really don’t have to! I haven’t found a good Greek place in midtown yet, but for Japanese I love love love Oms/b (on 45th btw. Lex+3rd)—the wasabi shrimp rice ball is my favorite but the choices change all the time it seems and Sapporo (on 49th btw. 6+7th) has amazing gyoza and donburi bowls
Least Favorite Kind of Food: I love food! But if pressed to choose, I’m not really that into fusion cuisine like Rice restaurant.
Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Djerdan balkan restaurant (on 38th btw. 7+8th) for the authentic burek slices and cucumber yogurt salads (the entrees like the meat balls with polenta, like grits there, are good too and they have big servings, so the leftovers are yummy too), the Aloo Masala roll at Kati Roll (39th btw. 5+6th), the Italiano sandwich and the macarons (of course) at Macaron Cafe (on 35th btw. 6+7th), and I do love ‘wichcraft in the park when I want a fancy sandwich.
“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? Pergola (on 39th btw. B’way+6th) for Mongolian BBQ or Duke’s (on 41st & Bway) because they have everything.
Place(s) you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch? Oms/b and Macaron Cafe (thanks by the way!)
If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Nolita because it’s near the deliciousness in the Little Italy delis, and close enough to the variety in the East Village and even Chinatown.
Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? Is there a reasonably priced Greek lunch place in midtown?
Ok, so before we get to the Greek food question, something else needs to be mentioned. On rare occasions a Lunch’er will send more than one photo, often leaving me with a difficult decision. Especially in cases like this, where one photo is clearly amazing, but maybe the other photo gives you a better idea of what the person looks like. And lord knows, with the ladies, that’s all you creepy dudes care about… so, in those rare cases when I can’t decide, I’m forced to post both. Amy’s New Orleans make out photo, after the jump…
(Taken at Cooter Brown’s for those of you in the know…)
Ok, on to more important matters. Inexpensive Greek food in Midtown. Uh… there is really nothing (I don’t think.) My quest for a decent Greek style gryo has been well documented (Gyro II, bad; Famous Chicken Place, Good) although the Famous Chicken Place isn’t really “Greek” food (i.e. I don’t think you can get grape leaves or moussaka.) I know there are a few out of bounds choices, like Uncle Nick’s on 9th Ave btw. 50+51st, which also just opened a 2nd location on 8th Avenue between 29+30th. Although I’m not sure if those places are under $10 for lunch.
Anybody know of a more convenient, cheap Greek option in Midtown? Feel free to post it in the comments. And as always, if you want to be the next Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er, or you’d like to nominate somebody in your office, email me at zach@midtownlunch.com
Posted by Zach Brooks at 11:30 am, August 12th, 2008 under PROFILE: Midtown Lunch'er.
25 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
25 Comments
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Greek Kitchen on 58th and 10th is good and cheap. I am a fan, though I know some people do not like it there.
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Good call on Djerdan. Very tasty. Don’t know of any good Greek places, though.
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i’m so glad you showed us that second picture, zach… keeps the column from being too pageanty. immediate respect for any girl who blows kissy faces at her food..
no idea on the greek, i’d recommend astoria. -
Ethos at 3rd ave b/w 33rd and 34th is slightly outside the ML zone, and probably not cheap for lunch (i’ve gone for dinner many times and it isnt terribly expensive) but it is excellent!
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Don’t know about Greek per se but bread n’ olive has a solid moussaka for lunch. Mind you, I didn’t say it’s great, but for a couple of bucks they give you a goodly serving and it’s fairly tasty.
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Love the Oyster snogging!!
Best Doner I know is a 5 minute walk from villa in Paphos,Cyprus.Watching the sun set over the sparkling Mediterranean….as we sip restina and ouzo over a nice feta salad.
Manhattan kebabs?………no sorry haven’t a bloody clue.
Have you tried Midtown Lunch?
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I’m in love!
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Carnegie John is the closest to cheap Greek that I have found and I am Greek. He doesn’t have gyro’s, but he does have lamb souvlaki.
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Screw greek food, amy and I need to chat about hair products. I’ve been trying to get my hair to look like that for a quarter of a century and no luck yet!
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Try Soul Glo
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Gotta try the Balkan place. The guy in Kmart plaza next to the Caribbean place has good cheap kebabs and platters. Not Greek, per se, but pretty good.
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Great pics. Love all those places. Uncle Nicks on 50th and 9th ave has very good greek food.
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i thought cooter browns was known for their cheese fries, but that doesn’t look like a cheese fry to me…can you clarify what it is? if it’s an oyster, i’m scared. not sure i’d eat an oyster from that place.
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@confused – That is indeed an oyster… and while it may not be the greatest place of all time for oysters, I enjoyed a few dozen on various occasions while watching my beloved Miami Dolphins. And I’m still alive…
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Rudy, is “restina” a new kind of tranquilizer? Definitely best mixed with ouzo…
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There’s awesome Greek-ish/Mediterranean fare at Kashkaval at 55th & 9th, kinda out of Midtown Lunch bounds, but worth it. Never been there at lunch, but I know they offer their tasty dips and spreads during lunch. The front-of-house is like a generic mom & pop deli w/ a salad bar, etc. But don’t be fooled! Their homemade fare is the stuff of cravings…
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Totally agree with JustNancy about Kashkaval. Their cold tapas are excellent. Love that spinach feta. They also serve stuffed grape leaves and taramosalata. And the “small” sampler for $10, is ample.
Also agree with DDR about Bread & Olive. The moussaka is tasty–it’s also vegetarian, made with chickpeas, tomatoes and eggplant, no beef or lamb. Their baba ghannouj is good, too.
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Uncle Nicks is the bomb
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That first picture of Amy looks like Linda Cardellini during her “Freaks and Geeks” days.
I hope she got her ride.