Midtown Lunch

Wow… today has not been good for the Midtown Lunch’ing news.  This just in from Lunch’er Jill: “Two Boots under Rockefeller Center is closing!  Today is their last day. They are opening a new place at 9th and 45th.” And confirmed on the Two Boots website:

And it was one year ago this month you guys voted this best slice in Midtown. The end of an era… and a big loss to the lazy lunchers of 30 Rock who hate leaving their building.

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 Dave- a system admin who sent us the photo of his sandwich from Murray’s Salami. He also doesn’t seem to mind spending some money for good meat.

Name: Dave

Age: 25

Occupation: System Administrator

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Puresend, 41st and Lexington

Favorite Kind of Food: TexMex

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Is there a such thing?

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Chimi Combo @ Calico Jacks (on 2nd Ave. btw. 42+43rd), the Cuban Sandwich @ Sophies (multiple locations), the Benjamin Burger from Benjamin Steak House (on 41st btw. Mad+Park), the T-bone Burger @ Rare (on 37th St. & Lex.), the #2 or #13 @ Milant (on 39th btw. Lex+3rd), and anything at El Rio Grande (on 38th btw. Lex+3rd)

“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? Old Bridge Deli (on Lex btw. 40+41st). They are one of the better generic delis that I have found in midtown and their rolly wraps are a nice change of pace. (Dave is also the one who sent us the photo of the rolly wrap fail yesterday -zach)

Place(s) you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch? Murrays Salami. I’ve frequented the Grand Central Terminal Food Court and Market in the past, but only returned after reading of the $10 Challenge. Also the Milant Deli, good price and tasty food.

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Midtown Manhatten. I have yet to find a location with greater variety of delicous food. (Preach on brother! -zach)

Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? Does anyone have another good tex-mex style place to recommend?

Really? This is where you lose me Dave. I don’t mind Tex Mex, but I don’t actively seek it out. I’m going to have to turn this one over to the readers. 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

The Sophie’s Cuban location on 40th Street btw. 7+8th, which always seemed crowded during lunch, is now closed.  This surprising turn of events comes less than six months after being written up by the New York Times, and less than 9 months after opening.  The company itself doesn’t seem to be in any trouble (they just opened a new location on 23rd Street btw. Madison+5th) but who knows.  If you are a huge Sohpie’s fan, you’ll have to make due with the other two Midtown locations (in the food court on 3rd Ave. btw. 49+50th, and on Lex. btw. 40+41st) or the two former Sophie’s locations, now called Tina’s Restaurant (56th btw. 5+6th and Madison btw. 33+34th), where the food is exactly the same.

All is not lost though- at the very bottom of the sign it says “Look for a new Sophie’s Cuban Restaurant opening in this area in the near future.” But that just makes you wonder why they closed this one. Emails to the company yesterday were not returned. Thanks to Lunch’er Dan for the tip.

Lunch’er Dave snapped this photo at the Old Bridge Deli “Rolly Wrap Station” earlier today:

You may want to call ahead before heading over to the Old Bridge Deli (212-986-0500; on Lex btw. 40+41st)… I don’t think there is much else at that place I can get behind.

I’ve got some really sad news to report to all-you-can eat buffet lovers:  The International Food House Buffet on 35th btw. 7+8th has turned into a pay for what it weighs, by the lb. buffet.  Considering the current economic state, this isn’t too surprising, but it is still depressing on many levels.  1) Serving up a wide range of Latin food, it was one of the only two or three non-Indian all you can eat buffets in Midtown.  2) It was a shockingly cheap $8.95. 3) By the pound buffets are a big kick in the pants to fat guys everywhere… especially when you’re serving heavy food like rice, beans, plantains, and stewed meats.  For $5.95 a pound, the price can get up there pretty quickly.

Unable to turn away from their massive selection, I decided to see how I would fare under this new format.  In the process I came up with a few suggestions for anybody looking to brave the *new* International Food House Buffet.

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Got an email from Blockheads Burritos the other day, which has one location in the Midtown Lunch boundaries (3rd Ave. btw. 33+34th) and two locations just outside of the ML boundaries (one on 50th btw. 8+9th, and one on 2nd Ave. btw. 50+51st).

“I am the Administrative Assistant over at Blockheads Burritos and I’m very interested in getting our locations on your map. How can we go about this? Can you send me some literature or a link? Maybe even a call? Thank you in advance!”

I’ll tell you how you get on the map… serve good lunch food, for cheap- and if the Midtown Lunch readers deem you worthy, then you get added to the canon of official Midtown Lunches.  I admit Blockheads is not completely off the radar…  it’s been mentioned by a few commenters and Profiled Midtown Lunch’ers (most notably Kristy) and I have considered crossing 8th Ave. on many occasions to try one of their burritos.  But part of the former L.A. resident in me feels a little bit of skepticism towards this after-work-party-spot.  They do have a $9 lunch combo (which includes chips, salsa, and a soda) which is intriguing. 

Anybody been?  Thoughts?  I’ll leave this one up to you guys…

The newly opened Murray’s Salami in the Grand Central Market. Photos by nycblondieandbrownie

• If you spend $10 at Murray’s Salami, you get free hot dogs or bacon [Blondie and Brownie]
• If you get the tamales from El Rey Del Sabor, make sure to get it topped with salsa and sour cream [Food in Mouth]
• The sticky bun at Bouchon Bakery beats the sticky bun at Balthazar [Edible Manhattan via Umamimart]
• Las Poblanitas might be just out of bounds, but it looks like some damn fine Mexican food [Bionic Bites]
• If “upscale power lunch” is your thing, try Bond 45 [Life With Food and Drink]

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week we’ll post about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap. This week Mamacita goes to a dive surrounded by $1 pizza and cheap hot dogs…

Dave’s Tavern inhabits the armpit that lies between the Lincoln Tunnel and Port Authority- but if you’re in the neighborhood, and looking to for a cheap drink with some entertaining locals, you’ve found your dingy oasis. As I crossed the threshold of Dave’s I was welcomed by the crunch of peanut shells discarded on the floor, like a casual honky-tonk bar. An enameled metal bin chock full of peanuts was perched atop a table against the North wall. Above it hung a mounted boar’s head that seemed to watch over the bar’s clientele. As I readied to take a picture of this sharp tusked beast, a silver-haired man walked in and said to me “You’re taking a picture of that boar? You know I shot that boar!” Then he turned towards the bar and joined his friends. You can obviously learn a story or two from the guys here. There is a real sense that everyone here knows each other, yet an outsider slugging a drink is welcomed into the conversation. You have the usual range of liquors and domestic beers with $1 off drinks during happy hour, 4 to 7pm. In the back there’s a pool table to pass the time and some booths that are good for groups.

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